EMBASSY & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE

Vision: The Embassy Relations Committee seeks to promote peace and international understanding.

Mission: Works with foreign embassies located in Washington DC and with other Rotary Clubs in capital cities of other countries.

Steve Liston, Chair

  1. The Committee invites Ambassadors to speak to our club and awards them honorary memberships. Here are four recent speakers:

Ambassador Daniel Guiterez of Belize

Ambassador Daniel Guiterez
Belize

(spoke to the Club and was awarded an honorary membership on August 28, 2018)

Ambassador Daniel Mulhall of Ireland

Ambassador Daniel Mulhall
Ireland
(July 9, 2019)

 

Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana of Rwanda

Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana
Rwanda
(October 22, 2019)

 

 

Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov of Uzbekistan

Ambassador Javlon Vakhabov
Uzbekistan
(January 21, 2020)

  1. The Committee sends letters notifying ambassadors of projects in their countries supported by our club. Here are some examples:
Children washing their hands

A letter was sent to the Ambassador of Kenya in Washington, D.C., informing him of a grant made by the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., to support the HIV/AIDS Orphans’ Village in Nyumbani, Kenya.

Children at School

A letter was sent to the Ambassador of Cambodia in Washington, D.C., informing him of a grant made by the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., to support water, sanitation, and hygiene programs (in the picture, facilities at a preschool) in Koh Kro’sang, a rural village in Pursat Province, Cambodia.

Children sitting on hill

A letter was sent to the Ambassador of El Salvador in Washington, D.C., informing him of a grant made by the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., to provide technical scholarships for at-risk youth from Cantón El Zapote in Ahuachapán, El Salvador.

 

  1. The Committee organizes social or fundraising events in cooperation with embassies once a year. The first annual Ambassadorial Reception was held at the Residence of the Ambassador of Chile.
DC Members at Ambassador of Chile

Some 27 diplomats from 22 countries and Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., and other Rotary Clubs on the grand staircase of the Residence of the Ambassador of Chile (October 22, 2019).

 

  1. The Committee fosters relationships with our twelve Twin Clubs in other capital cities and proposes new ones. Under this rubric, we attend meetings (virtually or in person) of our twin clubs, we co-finance humanitarian projects in developing countries together with them, and we organize and carry out friendship exchanges.  Here are some examples:
Embassy Bus

Humanitarian Project: Blood Bank and Blood Donation Van in rural India, supported by our Twin Club the Rotary Club of Edinburgh, our club, and three other Rotary Clubs in India and Scotland. Inaugurated August 18, 2018

Humanitarian Project:

Humanitarian Project: COANIQUEM (Burned Children Foundation) supported by our Twin Club the Rotary Club of Santiago, Chile, our club, and many others.

Gathering of Rotarians

Gathering of Rotarians from the Rotary Clubs of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Washington, D.C., at the New Club in Edinburgh, Scotland (Spring 2013).

Friendship Exchange

Friendship Exchange: Picnic of Rotarians and families from the Rotary Clubs of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Washington, D.C., at Tim Hanson’s farm near Washington (Spring 2013).

Friendship Exchange

Friendship Exchange: Rotarians from the Paris Academies Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., in front of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France (Spring 2007).

Friendship Exchange

Friendship Exchange: Rotarians from the Paris Academies Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., at the Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms to see the desk where the Treaty of Paris was signed (Spring 2007).

Friendship Exchange

Friendship Exchange: Rotarians from the Rotary Clubs of Appia Antica (Rome, Italy) and Washington D.C., in front of the Bank of Italy in Rome (September 2015).