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President Paul Kagame, Asha Hagi Elmi Amin, Peter Bakker, Dr. Rola
Dashti, Ruchira Gupta, and Quincy Jones to be honored in a special
ceremony at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. Ben
Stiller will host the awards ceremony, which will also feature General
Wesley Clark, Alicia Keys, Lisa Ling, Demi Moore, Juanes, and Usher
New
York, September 26, 2009
– President Clinton announced the 2009 honoree selections for the third
annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards today. The award recognizes
remarkable individuals for their leadership in improving the lives of
people around the globe. The awards ceremony will take place on
September 24, 2009 during the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI). CGI’s Annual Meeting convenes leaders from across
sectors of society, giving them a forum to develop and then implement
workable solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.
“With
the Global Citizen Awards, we highlight individuals who have
demonstrated exceptional service to humanity,” President Clinton said.
“I am proud to announce this year’s winners, each one of whom is a model
of service. Their innovation, dedication and determination have changed
lives, and their actions serve as models for what each of us can do to
make a difference in the world.”
Award
winners were nominated by a collection of global leaders and selected
for their visionary leadership, demonstrated impact, and sustainable and
scalable work in solving pressing global challenges. Honorees were
chosen from government, civil society, the private sector, and the
philanthropic community.
The 2009
Clinton Global Citizen Awards will be presented during a ceremony hosted
by Ben Stiller, which will include musical performances by Alicia Keys,
co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, and Juanes, founder of the Mi Sangre
Foundation and of Paz Sin Fronteras. Other program participants include
General Retired Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO;
Lisa Ling, Oprah correspondent and Nightline contributor; Usher Raymond
IV, founder and chairman of Usher’s New Look; and actress Demi Moore,
co-founder of The Demi and Ashton Foundation.
The Clinton Global Citizen Awards were launched in 2007. The 2007
winners were Andre Agassi, founder of the Andre Agassi Foundation; Fazle
Hassan Abed, founder of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee; John
Chambers, CEO of Cisco; and Vicky Colbert, founder of the Escuela Nueva
Foundation. In 2008, the winners were Jennifer and Peter Buffett,
co-chairs of the NoVo Foundation; Xiaoyi (Sheri) Liao, founder of the
Global Village of Beijing; Julio Frenk, dean of the Harvard School of
Public Health; and Nevill Isdell, then-chairman of the Coca-Cola
Company.
To request
a press credential please email
press@clintonglobalinitiative.org.
Introducing the 2009 Clinton Global Citizen Award honorees:
His
Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda
Leadership in Public Service
His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the
Republic of Rwanda, has led his nation through an unparalleled
transformation. A brilliant military commander, President Kagame joined
Rwanda’s transitional government after leading the force which ended the
1994 genocide. He was elected President in 2000, and re-elected in 2003.
President Kagame’s national leadership has proven to be as bold as his
military campaigns: creating visionary policies, innovative national
programs and strong international partnerships to support the
development of the new Rwanda. President Kagame has worked to develop
infrastructure, boost tourism, increase access to energy and health care
in rural areas, expand exports, and develop ties to the international
business community. After the 1994 civil war, he helped usher in a
decade of 7.6-percent annual economic growth, and last year, in the
midst of global decline, Rwanda’s economy grew 11.2 percent. From
crisis, President Kagame has forged a strong, unified and growing nation
with the potential to become a model for the rest of Africa and the
world.
Asha Hagi Elmi Amin,
Chairperson, Save Somali Women and Children
Leadership in Civil Society
Asha Hagi Elmi Amin is co-founder and
chairperson of Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC) and a member of the
Transitional Federal Government in Somalia. Amin has been deeply
involved in the struggle for peace and reconciliation in her war-ravaged
country and has worked tirelessly to carve out a role for women in
public life. Somali women were sidelined from any peace talks until the
“Sixth Clan” was formed by SSWC and other women in 2000. Through the
historic Sixth Clan, these daring women convinced the five
male-dominated clans to accept a new role for women around the
negotiating table. This became the first time that women were
represented in a peace process in Somalia, and Amin has participated in
talks ever since. Amin was a 2005 Women and Public Policy Fellow at
Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a 2008 winner of
the Right Livelihood Award.
