Clinton Summit to Focus on World Challenges

Posted September 19th, 2011 at 10:50 am (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will bring together heads of state, leaders of industry and nonprofits and national and local government officials this week to the annual meeting of his Clinton Global Initiative .

The conference starts Tuesday in New York to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

The three-day summit will focus on job creation, sustainable consumption and programs for women and girls.

Mr. Clinton said the meeting will include a rare, live discussion with Burma’s pro-Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate will discuss critical global challenges such as human rights and ethnic reconciliation. The opposition leader was freed by the Burmese government last year after 15 years of house arrest.

U.S. President Barack Obama will speak Wednesday at the session on sustainable consumption.

Since the initiative began in 2005, Mr. Clinton said members have made more than 2,000 pledges valued at more than $63 billion, and they have improved the lives of more than 300 million people in 180 countries.