Female Entrepreneurship: The Key to Peace By Dr. Terry Neese According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, eight million U.S. businesses are currently women-owned. Women-owned firms have an economic impact of $3 trillion dollars in annual revenue and have approximately 23 million employees (or voters), which is 16 percent of all U.S. jobs. Women in the U.S. are starting companies two to three times faster than their male counterparts. But, why is this data important? It is widely acknowledged that societies who are economically stable have a much greater capacity for peace. The case for such a bold statement can be found through evidence in the relationship between democracies and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Democracies are the following: (Przeworski and Limongi, 1995. Modernization: Theories and Facts, World Politics.)
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Generally stable above $6,000 GDP per capita (World Bank) Generally vulnerable to coups and civil wars between $3,000 and $6,000 GDP per capita (World Bank) Likely to fail below $3,000 GDP per capita (World Bank)
Rwanda’s GDP per capita is $620 dollars and Afghanistan’s
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GDP per capita is $687, which puts them well below the $3,000 level where democracies are likely to fail. This is why the work of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW) in these countries is so important. IEEW’s PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® (PTB) Program helps provide women with a voice in their fight to establish peace and free market opportunities. Women are 50 percent of the world’s population, which gives us the ability to make major changes in the world’s economy. In our ninth year, over 500 women have graduated from the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® Program. Additional data shows that 80 percent of our graduates are still in business today, compared to a U.S. 57 percent failure rate in small business startups within the first five years. Each PTB graduate provides, on average, 25 jobs per company. Our graduates from Rwanda and Afghanistan are setting a high mark in job creation. According to our data, PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® graduates have created over 12,500 jobs. Successful business statistics and impressive personal stories show women graduating from our program and