The first ever Asia meeting of charity forum Clinton Global Initiative concluded on Wednesday in Hong Kong, with 87 members making about 70 commitments to action valued at about 185 million U.S. dollars.
"When fully funded and implemented, (they) will have a positive impact on more than 10 million lives," the U.S. former president told some 200 participants, which included current or former heads of state, CEOs and leaders of non-governmental organizations.
There were also some other commitments yet to be finalized, Clinton added.
"I am pleased with what has been accomplished here," he told the audience.
The sum was far less than the 7.3 billion U.S. dollars committed charity by members of the forum at its second annual conference in the United States in 2006. It can be partly explained by the impact of the ongoing economic crisis.
Clinton said the crisis should not be an excuse not to act on global challenges such as AIDS, climate change, energy efficiency, rights for women and children, etc.
"This crisis is not an excuse. It is a reason to do more," he said.
The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is a charity forum project of the William J. Clinton Foundation that emphasizes action. It was the first time for the meeting to held outside the United States ever since the CGI was launched in September 2005.
"This meeting needs to be viewed as a verb, not a noun," Clinton said.
He said in the Asia-Pacific region there are currently 641 million people living in extreme poverty, 97 million children who are underweight. The region is also home to over half of the world's people living on less than a dollar a day.
"Globalization is an uneven process," he said.
Clinton called for partnership between government, business and the NGOs in dealing with challenges such as climate change, healthcare and financial crisis.
"The only thing that we can give to our children in the future . .. is a genuine partnership between government, business and civil society."
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also spoke in a video message, saying that new ideas were needed to confront and solve the myriad of challenges.
Source: Xinhua
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