WASHINGTON, D.C. – To celebrate International Women’s Day, the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) reflects on the impact its programs have had on helping to empower women entrepreneurs in over 60 countries around the world, Andrew Wilson, CIPE’s acting executive director, said today.
“On International Women’s Day, CIPE is celebrating the role women play as businesswomen and leaders in their communities,” Wilson said. “CIPE and its partners around the world work with women entrepreneurs to provide them with the skills to be successful and to play a role in the democratic processes in their countries.”
An example of CIPE’s work is its partnership with inspiring woman entrepreneur and business leader Selima Ahmad, founder of the Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. CIPE recently spoke with Ahmad about her organization and the advice she gives women around the world who are starting and growing businesses. Listen to the podcast through an internet browser or iTunes.
CIPE’s entrepreneurship programs focus on entrepreneurship and civic leadership skills, empowering women to advocate policy reforms that make the business environment more supportive of businesswomen, and strengthening institutions that underpin the marketplace, such as property rights and the rule of law, to build a level playing field for all entrepreneurs.
Here are a few examples of the work CIPE is doing around the world:
- Through entrepreneurship, leadership, and civic education programs in Peru, Syria, Bahrain, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Serbia, CIPE developed the entrepreneurial skills of 425 women in 2015;
- In Nigeria, CIPE worked with associations that represent women entrepreneurs to help them advocate changes to the taxation and regulatory system that make it easier for a woman entrepreneur to start and grow a business;
- In Senegal and Zimbabwe, CIPE helped women leaders establish regional and national networks and coalitions that work with governments, civil society and other stakeholders to make the business environment more supportive of women entrepreneurs;
- A CIPE partner in Sri Lanka is partnering with a local bank for the Lend to Her program that will train women entrepreneurs on how to acquire services from the banking sector and facilitate loans for women who qualify; and
- In Serbia and Nicaragua, a CIPE-supported program partnered established women entrepreneurs with women just starting a business, which helped the new entrepreneurs grow their businesses while also developing a sustainable network of women entrepreneurs who support one another.
Published Date: March 08, 2016