Duration: 6 min 22

Bill Clinton honors AIDG along with Fonkoze, Partners in Health, BRAC, Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, Habitat for Humanity International, Green Family Foundation, Sunnight Solar, International Action, Micronutrient Initiative, and James Lee Witt Associates for outstanding work in Haiti.

In 2009, AIDG became a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. CGI, created by Former President Bill Clinton in 2005, is a non-partisan organization that brings together global leaders from the public and private sectors as well as civil society to discuss challenges facing the world today. But CGI is not all talk. There is a very strong focus on action. Members of the initiative are called on to devise and implement innovative solutions to these challenges. The initiative culminates in a yearly conference where each member must make a specific commitment with measurable results and success metrics that will address one or more of CGI’s focus areas for that year. CGI staff then monitors the progress and success of these commitments throughout the year.

2009 CGI Action Areas

• Harnessing Innovation
• Strengthening Infrastructure
• Building Human Capital
• Financing an Equitable Future

Here is AIDG’s commitment that was selected for presentation during the plenary:

Over the next 5 years AIDG will scale its business incubation services to create 25 new infrastructure development enterprises for underserved communities. These enterprises will aid a combined population of over 200,000 people, bringing water, sanitation, energy and other desperately needed services. From $1.25 million in initial investment, these entrepreneurs will generate $5 million per year in economic activity and will help bring basic services to struggling communities.

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The Omidyar Network announced a three-year, $30 million commitment to support global entrepreneurship, especially in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. Their investment into emerging market entrepreneurship seeks to ignite innovation and foster a more entrepreneurial culture within these countries. Omidyar Network focuses on high-impact entrepreneurs, those with a proven business model and the ability to scale their operations to serve hundreds of thousand or millions living at the base of the pyramid.

Today at the opening plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, Water.org co-founders Matt Damon and Gary White announced the organization’s $2 million commitment to provide 50,000 people in Haiti with safe water and sanitation over the next three years.

And now for something a little different: a president chaser.

The Parade of Presidents

It’s UN Week in NYC, so the heads of state were out in full force at Day 1 of the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting.

[FYI: Videos were recorded with a Flip Mino and uploaded with FlipShare. It erodes the quality quite a bit. If we get more video today, I’ll see if I can upload it in HD. ]

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Six entrepreneurs with ideas on how to promote renewable energy and sanitation in
Guatemala have proceeded to the semi-finals of GuateVerde, AIDG's 2nd business plan competition in Latin America and the Caribbean. These semi-finalists will compete for up to $50,000 in grants and small-business financing. The winners will be announced November 24, 2009.

Flowercin		FLOWERCIN (FLOWER, CREATIVITY & INNOVATION) is a young team that has previously been recognized by Technoserve. Their idea is to process the organic waste generated in the municipal market and slaughterhouse in Solola to reduce pollution of Lago Atitlan.
Quetsol		Quetsol is a new company that provides high efficiency, low cost solar solutions to meet their customers' basic energy needs. Their mission is to help their clients save money and improve their quality of life through the use of appropriate technology.
Sistemas Electricos		Sistemas Electricos started in 1984 as an energy consultancy. They want to perform energy audits for Guatemalan companies and organizations as well as design strategies to help their clientele to use their resources more effectively and sustainably.
SET Renova		SET Renova provides effective and affordable energy solutions for families, businesses and industries in Guatemala. They aim to be a leading provider of low-cost renewable technologies in the country, thus promoting sustainable development. Their main products are solar thermal units, solar water heaters, and solar panels.
Reciclaje PET		Reciclaje PET wants to tackle the massive plastic waste problem in Guatemala by recycling the PET plastic packaging material most commonly seen in soda or water bottles into household items such as brooms.
Ingecofun		Ingecofun, our 6th and final semi-finalist, is also interested in plastics recycling. They want to provide farmers and large landownders with a recycled plastic alternative to wood for fencing and enclosing their properties.

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AIDG has received the tremendous honor of being invited to attend the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting this week (9/22-9/25) in New York as a commitment member.

The CGI Annual Meeting brings together a diverse group of the world’s most distinguished leaders from government, business, and civil society to examine today’s most pressing global challenges and transform that awareness into tangible action.

Peter Haas, our executive director, will be posting to our Twitter and blog throughout the week. Check back for the latest updates and posts as the conference progresses.

You can catch the meeting live at http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/webcast starting Tuesday Sept 22.

To keeps tabs on what the Twitterverse is saying about CGI, check out http://search.twitter.com/search?q=cgi09

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On Wednesday, August 26 the AIDG office in Guatemala hosted a group of enthusiastic 9-11 years old in an exciting compost workshop in our very own garden. Students from the new environmental club at the Beehive School arrived with bags in hand filled with compost they collected from their homes days before. With our Biodigestor Intern Chris Salam on hand to guide the kids through the amazing world of anaerobic digestion and vermicompost, the wide-eyed group of future environmentalists got their hands dirty and put their food waste to action.

From a lesson on what is compostable to feeding the ARTI biodigestor, the workshop was a huge success. In a region where recycling is close to none and garbage bin sightings are rare, it’s exciting to see that the movement for environmental awareness indeed has no borders. Although Guatemala may not be moving as far or as fast along the “green” track as other countries, the Beehive School’s environmental club is a perfect indication that there is hope…and in this case in comes in the form of a dynamic group of 4th and 5th graders.

AIDG is pleased to be able to support local community education initiatives on environmental awareness and introduce alternative technological solutions to long endured energy, sanitation and water issues. We thank the Beehive School and their students for also responding to the current environmental situation and we invite others to do the same. We await you with open arms, big smiles, and composting worms!

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