$1.25 billion pledged at Clinton meeting

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The three-day Clinton Global Initiative closed in New York City with commitments worth $1.25 billion and promises of more than 100,000 hours of service.

At the inaugural meeting, which ended Saturday, participants vowed to act in the coming year on the conference topics: religion, climate change, poverty and governance.

Among the commitments made: the Center For American Progress' pledge to coordinate with others interested in developing a concrete proposal for terrorism insurance within the next six months -- targeted to increase investment in Gaza; the group Basic Energy committed to build two wind energy power plants totaling 109 megawatts in the Dominican Republic, valued at $130 million; and Search for Common Ground will partner with Nestle to support two seasons of a reality television series and a drama series aimed to promote reconciliation and tolerance between religious and ethnic groups.

Among the participants at the conference were Norway Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik; President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda; Queen Rania of the Royal Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; former Vice President Al Gore; U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and John Coomber and Jim Donald of Starbucks.