GAWAD KALINGA INVITED TO CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE

Jose Luis Oquinena

The Clinton Global Initiative has just concluded its third annual conference in New York. The CGI is a non-profit endeavor, launched by President Bill Clinton in 2005, that brings together a highly diverse membership base representing the full spectrum of political, ideological, religious, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. Included in this are current and former heads of state, top business executives, preeminent scholars, and representatives of key non-governmental organizations, all working together for a common cause.

According to the Initiative website, "Participation is by invitation only, limited to a select and diverse group of heads of state, CEOs, media voices, philanthropists and foundation heads, religious leaders, original thinkers and those who run highly effective non-profit organizations."

The only Filipino organization invited this year was Couples For Christ's Gawad Kalinga, represented by its executive director, Jose Luis Oquinena. The invitation surprised Luis, because the Clinton Global Initiative and Gawad Kalinga had never had any engagement. Queries sent by Gawad Kalinga on why it was invited were simply answered, "We did some checking."

A high-profile international conference attended by the most known and reputable of organizations and special individuals who have become icons in their fields of interest was the last thing that Luis or Gawad Kalinga had expected to attend. But while many in the conference had contributed thousands of dollars each to help the conference attain the status it deserved, the Clinton Global Initiative underwrote the trip and attendance of Gawad Kalinga's young executive director.

Surprises did not stop there for Luis, though. The conference was graced by chosen political leaders who governed nations deeply and aggressively involved in the key concerns of the global body, either as donors, implementers or visionaries. Without knowing personally any of the delegates who were there, Luis sat beside a man who later stood up when introduced to the body as Ted Turner, the owner of CNN.

Other delegates included the Gates Foundation, Bloomberg News, the more known experts in global health, interveners in global poverty, respected global leaders of the environment, and those involved in trend-setting programs of education for the less fortunate.

Engaged in four strategic areas -- health, poverty, environment and education -- the Who's Who of global found themselves together on three momentous days to share insights from work they had done and to form new relationships to further the critical sharing of resources. In the words of the CGI, "...the Initiative attempts to create a composition that matches people who have resources with those who have the most innovative ideas." -- GK News Bureau

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GK Executive Director Luis Oquinena: Thoughts on the Conference

Impressions

"In the first place, it was a gathering of powerful individuals, and individuals representing powerful groups whose main concern was addressing certain global issues like education, poverty, global health and the environment, basically the climate change, global warming. "

"Personally, it was just an amazing experience to see how many groups there are who are wanting to do good. Looking at it in a perspective, well it's my own personal belief that there is a higher power that is orchestrating all the goodness that was gathered in that conference whether they are conscious of it or not."

"Me, looking in, I felt that God is really inspiring goodness from everyone. And GK being part of it, I believe we were the only Filipino organization that was invited to be there. "

Gawad Kalinga, in this context

It was a powerful experience for me. One, (I saw) how unique GK is compared to many of the initiatives. Many are focusing on issues while GK is using the issues to build the nation. The issues of poverty and hunger, we see that and we want to address that but we want to, in the process, unite our people because we believe that at the heart of our poverty is our being a divided nation. So, that sets GK unique from the many initiatives.

Secondly, majority of the initiatives were centered on micro-finance, wherein they articulated that it's really gender equality to empower the women. But on the other hand, GK is saying that our brand of solution is no, we need to empower the men, that at the heart of our poverty, at least in the Philippines, is the failure of men to provide, to protect and to be a pastor to his own family.

And at the heart of poverty, is how do we empower the men to take responsibility. Again, it sets GK apart.

I am hopeful that in more mature areas, micro-finance can be adopted in the GK way, but looking at the initiative at that conference, that was one unique feature that we have as Gawad Kalinga.

The third one really is being fueled by faith. We had a lot of really intellectual groups there. GK is really fueled by the heart - That now is attracting a lot of science to put systems, order in to what is really driven by heart, that is, passion born out of love for God and country.

These are my personal realizations.

Working Across Faith Boundaries

They were talking about extremism. We need to really look at the whole. Like what Bishop Desmond Tutu said that let us help God fulfill his dream - which is to unite his family. And this family include the Hindus, Muslims, the Christians.

So that is very very affirming for Gk because we really look at our nation as different, unique groups but really loving them equally without discrimination.

The Road Forward

On the practical side, I was able to experience contacts with some powerful groups who we will correspond with after the conference. But the main challenge for us now coming back is are we prepared for the big league? That's the challenge now for GK.

First, we need to raise more (Couples For Christ) Caretaker Teams, and we need to begin to really seriously establish our Regional Centers so that we can decentralize the operations from the national (office), closer to the sites.

And thirdly, yes, we need to capture more good news so that more people will appreciate GK through the fruits of GK, more than the philosophy, more than maybe the Biblical anchors, more than personal opinions like from myself or from Tito Tony (Meloto, former Executive Director and current promoter of GK).

But really more from the fruits, from the ground, from the volunteers, from the poor, capture that and really share it in a more massive way. And the internet has a big role in the future for that - this GK1World direction that we're having, it will really play a big role.

It's the big league now and we need to really scale up. And we know what we have, the potential of GK, the promise of GK. But we need to be prepared to play in that arena of powerful players. The simple fact that we appeared in the radar screen of that powerful gathering, is already a tremendous affirmation for all GK volunteers, for all those who are really working hard in the GK site, for all the full time workers giving their life to this. That we are on the right track. It's not the affirmation but these are signs that will bring us to greater glory. But at the end of the day, our success is our obedience to God more than the results that can be measured.

Goals from the Conference

They wanted a commitment from us. I'm drafting a commitment, in terms of the area of poverty - in shelter and productivity - and in the area of global health, in terms of nutrition and pediatrics. Like raising the health care volunteers which is very, very crucial. I think we need to raise at least 2500 to 3,000 health care volunteers to prepare the massive health program for GK. Filipinos abroad, with Dr. Boy Abay, who's leading the campaign, they have a huge, huge heart for GK and the poor, a very patriotic group. But we need to prepare the ground for them.

For the houses, off-hand, we have about P250 million houses from DSWD (Department of Social and Welfare Development) for the first quarter of next year, so we need to prepare for that. That's 5 million dollars and I haven't heard a commitment during the conference that was even close to five million dollars.