Clinton: Ordinary People Needed in Battle to End Poverty, Deal With Natural Disasters

(HN, September 21, 2010) - Former US President Bill Clinton today called on people everywhere to take “some sort of action” at a time when governments and the private sector are constrained.

“The definition of good citizenship in the 20th century must include some sort of action...We need to be able to do things faster, less expensive, and better,” Clinton said at his annual summit in New York City.

Aside from the ongoing global economic crisis, Clinton warned that climate change will bring more natural disasters. He said it’s increasingly important that leaders know how to respond to manmade and natural disasters and how to prevent them.Queen Rania of Jordan at the Clinton Summit Tuesday. Credit: HUMNEWS

Clinton said that, in the immediate preceding decade, insurance payments on natural disasters were three times higher than what they had been in any previous decade. “We need to think about what more we can do to engage people not in this room

Even amid difficult economic times, the former president’s Clinton Global Initiative continues to attract new financial commitments. The organization now operates year-round with a full-time commitments office. It has also launched “action networks” that focuses on such topics as Haiti, women and girls and cancer in the developing world.

As of this year, the CGI has attracted 1,946 commitments, worth $60 billion and impacting 296 million lives, including 16 million women and girls.

Reporting by HUMNEWS' Michael Bociurkiw in New York