A meeting of the International Council of Women Business Leaders was held on Thursday, November 30, 2014, at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Initiated by Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State of the United States, this meeting aimed to promote issues relating to gender equality, women’s employment and empowerment of women.

The event was attended by leading businesswomen from around the world, including Ofra Strauss, Chairperson of Strauss Group and President of Jasmine for the advancement of women-owners of small and medium businesses, Cherie Blair, the former Finance Minister of Indonesia and senior executives from Great American Bank.

The event included a panel discussion in which Ofra Strauss described Jasmine organization that helps promote women-owned small and medium businesses in Israel. During the discussion Ofra Strauss said: “Jasmine is a non-profit organization that empowers and helps Jewish and Arab women. While it may be difficult to think about peace these days, it is our joint work – Jewish and Arab women – that can bring us together through collaboration.”

Mrs. Strauss added that “Small and medium businesses are the reflection of society, and helping them means helping to narrow the gaps in each society and in every country…in every country, diversity is strength. This is a fait accompli: when women are involved in a business, results are far better.”

In her speech, Mrs. Clinton said: “Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights. Countries that will be wise enough to include more women with equal employment and equal pay, will succeed more and generate significantly-better economic results than countries that exclude women, and there are still more than a hundred such countries in the world.”