President Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Board Member Chelsea Clinton Announce Clinton Global Initiative Latin America

 

Meeting to be held December 8-10, 2013, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

CGI’s first meeting in Latin America to bring leaders from business, government, NGOs, and foundations together to address major social, economic, and environmental challenges

President and Secretary Clinton Welcome Rio de Janeiro's Mayor Eduardo Paes

New York, NY – Today, President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Board Member Chelsea Clinton announced details for Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Latin America, a new meeting to be held December 8 – 10, 2013, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This gathering will bring together regional and global leaders from every sector of society to form partnerships, share innovative ideas, and create effective solutions to the region’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.

“At CGI Latin America, government, business, and civil society leaders will exchange ideas and identify opportunities for action in one of the world’s most dynamic regions,” said President Clinton. “The time is right to spotlight the most effective solutions for women-owned businesses, vulnerable populations, and infrastructure across Latin America, and work to replicate positive results in communities stretching from Port-au-Prince to Peru. I look forward to December’s meeting in Rio and an important new chapter for CGI.”

The gathering in Rio de Janeiro marks CGI’s first time convening leaders in Latin America and builds on the model of its action-oriented global meeting held each September in New York City. CGI last held an overseas meeting in 2008, when hundreds of leaders gathered in Hong Kong to further advance social responsibility in Asia. As with all CGI meetings, participants at CGI Latin America will collaborate across sectors to make Commitments to Action: specific, measurable plans to address pressing global challenges. Since 2005, CGI members have made commitments that, when fully funded and implemented, will be valued at more than $73 billion and positively impact people’s lives through a myriad of ways ranging from renewable energy to workforce development to global health.

At the meeting, key business leaders, heads of NGOs, government representatives, and prominent philanthropists from across Latin America will participate in interactive working sessions around three action areas: designing for green growth, developing human capacity, and harnessing technology and innovation. Led by thought leaders and innovators on the ground, sessions will also help participants forge strategies that increase the global competiveness of Latin America, empower women entrepreneurs, improve early childhood and urban development, and carry the region’s economic and social progress into the future.

The meeting convenes at a time of unprecedented gains for nations across the region, with a 50 percent increase in Latin America’s middle class over the past decade and experts predicting faster than average economic growth through 2015.

Latin America has experienced notable social and environmental advances in recent years, as well. In 2012, Mexico made history as the first developing nation to address climate change through government legislation. Costa Rica has emerged as one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable countries: More than 90 percent of the Central American nation’s electricity is produced by renewable sources, 26 percent of its land mass is protected in national parks, and more than half of its land mass is in forest cover. There have also been many innovative social programs throughout the region, from Start-Up Chile, to Bolsa Familia in Brazil, to eco-friendly public trolleys in Aruba that run on rechargeable batteries and cost only $1 to ride.

For more information and the most up-to-date schedule, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org/latinamerica or email us at cgilatinamerica@clintonglobalinitiative.org. Follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative for meeting news and highlights.

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About the Clinton Global Initiative

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date CGI members have made more than 2,300 commitments, which are already improving the lives of more than 400 million people in over 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $73.5 billion.

CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world, and, this year, CGI Latin America, which will bring together Latin American leaders to identify, harness, and strengthen ways to improve the livelihoods of people in Latin America and around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.