"]It seems the US government is trying hard to stimulate enterprise. Only last week we talked about the potential establishment of a start-up visa designed to bring tech businesses into the country.  Although Established almost five years ago in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) brings together a community of global leaders to 'devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges', for example the Haiti Earthquake.

Since 2005, CGI has:

• Brought together more than 100 current and former heads of state, 10 of the last 16 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations, major philanthropists, directors of the most effective nongovernmental organisations and prominent members of the media.
• Made more than 1,400 commitments valued at $46 billion
• Improved the lives of more than 200 million people in more than 170 countries
• More than three million people have better access to information technology
• More than $600 million has been invested in or loaned to small and medium-sized enterprises
• Almost three million micro-entrepreneurs have been empowered through microfinance

The 2010 CGI ation areas include: Empowering Girls and Women; Strengthening Market-Based Solutions; Enhancing Access to Modern Technology and Harnessing Human Potential. Of the 12 new initiatives/commitments in place to empower girls and women, 4 focus on the advantages of information and communication technology:

Plan USA and its Partners

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Commit over the next three years to:

• Train 140 adolescent girls from Ghana in media production and journalism skills,
• Empowering the girls to advocate against gender discrimination through diverse media.
• Increase awareness of the needs of adolescent girls in West Africa through a radio/television audience of 1 million

Exxon Mobil in partnership with the Ashoka Changemaker and the International Center for Research on Women

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Commits to:

• Identify and deploy innovative technologies to advance economic opportunities for women in developing countries
• Improve the quality of life of women in developing countries and enable them to participate more fully in income-generating activities.

General Mills and CARE

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Will launch "Join My Village" which will tap the power of online communities to connect women in the U.S. with families in Malawi, igniting a new level of consumer education and involvement. Ongoing reports from the field will enable consumers to participate in the lives of some of the poorest women and girls in Africa.

Pro Mujer

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Commits to provide poor women in Latin America with an integrated package of:

• Microfinance
• Health care
• Training

Goal: Reach 350,000 women and impact the lives of more than 1.7 million children.

Other commitments supporting girls and women include:

Goldman Sachs with partners Inter-American Development Bank

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Commit to:

• Provide women entrepreneurs in Peru with quality business education and enhanced access to capital.
• Offer more than 700 high-potential small business owners with the specialised training, access to capital, networking, and mentoring necessary to significantly expand their businesses.

Women for Women International

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Commits to:

• Improving the livelihoods of 103,000 female survivors of war over the next three years.
• Providing a comprehensive program of rights education and vocational and business skills training.

These will give the women access to the resources that allow them to participate in their countries' political and economic decision-making.

The ING Foundation and Girls Incorporated

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Commit to:

• Expanding the ING-Girls Inc. Investment Challenge, an innovative program giving girls hands-on investing experience while allowing them to keep their gains as college scholarships.
• Having a direct impact on 100 young women's lives, while increasing financial literacy in the United States

Beyond the corporate commitments stored in the initiative, the site includes a CGI community in which the 'CGI university' allows students to engage on matters of global citizenship and the online portal - MyCommitment.org - where individuals can make their own commitments.