Empower Artisans in Palestine through Fair Trade

We are happy to report to you today that our artisans are finally starting to recover from the financial challenges of the pandemic.  

Our parnter arrtisan groups are small, grassroots operation that struggled even before the pandemic.  When the sales of their handicrafts plunged drastically in 2020-2021, many of them were depleted of cash flow and became unable to pay wages or buy materials.  Sunbula's marketing work, via our fair trade shop in Jerusalem and e-commerce, has became more crucial than ever, for we are the main source of income to many.  

When the sales began to improve earlier this year, many of our partners were still scrambling to cover delayed wages or pay off their debt with local merchants, from whom craft-making materials had been purchased on credit.

Since our last report, however, we have been witnessing a shift in the artisans from the survival mode to the recovery phase.  With the steadily increase of earning through our shop, Idna Ladies' Association in a Hebron area village, for example, has finally caught up with salary payment to their staff, who worked without pay for more than six months.  Another example is the Arab Women's Union in Bethlehem, which, at the height of the pandemic, had to reduce the number of women working in embroidery and sewing to only 3, a steep drop from 100 women in the pre-pandemic years.  Today, they are working with 40 women as their situation has gradually been improving.   

We are also continuing to provide other forms of support to our artisans, by helping with new product designs, producing brochures and packaging materials, and promoting their work via digital marketing.  

Your support of our work has made possible these tangible, positive changes.  Thank you again for the impact you helped creating.