NEW YORK, NY -- Leaders from around the world are greatly supporting President Clinton's first annual gathering of leaders known as the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). CGI's goal is to address global challenges in four areas: poverty, religion, climate change and governance.



The event will take place September 15-17 in New York City. This nonpartisan conference will concentrate a diverse and select group of current and former heads of state, business leaders, noteworthy members of the academic community, and representatives of key non-governmental organizations to identify immediate and pragmatic solutions to some of the world's most

pressing problems.



"Holding participants accountable for the help they pledge is the best way to ensure that real change is happening throughout the world," President Clinton said.



To date, CGI is being attended and supported by the following leaders: King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President Jacques Chirac of France, President Leonel Fernandez Reyna of the Dominican Republic, President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Republic of Turkey, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Vice Premier Shimon Peres of the State of Israel, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of the State of California, Dr. Hernando de Soto of the Instituto Libertad y Democracia in Lima, Peru, Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of UPA, New Delhi, India, Rupert Murdoch, CEO of New Corporation, New York, NY, Richard Parsons, Chairman & CEO, Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Founder & Managing Director of the Grameen Bank.



President Clinton has created the CGI to address some of the most historically intractable problems affecting our world. The two-day Initiative will focus on four themes: how to reduce poverty; using religion as a force for reconciliation and ...