21 June 2005

Global Summit of Women To Promote Wider Economic Participation

Women entrepreneurs to exchange ideas, establish networking alliances

By Lauren Monsen
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- When the 15th annual Global Summit of Women opens in Mexico City on June 23, approximately 900 women leaders from around the world will meet to exchange ideas and strategies on starting and expanding a business enterprise.

The U.S. delegation to the summit will be headed by Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, who will be accompanied by Charlotte Ponticelli, the State Department's senior coordinator for women's issues, and several other high-level U.S. officials.

The summit, which runs to June 25, is organized annually by a nonprofit organization headed by an international planning committee of women leaders in business and government.  Mexican President Vicente Fox will speak at the June 23 opening ceremony and Mexican first lady Marta Sahagun de Fox will present the Global Leadership Award -- one of three summit-related awards -- at a dinner on June 24.

Summit organizers report that delegates from at least 72 countries, representing every region in the world, are expected to attend the Mexico City event.  The United States, through the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will be sponsoring delegates from 10 countries, including Afghanistan and Iraq.  Organizers note that the participation of Afghan women at the 2005 summit has been greeted enthusiastically by the government of Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai.

In a newsletter issued June 15 by the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, Afghan Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad praised the success of Afghan women entrepreneurs, adding: "We are proud of them.  Our delegation will not only share ... how much they have accomplished in a few years, but [will] also benefit from this opportunity to interact and expand their networks and horizon."

According to Dobriansky, the goal of the 2005 Global Summit of Women "is to advance the role of women in the 21st-century economy through technology, networking, and public/private partnerships" involving governments and the private sector.  "In particular, the summit will focus on enabling women to succeed in micro-enterprises," she said.

The participation of Afghan and Iraqi delegates at the 2005 summit "is an excellent opportunity for these businesswomen to share experiences with their global colleagues and get advice on how to advance their political participation and economic empowerment," said Dobriansky.  "Encouraging private-sector engagement in this manner complements our other programs, such as the Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative and the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council."

Significantly, the summit builds cross-border alliances that help provide fledgling businesswomen with essential contacts and support, while also serving the needs of more established entrepreneurs.  These alliances are complemented by State Department initiatives that assist women entrepreneurs in a variety of ways, said Dobriansky; for example, she cited the Middle East Partnership Initiative's (MEPI) Business Internship program, "which brings women from across the Arab world to the United States for training and internships in Fortune 500 companies," and conferences that link American women executives "with partners in the Baltics to share best practices and create new businesses."

Along with its summit partners, the United States is strongly committed to expanding women's economic and political clout worldwide, said Dobriansky.  "Through USAID, the U.S. government has ... given more than $150 million annually over the past five years for micro-enterprise loans worldwide, 70 percent of which go to women," she noted.

Ponticelli, interviewed via telephone June 21, explained that the Mexico City summit aims "to build on the core challenges and achievements of women, which are related to the major pillars of U.S. foreign policy: enhancing economic opportunity, building links between democracies, [and] working together towards common goals."  The summit, she said, will focus on "job creation, trade opportunities, and opening markets," which are "closely tied to the peace and stability agenda" of the United States.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of economic opportunity as a tool for women's advancement -- and for societal cohesion overall, said Ponticelli.  "Everywhere we go, women tell us that in addition to political leadership opportunities, it's equally critical to have economic opportunities," she said.  "Those opportunities, taken together, are a major tool for combating terror and oppression."

Moreover, "gatherings like the Global Summit of Women are key" to helping women develop the skills and contacts they will need in the business world, Ponticelli said.  And the participation of Afghan and Iraqi women at the 2005 summit is a source of great pride, she added.  "We're particularly pleased to help field delegations from these two critical countries," said Ponticelli.  "Afghan women entrepreneurs are literally rebuilding Afghanistan."

The Afghan delegation includes women who are involved in "a range of businesses, not just the traditional textiles and bakeries, though they are represented, too," she said.  Ponticelli noted that when she traveled to Afghanistan with first lady Laura Bush in March, she met "one [Afghan woman] who had started her own construction business" and another who had recently bought a cow, which enabled her to supply dairy products to an ice-cream store in Kabul.  "Afghan women are a living example of the power of entrepreneurship," said Ponticelli.

The 2005 summit "is a very important opportunity for Iraqi women, as well," she pointed out.  "There are seven women in the [Iraqi] delegation; one was just appointed as head of the Iraqi Business Council."  That woman, Ponticelli recalled, told her during an earlier meeting that even during the darkest days of Saddam Hussein's regime, "she never lost sight of her dream of operating a hotel."

Women in Iraq, she added, are playing an instrumental role in the reconstruction of their country, just like their Afghan sisters.  Thanks to the summit's emphasis on sharing and developing job skills, best practices, and models of success, "women from other regions can provide Iraqi women with vital support as they go about rebuilding their country," said Ponticelli.

At the beginning of the summit, the U.S. delegation will meet with delegates from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Latin America -- and together, those delegates will examine "what women [entrepreneurs] are doing" in their respective regions, "what kind of help they need, and how they can work together," she explained.

The summit's host country changes each, with previous summits taking place in South Korea (2004) and Morocco (2003), among other locales.  "It is very important and helpful that the summit is in Latin America this year," because "Latin American women have provided tremendous examples" to their counterparts elsewhere, Ponticelli said.  Even though women in Latin America remain committed to achieving greater political representation, they have demonstrated that "economic opportunity is an equally vital track for shaping public policy," she said.

Summit participants are also mindful of the need to encourage and recruit young women to embark on business careers, said Ponticelli.  "At the Global Women's Leadership Awards Ceremony, award-winners are always women who play an active and creative role in building the next generation of women leaders," she said.  She noted that the 2005 summit will hold workshops on micro-enterprise, innovative marketing techniques and leadership development, as part of an ongoing effort to assist the next crop of women entrepreneurs.

Also, "there is a huge representation from the corporate world" at each year's summit, Ponticelli observed.  For example, major firms such as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Cisco, Kraft Foods, Daimler Chrysler/U.S., and General Electric will all be participating -- and those companies will, collectively, send 208 of their top women executives to the Mexico City summit.  The executives will be heavily involved in summit discussions about training and developing young leaders, helping women employees balance work and family obligations, and how to battle workplace discrimination, said Ponticelli.

She reflected on her own participation at the 2003 summit in Morocco, where she had a chance to meet with women entrepreneurs from Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi.  Ponticelli expressed admiration for the women's resourcefulness in pursuit of their aspirations; if they were having trouble getting promoted at work, they told her, "their response was often to start their own businesses."  The women she spoke to "are doing great things," she said.  "This kind of transregional sharing of experience is very good."

The 2005 Global Summit of Women will feature the second Women's Expo (WEXPO), and "WEXPO participants will have an opportunity to showcase their products or services to prospective clients and partners," says the U.S. State Department.  Summit workshops will explore a variety of themes, such as strategic networking, growing micro-enterprises into mainstream business through trade, electronic commerce and numerous other topics.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)