Clinton Global Initiative 2006
The President of Reach the Children, Kevin Clawson, and his wife attended the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York City September 20-22, 2006. Over a thousand leaders of business, government and non-governmental organizations attended the opening session, in addition to nearly 50 current and former heads of state. The keynote speaker was First Lady Laura Bush who concluded by making a commitment to provide thousands of citizens in sub-Saharan Africa with safe, clean drinking water.
The purpose of CGI is to bring together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Ongoing working groups focus on issues that include poverty alleviation, energy and climate change, global health, and mitigating religious and ethnic conflicts. Participants are made up of a diverse group of individuals including heads of state, CEOs, media voices, religious leaders, original thinkers, philanthropists, and heads of foundations and non-profit organizations.
Break out sessions allowed panels on specific aspects of the four major areas to be addressed. For example, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania stated that water was the biggest problem in his country. Ten percent of the country’s budget is spent on water, and yet only half of Tanzania has access to clean water. Water-born diseases kill 4,000 people per day in Sub-Sahara Africa. In the world, 1.1 billion people live without safe drinking water and 2.5 billion lack access to adequate sanitation. As a result, diarrhea alone claims three million lives each year-the vast majority of whom are children. Underscoring how desperate the need is, another presenter stated, “There can be no poverty alleviation without clean water.”
In a memorable panel discussion, Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke about cooperation in seeking peaceful solutions to volatile conflicts. There is an interdependence he described by an Africa word, ubuuntu. “When we say you have ubuuntu, we mean you are gentle; you are compassionate, you are hospitable, you want to share, and you care about the welfare of others. This is because my humanity is caught up in your humanity. So when I dehumanize others, whether I like it or not, inexorably, I dehumanize myself. For we can only be human, we can only be free, when we are together.” He summed it up by saying, “I am, because you are.” When we consider the needs of others in our global society, we must recognize how much we need one another, and literally find ourselves in giving.