Last week the world celebrated International Women’s Day. Throughout the week, CIPE published a series of blogs highlighting stories and resources on women in education, women in advocacy, women in politics, women in post-conflict situations, and women leaders in corporate social responsibility. This week, we follow up with a Feature Service article, by Dr. Susanne E. Jalbert, a leading expert on economic empowerment of women.
Dr. Jalbert shares her thoughts and extensive international experience on how non-governmental organizations and women’s business organizations can help women become successful entrepreneurs and overcome entrenched social structures that prevent them from equal participation in the economy. She has worked with women’s organizations in countries as diverse as Iraq, Moldova, or Georgia. Yet, in all those places many of the challenges that women entrepreneurs face are the same: persistent cultural stereotypes and social barriers, few women role models, scarce availability of small business support and training, limited access to finance, etc.
She concludes, “Reforms aimed at giving women equal opportunities must acknowledge that promoting private businesses is vital for economic growth and development. Laying the groundwork to empower women economically – even under the most challenging conditions – will improve lives and promote a more equitable world.”
Article at a Glance
- Women’s business associations around the world are well-positioned as community changemakers and stakeholders.
- Women entrepreneurs in many developing countries continue to face serious challenges stemming from political and socio-economic instability and weak institutional infrastructure.
- By maximizing the entrepreneurial and leadership skills of their members, women’s business organizations can help improve gender equality and economic growth and development.
Published Date: March 16, 2010