Clinton shows way towards elimination of poverty

Last weekend the 'inaugural' meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative picked its way through the pieces from an acrimonious and inconclusive United Nations summit. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan took the time to address a jam-packed session of the conference and reviewed progress, or the lack of it, following the UN's consideration of proposals to reform that institution. That he did so is proof of the pulling power of former US President Bill Clinton.

The Clinton Global Initiative was at New York's Sheraton Hotel. During three days of panel discussions and plenary sessions, participants discussed four big issues. Poverty; Climate Change; Enhancing Governance; and Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation.

The conference was action-orientated. Every session concluded with action proposals aimed at the cooperation of NGOs, the private sector, government and activists. Participants paid $15,000 to attend. They included Rupert Murdoch, Tony Blair, Madeline Albright, Al Gore, George Soros, Mary Robinson, Shimon Peres, Thabo Mbeki, Barbara Streisand, George Bush senior, Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton, along with a range of African and European heads of state and former heads of state, that included Albert Reynolds. David Trimble was also there. They rubbed shoulders with leaders of transnational corporations, journalists and representatives of a wide range of mostly American foundations. The attendee list, 750 entries long, was mainly, as far as I could see, made up of people committed to multilateralism and collective action in global affairs. They were treated to a Clintonesque mix of politics, information, showbiz glitz and hard-nosed demands for commitments. And they responded with gusto. Over $1.25 billion was pledged to be directed to projects as diverse as HIV/Aids prevention, leadership development and racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation.

Was the conference informative? Yes. I didn't get to all the sessions. It was impossible to do so and I probably missed some keynote contributions. But for me highlights included Kofi Annan's valiant efforts to make the most of what must have been a frustrating week for him at the UN, a debate between Thabo Mbeki, South African President and Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, on the responsibilities of the developed world for the underdeveloped world; Paul Kagome, President of the Republic of Rwanda, on bringing an end to war; and Al Gore's passionate intervention on global warming.

Gore's contribution won him a standing ovation – the only one of all the events I attended. It was well deserved but evidence also perhaps of the Democratic allegiance of the US section of the audience and proof positive of the effect of Hurricane Katrina, not only on the citizens of New Orleans, but on American national sensitivities. There is no doubt that the failure of US systems was of Third World proportions. When the levees collapsed in New Orleans, many Americans – unaffected otherwise by the flood or storm damage – were humiliated by the fact that such an event could happen in the first place and by the failure of their nation's disaster relief.

So, underlying a lot of the debate at the Global Initiative was an argument about the role of government. That is what Al Gore seized on so effectively. Hilary Clinton is beating the same drum. For her part she has called for an independent enquiry on the same lines as the September 11 Commission. The Bush administration will probably establish such a process in due course.

In the meantime, the ideological battle over unilateralism versus multilateralism on foreign policy issues and the role of government on domestic issues will continue. It rarely raised its head as starkly as that during the conference, but Hurricane Katrina guaranteed that these issues lurked behind every item under discussion. Global warming and severe weather events are interconnected. That was clearly spelt out at the weekend. So Hurricane Katrina is a global issue. Who is the biggest contributor to global warming? The USA.

So speaker after speaker argued it should be the greatest contributor to the solution. And because the New Orleans disaster was the proverbial chickens coming home to roost, the USA could also receive the biggest benefits. That was the inescapable logic of much of the arguments. A clean energy future is possible. And it can create jobs and prosperity.

How did I get to the Clinton Global Initiative? I was invited to speak on the topic of religion and conflict. For all our collective national sins on these issues, when I listened to speakers from the Balkan states, the Lebanon and Central Africa, I was encouraged in my belief that we can build a pluralist society on this island. Everything is relative. We Irish have a long way to go before we have a truly just and equal society on this island, but others throughout the world have not even got to the starting line. I am thinking here especially of the six million children who die of malnutrition – one child dies every 3.6 seconds. But that also can be tackled properly.

By targeting debt relief and trade barriers, along with governments upholding aid commitments and fair trade agreements and corporations, NGOs and private donors – everyone in other words – playing our part we can eliminate extreme poverty.