Leaders and celebrities promote programs to preserve environment, end poverty

By PAUL BURKHARDT
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK -- Several leaders attending a U.N. summit joined international celebrities to support programs to preserve the environment as a means to help end poverty. Camera flashes lit up the night Wednesday as the VIPs headed into a restaurant in Central Park for a program by the Poverty-Environment Partnership, a network of organizations promoting U.N. goals to promote development and save the world's natural habitat. Undermining and not understanding the environment is the problem, said Angelique Kidjo, who was born in the African country of Benin. The singer explained that destruction of the environment creates natural disasters, leaving the poor stranded. As guests dined, Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds announced that her country will invest $150 million in environmental protection for the poor. The solution is not new for Scandinavian countries "who were conducting research in the early 1960s" on how poverty is affected by the environment, said Freivalds.

Actress Rosario Dawson

Media mogul Ted Turner, whose visit with leaders in North Korea last month included discussions over environmental issues, attended as a guest. "I'm only here to support the cause," Turner said. Former Vice President Al Gore sat at a table near Turner. The president of Gambia, officials from Finland and Norway, and actresses Rosario Dawson (seated right in picture), Sophia Bush and Kerry Washington were also in the audience. Wyclef Jean, a former member of the music group The Fugees, was at the event endorsing Vert Espoir, a campaign to plant trees in areas of Haiti destroyed by Hurricane Jeanne. Jean has also founded Yele Haiti, a non-profit aid group, which provides food and scholarships to his native country. Jean has also founded Yele Haiti, a nonprofit aid group that provides food and scholarships to his native country. "Sometimes you don't have to wait for government to change before you make the change yourself," said Jean, who performed after dinner. Some attendees were encouraged by the day's activities at the U.N. summit where U.S. President George W. Bush gave an unexpected endorsement to the U.N. development goals which include cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015. "Bush gave a very good speech today," said Freivalds. "I was surprised that the US committed in such a clear, clear way."

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