Thursday, July 17, 2008

CGI Asia 2008 Update

Exciting news regarding the upcoming CBI Asia in December 2008!

July 15, 2008

For Immediate Release

Contact: Clinton Foundation Press Office+1.212.348.0360

President Bill Clinton Announces 2008 CGI Asia Meeting

Clinton Global Initiative to Host First Meeting Outside U.S. in Hong Kong

Hong Kong - Former President Bill Clinton today announced the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) will host its first meeting outside of the United States in Hong Kong on December 2-3, 2008. President Clinton will be joined by Asian heads of state, top CEOs, directors of nongovernmental organizations, philanthropists, scholars, and members of the media to address local and global challenges in the areas of education, energy and climate change, and public health.
“I am looking forward to engaging Asian leaders from government, business, and the nonprofit sector to take action on critical global challenges,” President Clinton said. “By combining Asia’s unique capacity to lead on pressing issues such as poverty alleviation and global health with the Clinton Global Initiative’s successful model that has inspired $30 billion worth of commitments to improve 200 million lives in 100 countries, this meeting holds tremendous promise and opportunity for change throughout the Asian continent and around the world.”
The CGI Asia meeting builds on the success of CGI’s Annual Meetings in New York City. Since its first Annual Meeting in 2005, CGI has brought together more than 80 current and former heads of state, hundreds of top CEOs and business leaders, directors of innovative and successful NGOs, and 10 of the last 16 Nobel Peace Laureates. Working together, CGI members have made nearly 1,000 commitments to improve the lives of more than 200 million people in over 100 countries.
Action is the defining element of the CGI approach. Each participant of CGI Asia – and any other CGI meeting – is asked to make a “Commitment to Action” in one of CGI’s focus areas. At CGI Asia, focus areas include education, energy & climate change, and public health. In the past, CGI members from the corporate sector have made commitments in the form of new approaches to their businesses, which generate financial, social, and environmental value. Members also make commitments to provide in-kind support or grants to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to help take their work in new directions or scale up existing programs. Many commitments reflect new partnerships between members who join together to pursue new approaches and expand their impact.
The CGI Asia meeting will run for two days, engaging members in panel discussions and interactive working sessions, two key components of CGI’s methodology. Guided by facilitators and working closely with one another, participants will discuss new ideas and uncover new insights to address specific problems. CGI members will then apply these ideas and solutions to formulate their “Commitments to Action.”
Past CGI participants include: Yang Jiechi (Chinese Foreign Minister), Ban Ki Moon (U.N. Secretary-General), Kim Dae Jung (Former President, South Korea), Gordon Brown (Prime Minister, United Kingdom), Yoriko Kawaguchi (Japanese House of Councillors and former Foreign Minister), Margaret Chan (Director-General, World Health Organization), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), and Jet Li (One Foundation).
CGI MilestonesIn the three years since its inception, CGI members have committed to:
Reduce more than 20 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Provide more than three million people with access to clean-energy services in the developing world.
Ensure 1.2 million patients throughout Sudan, Chad, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo receive emergency and primary medical care, including mental health services.
Fund more than 270 microfinance institutions, permitting access to finance for close to 3 million microentrepreneurs.
Provide 8.5 million out-of-school children with access to schooling.
Supply safe drinking water for 11 million people in Asia.
About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)The Clinton Global Initiative is an initiative of the non-partisan William J. Clinton Foundation. Established in 2005, CGI brings together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI’s more than 1,000 members are diverse and influential leaders from all over the world who make tangible “Commitments to Action” to create or support projects within CGI’s areas of focus and report to CGI on the progress made throughout the course of the year. The CGI community also includes college students through CGI U, regional voices from around the world through CGI International, and an online portal for anyone to make a commitment at MyCommitment.org. For further details on CGI, please visit http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/page.redir?target=http%3a%2f%2fwww.clintonglobalinitiative.org&srcid=2228&erid=0.
For more information, please contact: press@clintonglobalinitiative.org.