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Finding Market-Based Solutions Entrepreneurship in Postconflict Zones Small and medium-sized enterprises, including those owned by women, drive economic growth and create jobs, but they often struggle to find the necessary capital, markets, and business skills to grow and expand. In order to support entrepreneurial growth, and in turn, stability and development in postconflict countries, CFR Fellow Gayle Tzemach Lemmon recommends that governments, nonprofits, and corporations adopt comprehensive long-term approaches that increase access to resources and training while also encouraging information sharing of lessons learned and best practices. Read More » Catalyzing Economic Growth Elizabeth L. Littlefield, president and chief executive officer of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, speaks to a CFR audience about rethinking the nature of public-private participation and investment in international development. Listen to Her Remarks » m-Development Technology Gender Gap Limits Global Growth Ann Mei Chang, senior adviser for women and technology at the U.S. State Department, tells a CFR audience that "when it comes to the Internet, which is even a more powerful driver of economic growth and opportunity [than mobile phones], it looks like the gender gap is probably twice as large, probably 40 percent." Read the Transcript » Using Mobile Phones to Break Down Business Barriers New research by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women reveals that micro-entrepreneurs represent 98 percent of entrepreneurial activity and account for an average 38 percent of GDP in Indonesia, Egypt, and Nigeria. This population of entrepreneurs includes an estimated thirty-two million women, and, as the foundation's chief executive officer Henriette Kolb writes, women represent a unique market opportunity for network operators and handset manufactures if they can design mobile value-added services to help women overcome business barriers. Read More on the CFR Blog Democracy in Development » Why Women Matter for Peace, Stability, and Economic Growth Afghan Women’s Rights and the U.S. Presidential Election Lemmon speaks with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell about why women's issues are becoming central in the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the importance of preserving Afghan women's rights as U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan intensifies. Watch the Video » Women’s Rights Are a Stability Indicator "For years, the international community has seen women as a 'pet project' rather than a stability indicator," argues Lemmon on PRI's The World, "but in communities where women are contributing, you see the benefits to families, to men, and to women . . . Women's rights are not a trade off for security, but rather something that benefits everyone." Listen to the Interview » Saudi Arabia, Women, and Judicial Reform "Dissent over women's status in society will remain at the heart of competing visions for [Saudi Arabia] for a long time to come," writes CFR Senior Fellow Isobel Coleman. Coleman argues that "with women making up the majority of college graduates, young generations connected in an unprecedented fashion to the Internet and social media, and the need for a more competitive economy to support its burgeoning population—it will become increasingly untenable for Saudi Arabia to straddle both the seventh century and the twenty-first century." Read More on Her Blog, Democracy and Development » Brazil’s Strong Stance on Women’s Rights CFR Senior Fellow Julia E. Sweig analyzes Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's commitment to gender equality, recommending that "the next time some American foreign-policy pontificator berates President Rousseff for not taking a strong enough position on human rights, I suggest taking a look at the example Brazil is setting for girls and women worldwide." Read More » What Leaving Afghanistan Will Cost Lemmon argues that despite U.S. commitments to protect the human rights of all Afghans, including women, it remains a mystery as to who will ensure that whatever Afghan government takes power following the 2014 Afghan presidential election respects this promise. Read More on ForeignAffairs.com »
The Women and Foreign Policy program is a central component of CFR's Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative. The objective of the Women and Foreign Policy program is to broaden understanding of the importance of women's empowerment to a host of development, health, security, and other global priorities, and to bring the status of women firmly into the mainstream foreign policy debate.
Isobel Coleman
Senior Fellow and Director, Women and Foreign Policy Program and Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative
Rachel Vogelstein
Visiting Fellow, Women and Foreign Policy
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Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Fellow and Deputy Director, Women and Foreign Policy Program
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