Today George Stephanopoulos moderated a great panel on “Leadership and Jobs to Overcome Humanitarian Crisis.” The panel featured President René Préval of the Republic of Haiti, Hany El Banna; President of Islamic Relief; Dr. Helen Gayle, President & CEO of CARE USA; George Rupp, President of the International Rescue Committee; and Rhonda Zygochi, VP of Health, Environment and Safety, ChevronTexaco.

While I was unfortunately unable to stay for the entire discussion, what I heard was really fascinating. The discussion primarily focused on shifting from a primary focus on immediate relief efforts, to building long-term infrastructure and capacity in the wake of natural disasters.

President René Préval spoke at length about models of dealing with disaster relief in Haiti. George Rupp talked about some of IRC’s work in Afghanistan and elsewhere and repeatedly made the point that community-driven reconstruction is the key to long-term rehabilitation efforts in traumatized regions. By empowering citizens to reconstruct through their own volition, communities will often feel a sense of “fierce pride and ownership” as Rupp put it, to sustain these efforts. Decentralizing reconstruction work can also reinforce stability over the long-term.

Dr. Helene Gayle reiterated these points, stressing the need to think beyond immediate relief work, which often gets the most press and attention. She also noted that, through her experience, paying equal attention to pre- and post-disaster phases is sometimes the best way to “build back better” after a crisis.

George Stephanopoulos and President René Préval

-Chris Scott

Bono, ONE co-founder, just joined Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and others in a commitment to 1GOAL: Education for All at the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting. Together with FIFA, 1GOAL is committed to ensuring that the legacy of the 2010 World Cup will be universal access to education for all children. As President Clinton said, “this is a staggering opportunity” to make a big difference for girls and boys around the world.

Read more about 1GOAL Education for All here.

After the announcement, Queen Rania immediately joined a panel moderated by Nicholas Kristof and went on to further make a passionate case for universal education. According to Queen Rania, an educated child is 50% less likely to contract HIV, just one of many ways education affects every other sector. She also pointed out another statistic so incredible that Nicholas Kristof made her repeat it: the developing world needs approximately $11 billion dollars to put every child into primary school– the same amount the US spends every 3 months on their pets. However, because education isn’t particularly “dramatic” it rarely gets the attention it deserves.

Nicholas Kristof, Queen Rania, and Hilda Solis join in a panel on Creating Good Jobs and Strong Communities

US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis addresses the CGI Meeting

-Chris Scott

Two sessions I just attended focused on technology and innovation and in both cases the discussion inevitably led to a question on everybody’s mind here: What’s the next big idea?

Opinions vary, obviously, but there were some common themes I picked up on. The importance of public-private partnerships was one. The UK’s Secretary of State for International Development stressed a need for greater communication between the public and private sectors in tackling a host of issues. He also contended that the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals will be nearly impossible to meet without continued innovation, while identifying three areas where the private sector can play an important role: product development, program delivery, and financing development.

On another panel, Former Vice President Al Gore spoke of sustainable capitalism as they key to addressing the threats of global warming and climate change. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of the World Bank Group spoke about the need for developing countries to be able to manage crises on their own without waiting for the assistance of other countries.

In two separate panels, the revolutionizing power of cell phones was discussed. Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank said that giving people the power to use cell phones to deal with everything from healthcare to financial concerns will be a potential game-changer. In another discussion, Angela F. Braly, President and CEO of WellPoint, Inc. specifically named “telemedicine”‘s potential to bring increased healthcare information to rural communities. Even though we’ve written before here on the ONE Blog about the opportunities provided by cell phones, it still never ceases to amaze me that something we in the US take for granted still has the potential to facilitate so much good for so many people.

I’ll have more soon.

-Chris Scott

UPDATE: Here’s one of the panels on innovation.

With all the intense hustle and bustle here at the 5th Annual Clinton Global Initiative Meeting, I haven’t really had much of a chance to reflect on all the great things going on here. That’s as it should be. What strikes me most is the overwhelming sense of uplift and optimism here. There’s a genuine sense that some of the world’s biggest problems can be legitimately, persistently tackled through vast cooperation and innovative thinking.

CGI anticipates over a thousand members of credentialed press (including yours truly) which has made for some chaotic scenes, but overall the press here is very diverse, from all over the world and all manners of publications, networks, blogs, and everything in between.

I managed to snap this shot of the press room, a very lively place:

I’ll be attending a series of panels, sessions, and workshops, so be sure to keep checking out the ONE Blog for further updates.

-Chris Scott

PS Most of this meeting is being broadcast on live webcast here.

Diane Sawyer just wrapped up moderating a really engaging panel with Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International; Rex W. Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation; Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Women’s Issues in the State Department, and Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group; and Edna Adan, Director and Founder, Edna Adan Maternity and Teaching Hospital.

