In my six years managing worldwide communications for Tupperware, I've met with businesswomen from around the globe, from accomplished cosmopolitan women in European capitals to incredibly resourceful women in places like Indonesia and South Africa with no formal education who practically willed themselves to succeed. I've always been moved and motivated by these wonderful women, but the women I met -- in, of all places, Baghdad -- have affected me like few others.
First, let me explain what brought me to Iraq. Tupperware CEO, Rick Goings, and I were invited as part of the Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations partnering with Business Executives for National Security Delegation. The goal of the delegation was to learn about Iraqi businesswomen, the challenges they face in their country's rapidly changing (and rapidly growing) economy, and the potential business and investment opportunities there.
As studies have repeatedly shown, providing earnings opportunities for women is critical to a country's growth. The World Economic Forum's 2009 Global Gender Gap report suggests that closing the gender gap could boost U.S. GDP by as much as 9 percent, European GDP by as much as 13 percent and Japanese GDP by as much as 16 percent. The potential for growth is even greater in developing countries. As the Atlantic pointed out in a powerful article last summer, the greater the economic and political power of women, the greater a country's economic success.
Iraq is an interesting case, because juxtaposed with its long history of empowering women and incorporating them into the traditionally male-dominated Arab society, is a disturbing increase in violence against women since the start of the war. Female Iraqi professionals are often targeted for abduction and murder. Solving this problem will be the first critical step toward the success of women in Iraq, and likely the success of the Iraqi economy as a whole.
My natural orientation is to believe that with sheer determination anything is possible. I've seen that first-hand working at Tupperware. But seeing the challenges women in Iraq are up against puts my belief to the ultimate test.
After 30 years of war, Iraq has become a brown, dusty and fractured country. The infrastructure to rebuild is nearly nonexistent. We stayed in a compound in the international zone. There are heavy and huge metal gates with round-the-clock armed guards -- one of many security checkpoints that you must pass through to go in or out of the Green Zone.
As many of you know, the Green Zone is a 5.6 sq. mile area in central Baghdad that is the main base for foreign and Iraqi government officials. The official name is the International Zone, or as referred to locally, the IZ. The Red Zone obviously connotes danger, and refers to anything outside the Green Zone -- which, in practical terms, is the rest of the country. Parts of the IZ were originally home to the villas of government officials and a number of palaces belonging to Saddam Hussein and his family. It was the center of Ba'athist Iraq.
Our visit began with an introductory session during which we spoke with nine Iraqi businesswomen. Nearly all of them own construction or supply businesses that they built through contracts with the American military or American companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). I was especially impressed with a strong and confident woman named Azza.
Azza returned to Iraq from the United States with her husband in 2004. He is a government official who works on educational partnerships for Iraq and the U.S. She leads training and development seminars aimed at helping small and women-owned Iraqi businesses win contracts. She also coordinates with NGOs to fund Iraqi women's initiatives. Azza has a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's in information technology, and she is determined to use her knowledge to help Iraqi women develop and grow businesses.
Best of all, Azza has been encouraging every woman she meets with to be a leader in her community and to work with other women. This is essentially the model we've used to grow the Tupperware business in emerging markets -- provide one woman with an earning opportunity that gives her money and self-confidence, then encourage her to serve as a mentor to others so they can achieve the same things. However, Iraq has unique obstacles that could make this model, or any business model, difficult to implement.
While the women we met are amazing, this group was much different than businesswomen in other countries, due to the nature of their work. Most of the women's businesses are heavily dependent on one customer -- the U.S. government. Our government is not only the source of much of their income, but also the root of many of their contacts. When the U.S. pulls out of Iraq at the end of the year, most, if not all, of these contacts will disappear and these Iraqi businesswomen will have to transition to either contracting with the Iraqi government or establishing their businesses in the private sector.
Two major challenges with this are an inherent distrust of the Iraqi government and the fact that these women aren't able to find banks to lend them money. There's a vicious cycle at work here. These businesses can't transition to the private sector without financing, yet no bank will lend them money without 30 percent collateral and a business plan that demonstrates proof that they can be profitable. We asked why the women we met can't take the knowledge they gained working with the U.S. government and use it to generate contracts with the Iraqi government. They responded that they don't know if the Iraqi government will pay on time -- or at all. However, they all hope that things will improve with the new government in place and that corruption will decrease.
Of course, the problems go deeper than just the business environment. There are social obstacles that must be overcome as well. I'll talk about those in my next post. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on how American businesses can help improve the situation in Iraq.