Peter Bakker, Chief Executive Officer, TNT
Leadership in the Corporate Sector
As CEO of TNT, Peter Bakker has set a new standard for corporate
responsibility. Shortly after Bakker became CEO in 2001, TNT launched a
partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The
global transportation and distribution company committed to sharing
resources and logistical know-how in emergencies, particularly natural
disasters. Since then, TNT has helped WFP deliver aid in more than 30
emergency situations. In response to the 2005 Southeast Asia tsunami,
TNT’s quick supply of trucks, aircrafts and humanitarian supplies – a
total of €2.3 million in-kind support – was a key factor in WFP’s
ability to provide food for 750,000 people in less than three weeks.
Under Bakker’s leadership, TNT has also taken major strides to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2005, TNT
has put emphasis on improving its carbon footprint transparency,
reducing its carbon emissions,
and encouraging its 160,000 employees to do the same in their private
lives. Bakker says these initiatives are “the start of our quest to
become the first zero emissions express and mail company in the world.”
Dr. Rola
Dashti, Parliament Member, State of Kuwait
Leadership
in Public Service
A gender-equality activist and champion of democratic reform, Dr. Rola
Dashti exemplifies the CGI
mission of turning ideas into action. In 2005, she fought
for – and achieved – a decree that would permit Kuwaiti women to vote
for and run in parliamentary elections for the first time. She was the
first woman to file her papers at the election department when the
registration opened, and she herself was a candidate in the 2006
parliamentary election. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, Dr. Dashti
and three other women won seats to become the first women to enter the
Kuwaiti parliament, setting the stage to deepen the role of women in
politics and decision making. Dr. Dashti has also broken down barriers
throughout her career as an economist. She is currently chairperson of
the Kuwait Economics Society, where she is advocating for increased
economic transparency and working to empower a new generation of
entrepreneurs. Dr. Dashti’s victories for Kuwaiti women and for Kuwaiti
democracy have proven that deliberate persistence and tenacity can lead
to historic change.
Ruchira Gupta, President, Apne Aap Women Worldwide
Leadership in Civil Society
Ruchira Gupta is a journalist, activist, and policymaker who has worked
relentlessly for the past 24 years to end human trafficking. She is best
known for her work with Apne Aap Women Worldwide, a community-based
initiative started by women in prostitution in the Khetwadi/Kamatipura
red light area of Mumbai in 1998. Gupta founded the organization along
with 22 women who were featured in her sex-trafficking documentary, “The
Selling of Innocents,” which won an Emmy Award in 1997. Apne Aap
(“self-help” in Hindi) combats trafficking by building up the capacity
of girls and women through small “self-help” social and economic
cooperatives. Through these cooperatives, the organization has provided
access to education, income-generation training and legal protection.
Apne Aap now protects women and girls through 67 such cooperatives and
has a goal to reach 200 cooperatives (3,000 girls and women) in one
year’s time. In addition to her work with Apne Aap, Gupta has provided
policy support to the Government of India, the United Nations and USAID.
Through commitment and perseverance, Gupta has shown that it is possible
to bring hope and change even in some of the world’s most marginalized
communities.
Quincy Jones,
Founder,
Quincy Jones Foundation
Leadership in Philanthropy
Quincy Jones stands as one of the most successful and admired creative
artist/executives in the entertainment world. His eclectic compilation
of humanitarian projects rivals his plethora of musical accomplishments.
Jones has been a tireless advocate of using the arts to generate social
change. In 1985, with the single "We Are The World," he pioneered the
model of using celebrity to raise money and awareness about a cause. The
song remains one of the best-selling singles of all-time, and raised
more than $63 Million for Ethiopian famine relief. In 2004, Jones helped
launch the We Are the Future initiative, a project that has raised money
for children in impoverished and conflict-ridden areas in Africa and the
Middle East.
In 2007, he joined forces with the Harvard School of Public Health to
advance the health and well-being of children worldwide through Project
Q, which challenges leaders and citizens of the world to provide
essential resources to enable young people to achieve their full
potential. In a career spanning more than six decades, in both his music
and his philanthropy, Jones has shown time and again that he is truly a
citizen of the world.
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