Healthy Communities Challenge
A US$30 million joint initiative tackling the diseases that kill children under five in some of the world's most vulnerable communities.
Long-term resources for high-impact health programmes
The Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge gives Rotary members in selected countries the longer-term resources to implement large-scale, high-impact programmes — reducing severe disease and death from malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea, the top killers of children under five.
The Challenge focuses on improving accessibility and the quality of sustainable community health systems, especially for vulnerable populations. Programmes are implemented over three years.
$30 million across four countries
The Rotary Foundation, World Vision, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are collaborating to award $30 million in total to member-led programmes in four countries.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Member-led programmes addressing under-five mortality.
Mozambique
Targeted intervention for malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea.
Nigeria
Strengthening community health systems at scale.
Zambia
Aligned with national health ministry priorities.
Disease burden, Rotary engagement, ministry alignment
The four countries were selected based on four criteria:
- Their disease burden, especially child mortality.
- The engagement and presence of Rotary members on the ground.
- The potential for partnerships with NGOs and government.
- Alignment with each country’s ministry of health strategy.
Rotary members in each participating country formed a single committee to develop a programme that is organised for success, can create lasting change, and uses strong monitoring and evaluation systems to measure outcomes.
Bigger problems, longer timescales, deeper partnerships.
The Healthy Communities Challenge — alongside Programs of Scale grants and PolioPlus — represents the future of how Rotary tackles the world’s most stubborn problems: in deep partnership, over multiple years, with measurable outcomes.