Peace Through Business: U.S., Afghan, & Rwandan Women at IEEW Conference

There's an old saying, "When you educate a woman, you educate a nation." Combine this with the fact that an economically sound country has a much greater capacity for peace and you have the premise behind the Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women's Peace Through Business program.

This week, I had the privilege of emceeing and keynoting at the culmination of the Peace Through Business program sponsored by IEEW and Northwood University. Twenty three women from Rwanda and Afghanistan spent several weeks in the United States learning how to build their businesses both in a classroom setting and from living for a week with women business owner mentors around the country. Since the program's creation in 2006, more than 150 women have been directly educated and trained through IEEW.

One of the most critical elements of the program was the process of identifying obstacles the women face in their respective countries and developing bold suggestions of ways to overcome them.

Sakina Ibrahimi talked of the instability in Afghanistan: "My country not being peaceful is a big problem for us," she said. "We cannot depend on what will happen the next day."

Upon the conclusion of this exercise, the women from each country chose a representative to present their conclusions and recommendations to their respective Ambassadors. It was awe-inspiring to me. To see these brave women stand up in front of an audience in a foreign land and speak freely and openly about what they wanted and needed to succeed.

Of course, each presentation was met with wild applause from the audience along with favorable reactions from each Ambassado. Both the Afghan Ambassador Said T. Jawad and Rwandan Ambassador James Kinmonyo made promises to take the recommendations back to their countries for serious review and consideration.

In Rwanda where 56 percent of the Parliament is comprised of women, Ambassador James Kimonyo, joked that if he didn't take the recommendations seriously he might find himself without a job.

The Afghan and Rwandan women are headed back to their homelands now, but they are taking with them new confidence, ideas and lasting friendships. And they are committed to the program's pay it forward plan so they will be focused on helping other women in their country's develop leadership skills and gain access to greater opportunities.

I left the event with new friends and many invitations to visit. I look forward to traveling to their countries and learning from these women. They are truly amazing, strong and talented women. I believe there can be Peace Through Business.