December 14th, 2011 by Susan McPherson
How Business Can Make A Difference For Women In Conflict-Stricken Countries
This article originally appeared on Forbes.com on Dec. 14, 2011.
As a CSR professional, I’m often focused on how business can do better for the planet while still creating profits for shareholders and creating jobs for its communities. What isn’t often part of the mix is how successful businesses and entrepreneurship can help pave a path towards peace and sustainability. Business is a common language that not only transcends cultures but can also break down the isolation of conflict-affected communities. Stronger businesses and innovation are powerful drivers for a country’s peaceful future.
This belief drives the nearly 300 business professionals who volunteer their skills in the conflict-affected regions of Afghanistan, Rwanda and El Salvador under the big tent of the non-profit Bpeace. Since its launch in 2002, the organization has evolved its tactics and programs, but Bpeace’s key mission remains steadfast — focusing on job creation, economic stability and tight transparent reporting to its key supporters and funders. Its unique strategy is to provide pro-bono skilled consulting to “Fast Runners,” high-potential small business owners in business sectors ripe for growth. Bpeace is ambitious — intent on creating one million jobs across 1,000 conflict-affected communities.
Bpeace celebrates every job its Fast Runners create and every story of transformation achieved through connections and community. Cynthia Fisher, a Bpeace member and VP of Marketing & Quality Assurance at Bar Harbor Foods in Maine, helped four female Afghan food processors calculate better pricing for their jarred chutneys, bottled mint water, dried raisins, and tomato paste. Bpeace also provided a framework for these Afghan women to draw upon each other for problem solving. Today their individual businesses employ 307 other Afghan women.
Bpeace applied the same connectivity and community principles to bring two independent Afghan soccer ball manufacturers together in a joint export venture. DOSTI soccer balls are selling briskly online in the U.S., and the 430 Afghan women who hand stitch them benefit.
Read the full article on Forbes.com.
