President extends support to elephant conservation at Clinton Global Initiative meeting

Thursday, 25 September 2014 00:16 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

New York: President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday joined former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the 2014 annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, along with other several other Heads of State such as Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, joined former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to support the Elephant Action Network at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative on Tuesday – Pix by Sudath Silva

The President at the meeting extended Sri Lanka’s support to the Clinton Global Initiative’s Elephant Action Network that works toward the conservation of elephants, particularly the greatly-threatened African elephants. Several other leaders joined President Rajapaksa on stage for the event, including Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the President of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba and the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh. The initiative was primarily aimed at putting an international spotlight on the crisis facing African elephants. The annual meeting, established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, convenes global leaders to discuss solutions to world problems. President Rajapaksa participated in the event following an invitation by Secretary Clinton earlier this year. The President is in New York City afternoon to attend the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that is taking place this week. President Rajapaksa spoke at the UN Climate Summit 2014 and held bilateral discussions with the leaders of Nepal and Colombia and the Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma.