'07 CGI (Day One) commitments announced
Four new commitments were announced at yesterday's closing plenary, pushing the number of commitments announced in four areas (Education, Energy & Climate Change, Global Health, and Poverty Aleviation) to more than forty. New commitments announced by former President Clinton included:
The Education Partnership for Children of Conflict
The partnership will bring together leaders of various industries to create eighteen global projects that fund educational initiatives for children in conflict, post-conflict, refugee, and emergency situations. In its first year, the partnership will work to place 350,000 out of school children in school and improving the learning environment, safety, materials, and teacher quality for another 650,000 students — including 200,000 Iraqi refugees and 300,000 children affected by the crisis in Darfur.
Procter & Gamble (Pampers)/UNICEF
Through its Pampers brand, Procter & Gamble will commit a minimum of $2 million to the elimination of maternal & neo-natal tetanus in developing countries by supporting the procurement of roughly 45 million tetanus vaccines. By joining forces with UNICEF, the company will maximize its resources and provide millions of mothers and their babies with life-saving tetanus vaccines through 2009.
Proctor & Gamble: Children’s Safe Drinking Water
Proctor & Gamble, working with partner organizations in the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program, will provide sachets to purify an estimated two billion liters of water. By using the easily accessible system, the program will help prevent 80 million days of diarrhea illness and save 10,000 lives by 2012. The $20 million project follows a 2006 commitment by P&G to work with partners to provide safe drinking water and hygiene education to one million children in Africa by 2009.
1Sky
Working with partners 1Sky will raise $50 million to advocate for a simple set of goals and policy proposals to improve the federal government’s policies on climate change. All partners working in this coalition are committed to making the government of the U.S. develop climate change targets that match those of the European Union. The EU is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent compared to 1990 levels.
In its first two years, CGI generated more than $10 billion in commitments ($1.25 billion in '05 and $7.3 billion in '06) and looks to be on track to generate more than $10 billion in commitments in '07. For a list of additional commitments announced on day one, go here.
The CGI folks also announced the launch of MyCommitment.org for individuals who want to take action and make a commitment in one of the four action areas. In addition to a pledge/donation mechanism, the site offers recent news from CGI and a couple of user-generated content features.
-- Mitch Nauffts
