3:50 pm The President and the First Lady join President Bill Clinton to address the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative
Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers
Open Press
What is this Global Initiative?
It's part of the Clinton Foundation, founded in 2005.
From Wikipedia
Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) was founded in 2005 by President Bill Clinton. CGI is a non-partisan organization that convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Each year, CGI hosts an Annual Meeting in September, scheduled to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly. Throughout the year, CGI helps its members – primarily corporations, NGOs, and government leaders – maximize their efforts to create positive change. CGI is not a grant-making organization.
CGI also includes CGI University, an annual conference for college students; CGI Lead, a program for rising leaders from the public, private, and civil sectors; MyCommitment.org, an online portal where anyone can make a Commitment to Action; and CGI International.
Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting is attended by heads of state, business leaders, nonprofit directors, prominent members of the media, Nobel Prize winners, and other notable global leaders. Attendees have included President Barack Obama, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Lance Armstrong, Lloyd Blankfein, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, former Vice President Al Gore, Paul Farmer, Wangari Maathai, Rupert Murdoch, Rex Tillerson, and Muhammad Yunus. The 2009 Annual Meeting featured an opening address by President Obama and a closing address by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The 2010 Annual Meeting will take place September 21-23 in New York City.
At the Annual Meeting, CGI members discuss major global issues, share ideas and knowledge about effective solutions, and form partnerships that enable them to enhance their work. The program for the 2010 Annual Meeting will be structured around four Action Areas:
Empowering Girls and Women – CGI members will discuss how they can create progress for everyone by helping women and girls achieve equal access to education, health care, and economic opportunities.
Strengthening Market-Based Solutions – At the Annual Meeting, CGI members will discuss the best strategies for bringing market-based solutions to scale, so the benefits can be felt by more of the four billion people who subsist on less than $3 a day.
Enhancing Access to Modern Technology – CGI members are working to identify the best technologies in education, health care, and economic development and deploy them on a large scale, so they can reach the people who need them most.
Harnessing Human Potential – Members are identifying job creation opportunities in different industries, sectors, and regions, and developing strategies for connecting those opportunities with the people who need them most.
Commitments to Action
Each CGI member develops a Commitment to Action – a plan to take specific action to make the world a better place. Commitments generally fit within one of CGI’s four Global Challenge areas: Economic Empowerment, Education, Environment & Energy, and Global Health.
Commitments must be new, specific, and measurable, but beyond those three criteria, members have wide latitude to determine which actions to take. CGI then monitors the progress and success of these commitments throughout the year. Funding pledged through commitments does not come through CGI, and is not donated to CGI. Rather, organizations commit to raise and distribute money on their own.
Over the past five years, CGI members have made more than 1,700 commitments, valued at $57 billion, which have improved the lives of 220 million people around the world.
The CLinton Foundation
The William J. Clinton Foundation is a foundation established by former President of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." The Foundation focuses on four critical areas: health security; economic empowerment; leadership development and citizen service; and racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation. The Foundation works principally through partnerships with like-minded individuals, organizations, corporations, and governments, often serving as an incubator for new policies and programs. They have offices located in New York City, Boston and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)
The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems in the developing world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. As of January 1, 2010, the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, became a separate nonprofit organization called the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).
CHAI strives to make treatment for HIV/AIDS more affordable and to implement large-scale integrated care, treatment, and prevention programs. Since its inception, CHAI has helped bring AIDS care and treatment to over 750,000 people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. Its activities have included AIDS care and treatment in Africa, including the brokering of drug distribution agreements. During President Clinton's 2006 trip to Africa, CHAI signed agreements with several new countries. Over the course of the past year, CHAI has expanded its partner countries and members of the Procurement Consortium to over 70 including 22 governments, who are now able to purchase AIDS medicines and diagnostic equipment at CHAI's reduced prices.
