25 September 2009
This Week from Washington, September 25
Podcast on Clinton Global Initiative and social protection in the Americas
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Narrator:
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At the fifth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative September 22nd, President Obama said that, even as America pursues a new era of engagement with other nations, a broader engagement is also important — between societies and citizens, community organizations, business, faith-based groups, and others. Obama met with initiative volunteers during a break from his packed schedule of United Nations events in New York. Members of the initiative are committed to resolving some of the world’s most pressing concerns, including poverty, health, education and the impact of rapid climate change.
The Clinton Global Initiative was launched in 2005 by former President Bill Clinton. It brings together the public sector and private sector to address solutions to four problem areas: climate change, poverty, health and education. It meets at the same time as the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly, and those who attend — world leaders, business executives, activists and celebrities — make commitments to work on these problems. The initiative’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert Harrison, told reporters that since the first conference 1,400 commitments have been made, including some worth billions of dollars.
Building partnerships based on mutual interests and mutual respect, Obama said, is the driving force behind U.S. relations around the world. He called the spirit of partnership a defining feature of American foreign policy. Obama said that while extremists are largely committed to the destruction of societies, the United States is committed to building a future that invests in people’s education, health and welfare.
Partnerships are a key element of building the capacity to deliver the basic services on which security depends. The United States is building on its successes in combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, but these efforts will be sustained only if public health systems improve. New investments in global food security have to go beyond handouts. The more pressing need is to share new farming methods and technologies so that communities can become more self-sufficient. The purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it is no longer needed, Obama said. Partnerships are a good way to build the capacity for transformational change in a society.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at a September 22nd conference in New York to launch the Inter-American Social Protection Network. Clinton said the initiative will help governments make it possible for people to invest in their futures even when their incomes are just a few dollars a day. The network not a charity, she added, but an investment in every nation’s greatest resource — its people. The network was endorsed by the Western Hemisphere’s heads of state at the 2009 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.
The network seeks to promote the exchange of best practices in social protection, such as conditional cash-transfer programs. Existing cash-transfer programs include Brazil’s Bolsa Familia, Chile’s Solidario, Colombia’s Familias en Acción and Mexico’s Oportunidades. According to the World Bank, such programs have reduced national poverty rates by 8 percent in Ecuador and Mexico, nearly 5 percent in Jamaica and 3 percent in Brazil. In Colombia, the cash-transfer program has led to higher birth weights and improved child nutrition.
New York City based its program, called Opportunity NYC, upon the Mexican model. Mexico’s Opportunidades began in 1997. Today, 5 million Mexican households participate. Opportunidades offers conditional cash-transfer programs to Mexico’s poorest families if their children receive regular medical checkups and attend school, and if mothers attend monthly discussions at health clinics on subjects such as child-rearing practices. The Mexican model has helped reduce the country’s school dropout rate and produced healthier children.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the September 22nd conference that students in his city improved their school attendance and passed more exams when they received cash rewards for participating in Opportunity NYC. Like Mexico’s Opportunidades, the cash-transfer program provides financial grants to people who take positive actions to improve their lives, such as going for regular medical checkups and staying in school.
The New York conference was hosted by the Organization of American States, or OAS. According to the OAS, in recent years, the countries of the Americas have made considerable strides in reducing poverty. Between 2003 and 2008, poverty levels in Latin America fell from 44 percent to 33 percent of the population, while the segment of people who live in extreme poverty — earning less than $1 a day — dropped from 19 percent to 13 percent. But despite such progress, about 70 million people in the region still suffer from hunger, and millions lack access to the most basic services.
Another objective of the inter-American network is to help build regional countries’ institutional capacity so people of all levels can participate in a globalized economy. The network can help small- and medium-sized businesses involved in trade and create opportunities for those currently working in the informal economy. Each country in the network decides individually how to deal with its social challenges. The network provides ideas and shows what methods have worked, and how people have tackled the problems of poverty and inequality.
This podcast is produced by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other Internet sites or opinions expressed should not be considered an endorsement of other content and views.
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