Ambassador Fulton remarks on Women’s Empowerment & Global Security at WHY POVERTY.

WHY POVERTY: Women’s Empowerment and Global Security | DR Concert Hall | November 17, 2012

Ambassador Fulton speaking at Why Poverty. (Photo Martin Kunzendorf)

My thanks and congratulations to Mette Hoffman Meyer for bringing together millions of people around the world to focus on the effects of poverty – and to understand that we can – and we must – do everything we can to improve the lives of those who lack access to what we consider the basics: clean water, food, safe housing, education, jobs, and basic health care, among others.

In a moment you will watch “Solar Mamas.” Let’s focus on women – and the importance to all of us that women become full participants in their societies. It may be a surprise to some that one of the largest emerging markets is not a country, but a gender: women. Helping women become active participants in businesses is a key driver for improving the global economy.

The United States and Denmark share a commitment to improving the status of women and girls around the world, including as entrepreneurs and business leaders. Women are a key element of our foreign policies. Women’s entrepreneurship is a key aspect of our international economic agendas. In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly in September, President Obama announced the U.S. signed a Declaration on Women’s Participation. It is part of a new Equal Future Partnership to expand women’s political and economic partnership around the world, based upon the research which shows that women’s political and economic empowerment are critical to fostering international peace and security, increasing vibrant global markets, and establishing open and accountable governments. I am pleased that Denmark is one of the partners.

We are proud to partner with Goldman Sachs, the World Bank, and Denmark, among others, in the “10,000 Women Initiative” to open doors for women to business education. We congratulate Denmark for its pilot program in Tanzania to help women who graduate from business school and otherwise qualify for loans to receive them through local banks with Denmark guaranteeing 75% of the loan value.

A recent study by Booz & Company suggests that if female employment rates were to match male employment rates, overall GDP would grow significantly – from about 5% -9% in countries like the U.S. and Japan, to 34% in developing countries like Egypt. Study after study after study – by World Bank, World Economic Forum, Goldman Sachs among others – indicate that helping women become productive members of their local economies helps strengthen the global economy – and is good business for everyone of us sitting in this hall.

Investing in women is a sound strategy for job creation, economic growth and stability. Today there are more than 200 million women entrepreneurs worldwide. That number will grow. Women earn over USD $10 trillion each year, and this number is expected to grow by $5 trillion during the next few years. In some developing countries, women’s incomes are growing faster than men’s.

It is just under a century since women in Denmark and the U.S. achieved the right to vote. My great- grandfather Mads Frederik Jensen-Aale served in Danish Lanstinget from1918 to 1940. He entered the Landsting in 1918 – the first year that women served in the Danish Parliament.

None of us can imagine what our societies would be like today had our great-grandparents not taken that important step.

Today we see all too clearly the poverty and strife in societies where women are denied or hampered in access to education, business and political participation. The best predictor of a nation’s stability is how it treats its own women. Valerie M. Hudson, a professor who holds the George H.W. Bush Chair at the Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University, has a provocative book based upon the largest database on the status of women in the world today. Her conclusions are striking. The best predictor of a nation’s peacefulness is not its level of democracy, wealth or ethno-religious identity. Rather, the best predictor of a nation’s peacefulness is how it treats its women. In fact, those democracies with a high level of violence against women are as unstable and insecure as nations that are not democratic.

The World Bank for decades has conducted studies that show a correlation of countries where women are integrated into business and the economy with prosperity and stability. Those states we see as poorly developed and unstable also are countries where women are not full participants in their societies.

Goldman Sachs in its Global Economic Paper 164, focused on the importance of education for women and girls. The more education a woman has, the more likely she is to work. The more education a woman has, the fewer children she has. The more education a woman has, the less likely she is to die in child birth. Lower rate of female education is a significant contributing factor to the slower economic growth of those countries that lag behind.

As you watch Solar Mamas, you will be drawn to Rafae, the main heroine. Her bravery in stepping out of her village, leaving behind her family for six months while she seeks an education is so powerful. There are brave men in the film, too. The founder of Barefoot University. The Jordanian minister who is able to bridge the cultural gap and to both encourage Rafae and calm her husband and other villagers that Rafae’s education is worthy of their support. Because Danes are the happiest people in the world, please listen for Rafae’s observation when she returns home. “I was happy” she said about learning new skills – “we should want to be happy.”

Despite the differences in culture, we share common needs and desires. Wanting to be educated and productive citizens is such a common desire.

Thank you, Denmark, for being one of the countries who provides 1.0% GDP in development assistance. Thank you, Denmark, for understanding that by educating women, you educate a village. By empowering women to develop small businesses, you employ others in the village and raise the standard ofliving in the village.

Thank you, Mette, for bringing us together to understand the importance of empowering women. It is good for the global economy. It is important for global stability. We must realize that in many ways, our futures depends on it.