Social Change Through Fair Trade

To acknowledge International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, we are taking this opportunity to honor and recognize women the world over as true agents of social change. Through purchasing retail items that were once known only as tribal or village handicrafts, you can help support these women as they implement change within their communities through their successful entrepreneurial endeavors. Supporting women from around the world through fair trade is a direct and effective way to create sustainability and peace within a community. Economic empowerment is a goal we can all relate to and for some women it is a matter of life and death. This month we encourage you to fall in love with some of the beautiful, hand-made, one-of-a-kind pieces from our strong and inspiring sisters across the globe. In this way you can help support Women for Women International, support female entrepreneurs worldwide and get your best girlfriends a unique gift just in time for International Women’s Day!

Launched in 2005, Macy’s Path to Peace Project is changing lives by putting income-generating opportunities into the hands of Rwandan women. Today the project employs thousands of weavers yielding remarkable results that impact tens of thousands of lives. Because this initial campaign has proven so effective, Macy’s has embraced an even broader product line named Shop for a Better World which includes collections of limited-edition master works from artisans in recovering regions of Rwanda, Cambodia and Indonesia.

To take action on International Women’s Day, Global Exchange is pleased to introduce the Women Around the World Gift Basket, a collection of gifts made by women from around the world. The Kaisa grass basket from Bangladesh is filled with Putumayo’s ‘Women of World Acoustic’ CD release, Palestinian Olive Oil Soap from the Aseela Women’s Cooperative, Native Scents Goddess of the Bath Herbal Bath Bags, End the Embargo on Cuba -1 Pound Bag of Coffee, Choice Tea, Star Ornaments made by members of Thai Tribal Craft, Dip n’ Whisk Gift Set from ‘The Tomorrow Project’ (helping women create futures today), Greeting Card featuring a removeable hand-painted bottlecap ornament from the Batsiranai cooperative (a co-op of mothers with disabled children living in Zimbabwe), one dark Divine Chocolate Bar and a Recycled Flour Bag Shopping Tote, again from the Batsiranai Cooperative.

Peaceful Valley seeks out vendors that are committed to supporting environmental awareness, eco-friendly manufacture techniques and sustainable farming. Their products are chosen for sustainable characteristics as well as social responsibility. They do their best to buy locally. When they do order from other countries such as Brazil, Sri Lanka, China, Canada, Mexico and the Andes, they work with the owners of the companies to ensure that all imported products are manufactured under Fair Labor Standards

Indian textiles, art from Haiti, handicrafts from Eastern Europe, or jewelry from Asia… At Gaiam you can shop for fair trade merchandise by the region in which it was produced and help local artists and family craftspeople make a fair wage using traditional skills. “Tomorrow, I will have money; I will not have to beg, and my children can go to school,” says beadwork artisan Ms. Jagwati, summing up the most important reason to support fair trade: to restore someone’s hope, dignity, and smile. Jagwati comes from a slum in Delhi, one of many places around the world where fair trade is paving a way out of the cycle of poverty. By paying livable wages, funding schools and providing job training and child care assistance, fair trade is helping talented yet disadvantaged people gain ground against illiteracy, exploitation, slavery and human trafficking.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY-A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN

Each year around the world, International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. Women from far and wide join together in celebration, honoring the intelligence, strength, courage and beauty of all women. Since 1908 this has been a day to recognize the achievements of women worldwide without regard to their national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political differences.

IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honoring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

Hundreds of events occur not just on this day but also throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. Organizations, governments and women's groups around the world choose different themes each year that reflect global and local gender issues. On March 8, Women for Women International offices around the world hold events ranging from quiet and reflective meetings to loud and festive celebrations. This year - maybe more than ever - the women the organization serves are in dire circumstances due to rising food prices in Sudan, Nigeria and many other countries. These rising costs have forced 100 million people into extreme poverty over the past year and leaving families wondering where they'll find their next meal.

Through Women for Women International programs such as its Commercial Integrated Farming Initiative (CIFI), women are acquiring skills that will allow them to end the food crisis forever by learning how to use sustainable farming practices to grow crops that can help feed their families, earn an income and move them from victim to survivor.

To learn more about this program and what women are doing to eradicate hunger in their countries, Women for Women International invites you to join a Global Teleconference on March 5, facilitated by Global Program Executive Director Karen Sherman and Dr. Grace Fisiy, Agribusiness Specialist.

For more International Women's Day Events, please see the listing below by country:

• United Kingdom (215 events)
• United States of America (144 events)
• Australia (141 events)
• Canada (107 events)
• Ireland (13 events)
• more countries ...

WOMEN FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL - CHANGING THE WORLD ONE WOMAN AT A TIME

Women for Women International mobilizes women to change their lives through a holistic approach that addresses the unique needs of women in conflict and post-conflict environments by providing them with the necessary tools and resources to move beyond crisis and poverty toward stability and self-sufficiency, thereby ultimately promoting viable civil societies.

Women for Women International begins by working with women who may have lost everything in conflict and often have nowhere else to turn. Participation in their one-year program launches women on a journey from victim to survivor to active citizen. The organization identifies services to support graduates of the program as they continue to strive for greater social, economic and political participation in their communities.

As each woman engages in a multi-phase process of recovery and rehabilitation, she opens a window of opportunity presented by the end of conflict to help improve the rights, freedoms and status of women in her country. As women who go through the program assume leadership positions in their villages, actively participate in the reconstruction of their communities, build civil society, start businesses, train other women and serve as role models, they become active citizens who can help to establish lasting peace and stability.

Women begin in the Sponsorship Program where direct financial aid from a sponsor helps them deal with the immediate effects of war and conflict such as lack of food, water, medicine and other necessities. Exchanging letters with sponsors provides women with an emotional lifeline and a chance to tell their stories - maybe for the first time. As their situations begin to stabilize, women in the program begin building a foundation for their lives as survivors.

While continuing to receive sponsorship support, women embark on the next leg of the journey and participate in the Renewing Women's Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program that provides them with rights awareness, leadership education and vocational and technical skills training. Women build upon existing skills and learn new ones in order to regain their strength, stability and stature on the path to becoming active citizens.

Women for Women International believes that establishing a means to earn a sustainable living is critical to being fully active in the life of a family, community and country. To help women transform their new skills into financial independence and sustainability, they offer job skills training to strengthen women's existing skills and to introduce new skills in traditional and non-traditional fields so women can access future employment opportunities.

Building on the skills training program, Women for Women International offers comprehensive business services designed to help women start and manage their own micro-enterprises. The organization gives them access to capital and operates micro-credit programs in Afghanistan and Bosnia & Herzegovina with an overall repayment rate of 98%. They give women access to markets by facilitating product sales through outside retailers and provide expertise such as product design, production assistance and business development workshops. They also help women form micro-enterprises such as production facilities and cooperative stores to sell the goods these women produce.

View the Other Side of War - by Zainab Salbi: Founder and CEO, Women for Women International

Listen to Alice Walker read her introduction and view slideshow. *Then buy it here from Amazon.*

Founded in 1993 by Zainab Salbi, Women for Women International has empowered over 153,000 women survivors of war to move toward economic self-sufficiency with its year-long program of direct aid, rights education, job skills training, and small business development. The organization has distributed $42 million in direct aid, micro-credit loans, and other program services, while having mobilized more than 125,000 women and men in 105 countries worldwide to reach out and support women survivors of war - one woman at a time.

© Copyright 2008 Women for Women International