The Rotary Club of Sinkor, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Monrovia-Sonou, Rotary Club of St. Paul and the Rotaract Club of Sinkor, conducted its Annual End Polio Now Walk on Saturday December 6th. The Walk is in keeping with RI’s longstanding commitment to the eradication of polio worldwide. The Walk was organized as Rotary Clubs in Liberia’s dedication to creating a polio-free world.
Objectives:
- To raise awareness of the global campaign to eliminate polio;
- To mobilize resources to support Rotary’s PolioPlus programs through the Rotary Foundation, ensuring continued vaccinations, surveillance, and rapid response efforts in vulnerable regions.
Activities featured a two and half mile walk, a short message on polio, lunch and a time of fellowship.
Closing Speech for Polio Walk 2025
6 December 2025
Rotarian President and officers, the Chartered and Past Presidents, Fellow Rotarians, Ladies and Gentlemen:
As we gather here at the finish line for the Polio Walk 2025, let’s take a moment to reflect on what this walk truly represents.
Every step we took today was a step toward a world free from Polio — a disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children every year. Thanks to the relentless efforts of Rotary International, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and Ministries of Health and relevant partners, we have achieved something extraordinary: There is now more than 90% reduction in polio cases worldwide. This is not just a statistic — it is millions of children who can run, play, and dream without disabilities caused by Polio.
Rotary International has been a driving force in this fight, contributing over $2.7 billion to polio eradication efforts since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. This funding has supported vaccination campaigns, surveillance, and community engagement in some of the most challenging regions and hard-to-reach communities worldwide, some of which are right here in Liberia.
But our mission is not complete. Polio still exists in a few corners of the world, and it is re-emerging in disaster- and war-affected zones; and as long as Polio continues to exist in those isolated places, every child everywhere remains at risk.
You may recall a case of Wild Poliovirus Type 1 (WPV1) detected in a three-year-old girl in Malawi in February 2022, and laboratory analysis confirmed that strain was linked to the strains circulating in the Sindh Province in Pakistan.
On the other hand, the funding landscape has become gloomy. The global funding need for polio eradication between now and 2026 is estimated at $4.8 billion, and we face a funding gap of nearly $1 billion. That funding shortfall threatens to undermine decades of progress, if we do not act decisively and swiftly.
In this context, the urgent need for alternative financing, domestic resource mobilization, and local ownership cannot be overemphasized.
Polio Eradication is possible, but it requires individual and collective contributions from all of us — our voices, our resources, and our relentless commitments.
Today’s walk is more than symbolic; it is a re-iteration of that resounding call to action. We should keep advocating, keep vaccinating, and keep supporting the Global Polio Eradication Initiative until polio is gone for good.
In his address to Rotary’s Global Update on 24 October 2019, the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reminded us:
“Polio eradication is within our grasp, but only if we remain steadfast. Every child deserves a life free from this crippling disease.”
And aligned with this reminder is the long-standing commitment of Rotary International that:
“Rotary will not stop until polio is history. Together, we have the power to make this dream a reality.” The RI President 2025-2026, Francesco Arezzo continues this focus, as emphasized in his inaugural message that “legacies are not forged overnight,” and that, the work to end Polio is a shared effort, which continues today.
So, Fellow Rotarians, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, what can you do, individually and collectively? Stay engaged. Share the message. Support vaccination campaigns. Continue to contribute to this worthy, noble, and humanitarian cause — because every dollar you donate brings us closer to zero Polio cases.
Yes, Zero Polio starts with me, Zero Polio starts with you, Zero Polio starts with everyone.
Together, we can make history. Together, we can ensure that future generations will only hear or read about polio, and not ever experience it, directly or indirectly.
Thank you for walking with us, thank you for caring, and thank you for being part of this global initiative to End Polio.
Let’s finish this job in our lifetime — let’s end polio forever!
Thank you!
View full album from the Rotary Club Annual Walk to end Polio