CHAI launched the Pediatric and Rural Initiatives in 2005 to focus on bringing AIDS care and treatment to those most often marginalized— children and those living in rural areas. CHAI also negotiated agreements that reduce the prices of second-line drugs and rapid diagnostic tests. In May, 2007, CHAI and UNITAID announced agreements that help middle-income and low-income countries save money on second-line drugs. The partnership also reduced the price of a once-daily first-line treatment to less than $1 per day.
In addition to drug access programs, CHAI also focuses on country operations, with programs that help governments with pediatric care and treatment, improving rural health care and human resources for health and the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). In 2008, approximately 185,000 children benefited from increased access to infant diagnosis aided by the training of 8,500 health care workers who offered pediatric antiretroviral treatment (ART). 2008 also saw six PMTCT country programs launched which ensured that every HIV-positive pregnant woman in the program catchment area was provided with prevention, care and treatment services including counseling, testing and feeding recommendations.
In the Summer of 2008, CHAI announced the closing of cost-reduction agreements with several suppliers of malaria medication, which will be extended to CHAI partners as part of its care and treatment program.
Action Networks
Action Networks are small groups of members that meet throughout the year to coordinate action on a specific issue. CGI currently has 18 Action Networks focused on topics including Haiti, Investing for Social and Environmental Impact, Rethinking Waste, Green Mobility, Higher Education, Low Cost Technologies for Education, Strengthening Health Systems, Girls’ and Women’s Health, Violence Against Girls and Women, and Combating Cancer in the Developing World.
Action Networks allow members to trade ideas, share best practice information, and explore potential partnerships. Ultimately, many members will use Action Networks to enhance their existing Commitments to Action or form new ones. Action Networks that demonstrate the most likelihood of action will have a place on the agenda at the 2010 Annual Meeting.
MyCommitment.org
Recognizing the power of private citizens to make a positive impact on the lives of others, President Clinton launched MyCommitment.org, an online portal that gives citizens around the world the opportunity to make a Commitment to Action.
CGI University
In 2007, President Clinton launched CGI U, which expanded the successful model of CGI to students, universities, and national youth organizations. CGI U includes two days of plenary sessions and hands-on breakout sessions, followed by a day-long service project.
At its inaugural meeting, CGI University was held in March 2008 at Tulane University in New Orleans. More than 600 attendees came together to inspire action on college campuses. In 2009, the meeting was held at the University of Texas at Austin, and in 2010 the CGI U meeting was held in April at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. Since the first meeting in 2008, CGI U members have made more than 2,000 Commitments to Action in the areas of energy and climate change, global health, human rights and peace, and poverty alleviation.
CGI Lead
President Clinton created CGI Lead to convene and educate the next generation of global leaders and prepare them to take action on the world’s most pressing challenges. Each year President Clinton will invite a select group of young, rising lead¬ers – including corporate executives, public servants, social entrepreneurs, and NGO managers – to participate in CGI Lead. Representing a diverse collection of countries and backgrounds, participants will serve two-year terms and will be full members of CGI.
CGI International
Responding to increasing interest among business and governments around the world, President Clinton launched CGI International to supplement the Annual Meeting in New York with additional meetings in various regions of the globe.
In December 2008, President Clinton convened the first CGI International meeting in Hong Kong to address local, regional, and global challenges. The focus of the CGI meeting in Asia was on three main areas: education, energy and climate change, and public health. The two day meeting attracted over 3,000 accredited delegates, a record number for a nongovernmental organization gathering in Asia.
Prominent participants included: business leaders such as Ajay Banga, Ronnie Chan, Victor Fung, Christopher Graves and Stephen S. Roach; government leaders such as Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Lee Kuan Yew, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, and Donald Tsang Yum Kuen; NGO heads such as Elisea Gozun, David Ho, and Xiaoyi Liao; thought leaders such as Maris Martinsons, Sugata Mitra, and Hong Zhang; and the Secretaries-General of both ASEAN and the United Nations - Surin Pitsuwan and Ban Ki-moon, respectively.
Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI)
Building on his long term commitment to preserving the environment, President Clinton launched the Clinton Foundation's Climate Initiative (CCI) in August 2006, with the mission of applying the Foundation's business-oriented approach to fight against climate change in practical, measurable, and significant ways.
Recognizing the opportunity to fight climate change in the world's cities, CCI is working with 40 of the world's largest cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through a variety of large-scale programs, a purchasing alliance, and measurement tools to track progress and share best practices.
On August 1, 2006, the Foundation entered into a partnership with the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, agreeing to provide resources to allow the participating cities to enter into an energy-saving product purchasing consortium and to provide technical and communications support.
In May, 2007, CCI announced its first project which will help some large cities cut greenhouse gas emissions by facilitating retrofitting of existing buildings. Five large banks committed $1 billion each to help cities and building owners make energy-saving improvements aimed at lowering energy use and energy costs.[3]
At the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative, President Clinton announced the 1Sky campaign to accelerate bold federal policy on global warming.[4] The 1Sky campaign supports at least an 80% reduction in climate pollution levels by 2050.
On May 19, 2009, CCI announced the global Climate Positive Development Program. In collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council, the programme will support large-scale urban projects demonstrating that cities can grow in "climate positive" ways. Seventeen projects on six continents are announced as participating in the programme.
Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI)
The Clinton Hunter Development Initiative was formed in 2006 as a partnership between Scottish philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter's Hunter Foundation and former President Bill Clinton's Clinton Foundation to target the root causes of poverty in Africa and promote sustainable economic growth.[6]
The initiative will invest $100 million over the next 10 years in projects that will improve food security, clean water and sanitation, and quality health care. Right now, these programs are focused in Rwanda and Malawi, but can potentially be expanded to other countries in the future.
Together with the governments of these two countries, CHDI has had such successes as helping farmers access fertilizer, disease-resistant seeds, irrigation systems, advanced planting techniques and micro-credit. This assistance has led to a record harvest in eastern Rwanda. CHDI has also helped Partners In Health build new health care facilities in Neno, Malawi.
In 2007 and 2008, CHDI assisted in the training of thousands of farmers on advanced planting techniques, helped to strengthen the organization, operations and sales of Rwandan coffee manufacturers and Malawian cotton farmers and partnered with local governments in large-scale developments including irrigation, hospital and school projects.
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Following his quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, President Clinton became even more outspoken importance of a healthy lifestyle and to the prevalence of childhood obesity in America. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is a partnership between the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association that is working to end the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States by 2010.
Co-led by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Alliance includes four: the Healthy Schools Program Go Healthy Challenge, a food and beverage industry program, and a healthcare initiative.
The Healthy Schools Program supports schools' efforts to create healthier environments for students and staff. The Program provides hands-on and online support to schools, helping them to offer healthier food, more opportunities for exercise, and education on how to lead a healthier lifestyle. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which provided an initial $8 million to start the Healthy Schools Program, recently awarded a $20 million grant to expand the program to over 8,000 schools in states with the highest obesity rates.[8]
The Go Healthy Challenge, an online, on-air and community-based campaign, encourages kids to take the Go Healthy Pledge to lead healthier lifestyles. This campaign is fueled by a partnership with Nickelodeon, which airs the Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge and sponsors the Worldwide Day of Play. The Alliance for a Healthy Generation has also partnered with the NBA, Rachael Ray and Channel One News to engage a variety of audiences in the fight against childhood obesity.[9]
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Kid's Movement empowers children to take charge of their own healthy lifestyles. In 2008, the Alliance launched the empowerME campaign, led by kids, for kids. EmpowerME focuses on engaging, educating and activating kids to eat better and exercise. The Kids' Movement has inspired more than 1 million kids to make a pledge to go healthy.
