Earlier versions of this story incorrectly identified the woman who chairs the Global Philanthropy Forum and directs the Bill Clinton conference's poverty program as Jane Wells. Her name is Jane Wales. This version has been corrected.
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On Eve of Philanthropy Forum, Clinton Worries About Economy
Former president Bill Clinton is calling on businesses, foundations and other benefactors to give more.
(By Mannie Garcia -- Associated Press)
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In the interview Monday, Clinton emphasized access to education as critical to controlling population growth.
"If you put all the girls in the world in school and you gave all the young women access to the labor market, that's the right thing you can do that cuts across all religious, cultural and political lines that would actually slow the world's population growth, because the more young women have access to education and work, the later they marry, the later their first child is born," Clinton said.
He also highlighted the work he did to help broker a deal between pharmaceutical companies and African countries to lower prices of antiretroviral medicines.
"We've cut good deals for these medicines," Clinton said. "So the primary impediment for everybody getting proper care for AIDS and malaria now is no longer the medicine. It is the absence of effective health-care systems in rural areas."
Since leaving the White House eight years ago, Clinton has strived to fashion himself as the world's philanthropist in chief. His supporters say he is changing the way people think about giving by rallying the mighty and modest alike. But some scholars and other leaders said his tenure in the field has been too short to measure his impact.
"He brings great political influences, great personal charisma and some star quality to the work," said Harvey P. Dale, a professor of philanthropy and nonprofit law at New York University. "Whether the philanthropy in turn ultimately has 'impact' is always a very complicated question."
Clinton's involvement with philanthropy extends beyond the spotlight of his annual conference. Clinton's foundation spent about $135 million last year on chronic global health problems such as HIV/AIDS, as well as climate change and hunger initiatives.
After the Asian tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Clinton and former president George H.W. Bush helped raise millions for recovery efforts.
Larry Brilliant, director of Google's corporate giving, said Clinton's effort "creates the idea that you may be successful as a chief executive of your company, you may be successful as the president or prime minister of your country, but if you do not think of philanthropy as part of your job description, you are not cool, you are not good, you are not doing your job, you are not modern."
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