The 2025-26 Sir John Reid Community Service Award recipient, Fartun Farah, recently updated Rotary Melbourne on an important program funded by the award. On behalf of the East African Women’s Foundation, Fartun writes, “We sincerely thank Rotary Melbourne members for your ongoing support and partnership. Your contribution plays a vital role in enabling us to deliver impactful programs and create safer, stronger and more connected communities.”
Our donation to the EAWF enables delivery of programs that directly support at-risk young girls in the East African community. The first programs were community showcases, where girls proudly performed traditional dances, celebrated cultural heritage, identity and diversity, demonstrating a growth in confidence, teamwork, and connection. Empowering young girls is a fundamental starting point to eliminating the practice of FGM/C (Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting).
The community showcase sessions create a safe and respectful space for open dialogue, increasing understanding of the health impacts of FGM/C, promoting the protection of girls, and encouraging positive, community-led change.
The second part of the program was an FGM/C Awareness Day aligned with the global initiative “Towards 2030: No End to FGM Without Sustained Commitment and Investment.” This important event raised awareness, deepened understanding, and reinforced the need for ongoing commitment and investment to end FGM/C. It encouraged dialogue, learning, and community-led advocacy.
The EAWF is strongly committed to ongoing delivery of culturally responsive programs that lead to FGM/C prevention through empowering young girls, helping them to thrive with confidence and take pride in their identity.
Through community awareness, education, and cultural engagement, EAWF supports positive change and strengthens the wellbeing of women, families, and young people across Melbourne’s West. It is wonderful to learn that the donation made by Rotary Melbourne has done so much good.
Annually Rotary Melbourne selects and honours a Victorian volunteer whose community service is deemed outstanding but has not been previously recognised. We need you to start thinking about your networks and consider making a nomination for the Sir John Reid Community Service Award. Nominations for the award open on Monday, 22 June 2026.
Tony Battaini