At the industry level, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation struck agreements with major food and beverage manufacturers to provide kids with nutritional options, and established nutrition guidelines for school vending machines, stores and cafeterias to promote healthy eating. Some of the companies involved in these efforts are Coca-Cola, Cadbury plc, Campbell Soup Company, Groupe Danone, Kraft Foods, Mars and PepsiCo.
The fourth initiative involves working with insurance companies and healthcare providers to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of childhood obesity.
Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative
President Clinton established the Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative to help individuals and families succeed and business grow. The Foundation's domestic efforts began in 2002 with the Harlem Small Business Initiative, which provided local business with pro bono consulting services. In 2007, CEO initiated the Financial Mainstream Program, which increases the access of unbanked populations to starter bank accounts and the Entrepreneur Mentoring Program, which pairs inner city entrepreneurs with successful business mentors. These new initiatives broadened CEO's focus by promoting financial stability and money management skills and helping to develop sound business knowledge. As part of the Harlem Small Business Initiative, in August 2009 the foundation released a Harlem guide with Zagat Survey highlighting hundreds of local businesses in an effort to promote them to a wider audience and to attract additional economic development.
Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative
Launched in 2007, CGSGI is working with local communities, the private sector, governments and other non-governmental organizations to develop new, practical models for businesses to spur sustainable social and economic development as an integral part of their operations in the developing world. CGSGI is focusing on market-driven development that creates jobs and increases incomes, and on enabling factors such as health and education.
CGSGI will focus on Latin America in its early phases, and anticipates expanding its work to additional countries to Latin America, Africa and beyond.
As part of CGSGI's commitment to corporate social responsibility, the initiative has engaged in long-term social and economic improvement including projects in health, education and business entrepreneurship and development. In 2008, CGSGI worked to deliver health care to over 60,000 people in rural areas and empowered youth through programs in child nutrition, vocational training and support for microenterprise development that will positively affect 4,000 vulnerable students and their families.
Disaster relief
The Foundation has funded extensive disaster relief programs following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and Hurricane Katrina. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit, President George W. Bush asked former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to raise funds to help rebuild the Gulf Coast region. The two Presidents, having worked together to assist victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, established the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to identify and meet the unmet needs in the region, foster economic opportunity, and to improve the quality of life of those affected.[13] In the first month after the hurricane, the Fund collected over 42,000 online donations alone; approximately $128.4 million has been received to date from all 50 states and $30.9 million from foreign countries.
Criticism
The Clinton Foundation has been criticized for a lack of transparency. Although U.S. law does not currently require nonprofit charities—including presidential foundations—to disclose the identities of their contributors, critics have said that the names of donors should be disclosed because Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, was running to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. Commentator Matthew Yglesias wrote in an op-ed (Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2007) that the Clintons should make public the names of foundation donors to avoid any appearance of impropriety. A list of donors was released for the first time in December 2008.
In September 2005, Frank Giustra flew Clinton to Kazakhstan as part of a three-country philanthropic tour. Clinton praised Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev for "this statement you have made about opening up the social and political life [of Kazakhstan]". Within two days of the former President's meeting with Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev, Giustra's fledgling uranium company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by the state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom. "The monster deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world's largest uranium producers." In 2006, in the months after Mr. Clinton's visit, Mr. Giustra donated $31.3 million to the Clinton Foundation. These events were exposed in a New York Times article.
Forbes Magazine has published a lengthy article rebutting the oft-quoted New York Times piece that suggested Giustra took advantage of his friendship with Clinton to seal the profitable uranium deal in Khazakstan in 2005. Forbes' Robert Lenzner argues Giustra had developed deep financial links with Khazakstan business uranium interests long before he and Bill Clinton went to Khazakstan together.
The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative's work on the ground has been subject of some criticism. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, wrote that governments and organizations in Africa and Asia that partnered with the Foundation expressed caution and alarm at the Foundation's focus on treating a large number of patients with less regard for the importance of adherence, follow-up and quality of care.
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