NEW YORK -- With the backdrop of elections worldwide that highlight strains on democracy, former President Bill Clinton urged attendees of his foundation's annual meeting to meet their communities' needs through collective action.Strong democratic institutions, Clinton argued, are necessary to achieve the social impact sought by the political, business, and philanthropic leaders convened this week by the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.“Being here and making commitments to action can actually deliver real results to real people,” he said Monday morning.“It’s the best way we can strengthen faith in those kinds of democratic institutions.”It was a strong endorsement of philanthropy's ability to help address discontented voters' concerns at a time when surveys show higher levels of trust in the nonprofit sector than others.
The Clinton Foundation underscored that outlook over the past two days through its theme of “What’s Working," unveiling 175 new commitments that seek to prove even the greatest challenges in these tumultuous times have solutions.Throughout the conference, participants emphasized the need for collaborations when one sector alone cannot tackle a difficult problem.The U.S.Department of Agriculture pledged more than $466 million to bolster food security in 16 other countries by providing school meals or implementing climate-conscious farming technology.Partnerships are key, according to U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, because much of the agency’s food aid gets funneled through non-governmental organizations that “are trusted in areas of the world where something coming from ‘the U.S.government’ may not be."“The reality is if you have people who are well fed, you’re going to have less strife,” Vilsack told The Associated Press.
“If you have less strife, it’s going to be a less unstable world.”Other commitments included the nonprofit Center for Mind Body Medicine’s pledge to provide trauma healing servi...