{"id":1139,"date":"2025-12-04T04:10:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T04:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/?p=1139"},"modified":"2025-12-04T04:11:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T04:11:25","slug":"rotary-international-president-message-december-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/?p=1139","title":{"rendered":"Rotary International President Message December 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Rotary International President Message December 2025<\/h2><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Francesco Arezzo
President 2025-26<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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December 2025<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This month\u2019s special issue of Rotary magazine is all about happiness, that most elemental of human yearnings. More than a feeling, though, this state of positive well-being, and the conditions necessary to create and sustain it, should be considered a universal right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

December also marks Rotary\u2019s Disease Prevention and Treatment Month, when we highlight our members\u2019 work to promote health and wellness, including mental wellness. Globally, nearly 1 in 7 people have a mental health disorder, according to a recent World Health Organization report. Yet only 9 percent of people with depression receive adequate treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are fortunate in Rotary to have a powerful way to support emotional well-being and happiness: friendship. The connections we build in Rotary can be a powerful force for change. I know this from personal experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my fellow members first proposed that I become club president, I demurred. I had a stutter. I was terrified of speaking. But having club members who supported me and surrounded me with affection enabled me to face my fear, and I found a way to stand confidently before a crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, I regularly address audiences \u2014 some numbering in the thousands \u2014 in a language that is not native to me. The Rotary members in my life helped me create lasting change within myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That fellowship gives us the courage and means to create lasting change in the world as well, and mental health services are in desperate need of improvement. The WHO reports that governments on average devote only 2 percent of their health budgets to mental health, and only 11 percent of that funding reaches community-based services. In some countries, only one trained mental health professional is available for every 100,000 people. The WHO has called for strategic and urgent action to close the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rotary can answer that call by championing mental health awareness in our clubs, working with local health systems, funding training for community health workers, and supporting initiatives that bring care to places where none exists. Even small investments in mental health yield enormous returns in productivity, public health, and happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we are creating lasting change in the world, we cannot forget to take care of each other. Past RI President Gordon McInally wisely reminds us that we must go beyond asking, \u201cHow are you?\u201d We owe it to each other to instead ask, \u201cHow are you really?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we transition to a new year filled with new possibilities, let us Unite for Good \u2014 for healing, friendship, and access to happiness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Francesco ArezzoPresident 2025-26 December 2025 This mo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dec-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1140,"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139\/revisions\/1140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dg-newsletter2526.rid3450.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}