Press Release: Inaugural Opening Session of the Clinton Global Initiative Results in Commitments Worth over $200 Million
King Abdullah II, Prime Minister Blair and Secretary of State Rice Take Part in the CGI's Inaugural Opening Session Featuring the Unveiling of 4 Major Commitments Worth Over $200 Million.
President William J. Clinton opened the Clinton Global Initiative, discussing the importance of the conference and introducing the topics of the event: poverty, religious strife, climate change, and governance. President Clinton then moderated the Opening Plenary Session panel, “Perspectives on the Global Challenges of Our Time.”
The panel was comprised of His Majesty Abdullah II, King of the Royal Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; The Right Honorable Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and The Honorable Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State.
“I am thrilled to welcome this group of incredible leaders from all walks of life, who have come together to discuss common problems and commit to take action,” said President Clinton. “At this conference there are many people from seemingly divergent, even oppositional viewpoints in the same room. But I believe there is more that unites us than separates us and the issues we're going to discuss are too big for government or business or Republicans or Democrats or any single religious group to solve alone. We've all come here today with a common purpose: to find real solutions — and to commit to do our part on four issues that plague modern society. Now is a special moment for the issues we will discuss — Poverty, Climate Change, Governance and Religion. I don't claim for a second that the Clinton Global Initiative will solve all of these extraordinarily tough questions, but getting all of these people in one place to focus on these critical problems with a commitment to what each of us can really do to change them is an important first step. And this week it is a step that hundreds of us — activists, Presidents, and CEOs from every political party and religious affiliation — are taking together.”
Focused on results, each participant at CGI is asked to commit to take a specific action in one of the four areas covered at the conference. As CGI opens, more than 50 commitments have already been made, totaling more than $300 million. This afternoon, President Clinton announced the first four of these commitments:
The Hunter Foundation announced it will partner with the William J. Clinton Foundation through a commitment of $100 million over a ten-year timeframe, to support holistic approaches for development; World Vision Inc. and the Global Business Coalition announced the creation of Impact! HIV/AIDS, which will spend tens of millions of dollars in the next five years to help fight the disease through micro-enterprise development for women and caring for orphans and vulnerable children. Former CEO of Cel-Tel Africa, Mohamed Ibrahim unveiled the establishment the African Enterprise Private Investment Fund with an initial contribution of $100 million. The Fund is directed at small and medium enterprises whose business creates value with limited access to capital. The Clinton Global Initiative outlined its commitment for a Carbon Neutral Clinton Global Initiative to help mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through carbon financing renewable energy projects that replace fossil-fuel energy sources.
More About the Commitments:
Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, a Nubian from Sudan, whose most recent project, Cel-Tel, developed mobile communication in 13 sub-Sahara African countries, committed $100 million to create the African Private Enterprise Fund. The Fund acknowledges that African development and its success will ultimately be achieved through the flow of investment into the Continent. Investment creates jobs, wealth and sustained prosperity.
World Vision and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS announced that they would work together to create Impact! HIV/AIDS. Impact! HIV/AIDS will engage corporations in the fight against HIV/AIDS specifically in the areas of: Protecting Women from HIV/AIDS through Micro-enterprise Development and Community-Based Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. It will marry the grassroots experience and successes of World Vision with the Global Business Coalition's expertise in engaging the corporate community in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative is a collaborative project of the William J. Clinton Foundation and The Hunter Foundation, two entities with a proven commitment to sustainable development. With a generous commitment of $100 million during a ten-year timeframe, hoping to leverage further assets — from governments, corporations, and philanthropies — in the creation of a successful, evolving model for sustainable development capable of global adoption and replicable. The Initiative will serve as a catalyst for spurring community-level development and encouraging the creation of an enabling environment for pro-development policies at regional and national levels.
President Clinton announced a commitment of the Carbon Neutral Global Initiative. Following the successful practices of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, through the Carbon Neutral Clinton Global Initiative, CGI will contribute to mitigation of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through carbon financing renewable energy projects that replace fossil-fuel energy sources. The project will also assist to alleviate poverty, as it was chosen based on benefits of rural electrification in Nigeria and in Native American land within the U.S. It will save an estimated 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
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