50,000 is a pretty big number — bigger than most you see in headlines about Iraq, unless you’re talking budget numbers.
50,000 caught my eye in a report as the number of Iraqi businessmen and women that CIPE has reached in 2 years through its network of over 40 business associations and chambers of commerce. The reason it caught my eye was because I’d just finished reading several news articles about budget numbers in Iraq. Ours is miniscule compared to the figures normally bandied around. About $6 million total to date. That’s $120 per person.
Working flexibly and using virtual offices, our team has brought together businesspeople, economic journalists, think tanks, academics, students, and political party representatives. These participants also represent the incredible diversity that is Iraq — in politics, religion, region, gender — yet they come together precisely because we’re focused on issues that easily cross stereotype identities. They’re coming together to build their business skills, to talk about tax and labor policies (note to French), to educate their youth, to learn computer skills, and to figure out how to get businesspeople who are interested in a stabile productive Iraq to be heard when economic policies are set.
Oh, and that 50,000 count doesn’t include the many thousands more reached through TV and radio. I think we’re into cents per person at that point.
Positive things can happen in Iraq – when a handful of folks with dedication, faith, and grit have the nerve to talk to people in ways that common, ordinary conversations about improving your life should take place.
I know I’m biased, but with the results delivered through these programs, I bet I’m also right: the CIPE message of democratic and economic reform is also a force to be reckoned with in Iraq.
Published Date: April 10, 2006