Sawyer framed the discussion as “the river of what is right converging with the river of what is needed” which I think really captures the spirit of what I’ve seen so far at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting. President Clinton, while introducing the panel claimed that in many places in the world, no matter how hard and long women work they rarely get as many opportunities and choices as men do. The panel echoed this sentiment with most, if not all, of the participants agreeing that education is the key to achieving equality for all women. According to Ambassador Verveer– the first such Ambassador-at-Large for Women’s Issues (something that drew a big round of applause from the audience)– framed education as key to confronting extremism.

A lot of the discussion centered around the fact that women account for such a large percentage of the workforce in developing countries yet are rarely compensated to the degree that men are. This, according to Zoellick emphasizes the need to train greater focus specifically on girls and women. As he put it, it’s not an issue of giving special advantages to women, but just helping them achieve a level playing field. Indeed, as was echoed at numerous points in the panel, saving one woman often means saving an entire family. This opportunity has drawn the attention of businesses such as Godman Sachs and ExxonMobil to invest in women and children. At one point, when discussing ExxonMobil’s efforts in developing countries, Tillerson suggested and funding in and of itself is not the whole solution. Salbi quickly retorted that while this may be true in part, girls and women still continue to receive an incredibly small percentage of development funding.

Also touched on during the panel was the role of technology and innovation in empowering women. Ambassador Verveer listed both mobile banking and cell phones as being on the front lines in creating positive change. Zoellick also emphasized the need for basic technology– such as electricity– in many developing countries.

-Chris Scott

UPDATE: Here’s the video of the panel on girls and women.

All members emphasized the importance and necessity for the G20 in the wake of the global financial crisis, with President Kirchner and IMF Director Strauss-Kahn underscoring the need for further support of emerging countries and economies. Strauss-Kahn went so far as to suggest that more countries be brought into the G20 citing a larger problem of “global imbalance.”

According to the Director, “for the G20 to be effective, we need more countries to feel represented” so people around the world can accept the decisions that are made at G20 Summits. As you know, the next G20 Summit in Pittsburgh is just days away.

-Chris Scott

UPDATE: Here’s a video of the panel.

What a difference a year makes. Almost exactly this date one year ago, then Senator Barack Obama– along with Senator McCain– addressed the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. We covered his remarks here.

Tonight President Barack Obama had a chance to address the 5th Annual CGI Meeting. He spoke powerfully about the need for greater public service both in the US and abroad, commending President Clinton’s work to establish such programs as Americorps during his presidency. He also commended President Clinton’s work post-presidency in establishing CGI.

President Obama spoke extensively about being shaped by examples of public service early in his life, most significantly his mother’s work with microloans. He went on to talk about a “transformational moment in world history” when the world is more interconnected than ever. Tools that can help and aid people can also allow people to do harm.

Today’s world, Obama explained, requires “creative collaborations and a renewed spirit of partnership.” He described Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s travels abroad– some of which we’ve covered here on the ONE Blog– as an example of his administrations focus on reaching out to citizens and promoting greater partnership. The military and the government can work to disrupt extremist networks around the globe, Obama said, but we also need to make clear the kind of world we want to build across regions and religions.

He noted the need for historic investments in clean energy and cutting emissions, and the need for businesses and nonprofits to end the threat of climate change. This line particularly stuck out to me: “Foreign assistance is not an end in itself. The purpose of aid is to create conditions where it’s no longer needed.” Development is a key part of a foreign policy strengthened not by lecturing the world but seeking great understanding– what Obama called “standing together, working together, and building together” to leave the world better than we found it.

Keep your eye on the ONE Blog for more updates.

-Chris Scott

Haiti which has suffered several hurricanes recently has had particular trouble bringing clean water to rural communities. Water.org will commit to helping bring water to a minimum of 50,000 people by investing at least 2 million dollars in work with local NGO’s.

We’ll have more on this and President Obama who will be addressing the meeting shortly.

-Chris Scott

UPDATE: Here’s video of the entire opening plenary.

Much of the inspiration for the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) members’ work happens at our events, where heads of state, government and business leaders, scholars, and NGO directors work together to analyze, discuss, and debate possible solutions to urgent global issues. Each participant is then asked to take action on one or more issues by making a Commitment to Action. The Annual Meeting, which this year is taking place September 22 – 25, is our largest and most important event.

Expanding on the success of the Annual Meetings held in New York, CGI is now reaching even more leaders in diverse regions, future leaders from college campuses, and global citizens through new meetings and projects—such as CGI University and MyCommitment.org—evolving from CGI’s unique model that focuses on taking action.

At each meeting, CGI helps its members form partnerships, develop innovations, and initiate effective projects.

I’ll be live-blogging the proceedings, including President Obama’s address during the opening plenary session, so be sure to check back on the ONE Blog for further updates and analysis.

-Chris Scott