Former President Bill Clinton plans big changes for this year’s Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting “by necessity” to address the changing landscape for global development and increasing needs driven by war and climate disasters.
“We need to redefine how we show up, how we work, and how we find ways to honor our common humanity,” Clinton wrote in a letter to the CGI community released Thursday. “This September, our goal will be to connect dots across issues, expose the consequences, and confront the complicated issues in front of us.”
Since its launch in 2005, the CGI annual meeting has served as a platform for political, business and philanthropic leaders to announce new initiatives or new financial support for existing programs addressing the world’s problems. At the 2024 meeting, former First Lady Jill Biden announced $500 million in new annual spending for women’s health research, while Prince Harry outlined his plans to help children and their parents navigate cyberspace better.
This year’s meeting — held once again during United Nations General Assembly week and led by Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton — will also include Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, as well as Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O’Day, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, and Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee. However, the focus this year will be on forging new solutions for economic, health, climate and humanitarian issues.
“The CGI community is built for moments like this,” Clinton wrote. “This year marks two decades of our community convening and responding directly to global crises.”
In previous years, CGI helped organize responses to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Caribbean hurricanes in 2017, and the COVID-19 pandemic. CGI estimates it has helped more than 500 million people in 186 countries over the past two decades.
President Donald Trump’s administration has swiftly dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, arguing that many programs did not advance American interests. A number of philanthropic funders have stepped in to replace some support of humanitarian programs and public health initiatives, but many gaps remain.
CGI hopes to close those gaps with a series of “Leaders Stage Sessions,” where representatives from a wide range of organizations – including GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan, Center for Disaster Philanthropy CEO Patricia McIlreavy, AFL-CIO President, and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten — will work together to create new initiatives.
“Now is the time to stand up and roll up our sleeves — and do our part to reverse the trend lines and begin charting a brighter future,” Clinton said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as part of its Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Organizers declined comment on what impact, if any, the subpoenas would have on planning for the CGI annual meeting. Former Secretary Clinton has been called to provide a deposition on Oct. 9, while former President Clinton has been called to offer a deposition on Oct. 14.
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