"Is doing business ever easy?"

That's a simple question to answer: Doing business is rarely easy. Doing business during a worldwide recession is even harder.

Entrepreneurs and business owners have always had an uphill battle; now, with the current economic climate, it's steeper than ever. But women seem to know how to manage. Studies repeatedly show that women business owners are handling the current climate better than ever.

Still, some women business owners across the globe have even bigger challenges than this downturn. As our economy grows more global and more interdependent, it's important to realize what's happening to women business owners around the world.

As a business owner and now the CEO of a nonprofit, the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, I have had my eyes opened wide--worldwide. Through our Peace Through Business program, which provides business training for women entrepreneurs from Afghanistan and Rwanda, I have seen what obstacles businesswomen in developing countries are overcoming.

Yes, life as an American businesswoman is full of worry, work and--if you're lucky--sometimes wealth. It's a constant juggling act: You've not only got your business, you also have your children, your parents, your pets--and the list goes on.

The woman business owner in Afghanistan not only shares the same worries as an American businesswoman, she's not even sure she'll make it back home alive from the office in the evening. She is living--and doing business--in a war zone.

Now travel about 3,500 miles south to Rwanda. It's been 16 years since the horrific genocide, when the country was almost wiped off the map. Before, women had little place in society, let alone in business. Today, women make up 70 percent of Rwanda's parliament, a world record. While Rwandan women are making significant progress compared with other countries, these women still face problems. For one, the cultural mind-set is a bit different from the mind-set typically found in American culture. In the lower socioeconomic classes, the woman is often the laborer, working barefooted in the fields with her baby strapped onto her back with a blanket. The husband, meanwhile, stays at home and classifies himself as a "businessman," though he would not earn such a title if he were in the United States.

The realities for women business owners in developing countries began to sink in for me after three years' work with the institute. Beyond the cultural, social and political barriers these women face, there are also economic barriers. The World Bank classifies countries into four groups, from lowest to highest gross national incomes per capita. The lowest-income countries are defined by a GNI of $975 or below, and any country whose GNI is below $11,906 is considered a developing country.

So here's a number crunch of Afghanistan's and Rwanda's GNIs: Afghanistan, $429; Rwanda, $407. Both countries clearly fall far below the $975 cutoff point for what are considered low-income countries. For a quick comparison, the United States' GNI is $47,577. This gaping difference demonstrates how tough Afghan and Rwandan women business owners have it--and that's just the numbers.

So, what about the process of starting a business, with respect to rules and regulations? How strict are these for developing countries? As a businesswoman in a developing country, it's hard enough to clear the existing hurdles; adding in higher, more burdensome hurdles (such as inefficient and inaccessible business laws) makes it nearly impossible.

Government regulations that encourage and support business productivity are especially essential during economic recessions, for they help provide a solid framework for the slipping economy to rest on. The World Bank recently published its 2010 "Doing Business" report, which measures regulatory reforms in 183 countries. The analysis focuses on 10 areas of reform, including getting credit, hiring employees and starting a business.

There's good news for our Rwandan businesswomen--Rwanda is leading the world in the number and impact of reforms that help make doing business easier and more efficient. Rwanda moved its "ease of doing business" ranking from 143 (out of 183) to 67.

This is beyond good news--it is extraordinary news, considering the burdensome procedures and regulations women business owners in developing countries have to overcome. Let's take a look at what these women are up against.

It's hard to imagine living in a country where there are no lines of credit, no affordable loans and, in many cases, no bank accounts. But that's the kind of world Rwandan and Afghan businesswomen live in. On a scale of 0 to 10, Afghanistan scores a 0 on the "Doing Business" report's credit information index, which means there is little to no access to credit information. In turn, obtaining a loan to start a business is next to impossible. The Afghan parliament has introduced some legislation that aims to make doing business easier. But for it to be effective, the people have to adopt and cultivate that legislation.

Interest rates on loans in Rwanda remain extremely high--sometimes up to 25 percent. But there are improvements, such as new laws that have expanded the range of assets that can be used as collateral. Despite the challenges, women in Afghanistan and Rwanda--and across the world--are engaging in business, and they are playing an important role by providing products and services to their societies. The overall goal, though, is to help them to expand their businesses, going from informal settings (in their homes) to formal ones (such as a storefront). This transition will help create more jobs and more revenue, both of which make a positive impact on the economic stability of a country.

It's a good sign that governments across the world are improving business laws and regulations as part of their economic recovery plans, because these laws have a direct effect on the economic health of countries and economies worldwide.

New and improved laws will help clear the way for more female entrepreneurs to go into business. Women have proved time after time that they are more than just entrepreneurial; they are also good at business. They pay back their loans at higher rates, and they invest their money into their families and their communities. As our Afghan and Rwandan businesswomen have shown us, they don't let anything stand in their way.