International Women's Day - a Perspective from the Nation's Capitol
On Tuesday I was honored to be a guest at the U.S. Department of State's 2011 International Women of Courage Award Ceremony, hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with special guest First Lady Michelle Obama. They told the stories of 10 women who are advancing peace, advocating for education opportunities for boys and girls, and offering legal services to underserved populations. All while enduring harassment, threats and torture. They speak out in countries like Cuba, China and Afghanistan. Two of the recipients couldn't attend because it was unsafe for them to leave their countries. They are the faces of International Women's Day.
Click to watch Secretary Clinton's full speech.
On Wednesday I attended a CARE Conference (CARE seeks to end poverty worldwide.) Conference speakers included Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates; Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah and Former First Lady Laura Bush. Mrs. Bush gave the keynote speech, in which she said, "The success and progress of free societies depends on the participation of all citizens, men and women." Her daughters were in attendance and led panel discussions.
One of the participants of the 10,000 Women program spoke. She spoke about her fathers small business and how it pained her to watch him close the doors when he decided to retire. She took the reigns and eventually expanded the business to employ 25 people, with the revenue increasing by 400% in just one year. She became the first business owner in the region to offer two months of paid maternity leave.
So why women?
For centuries women have been marginalized. Family businesses are traditionally passed down to sons. Husbands control the finances. Some banks refuse to lend to women.
Investing in women and girls with microfinance and social business initiatives is not only good for business, it's good for development, national security and communities the world over.
Goldman Sachs gets it. CEO Lloyd Blankfein attended both of the afore-mentioned events. They started their 10,000 Women program because they understand that cutting off half of the population as customers and business owners is bad business policy.
When women are a part of a country's economy they not only help boost its GDP, they contribute to a safer, more secure society. Countries that oppress women are more likely to harbor terrorism. That is why Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said "development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers." Investing in women is good for our national security interests.
Extending financial assistance like bank loans or small business loans to women is good for communities. A small microloan prevents families from selling their daughter into prostitution so they can send their boys to school. A social business, such as the Nomi Network employs girls in Cambodia who are at risk for sex trafficking. Their products are really stylish. Check out their products here.
In many countries women are not allowed to access loans at banks - it's part of the reason why so many microfinance recipients are women.
In the same way that American companies are realizing the bottom-line advantage to hiring women, large-scale companies understand that marginalizing half the population is not just immoral - it's bad business.
The increasing programs to reach women isn't an attempt to financially stifle men, it's an effort to extend financial access to a population previously untapped.
As Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn said in their book Half the Sky, "in the nineteenth century, the central moral challenge was slavery. In the twentieth century it was the battle against totalitarianism… In this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality in the developing world."
