Global Goods Partners will provide widowed women artisans in Kandahar, Afghanistan, material and operational support, product design expertise, and access to international market channels. In cooperation with Kandahar Treasure, a locally-founded and led organization, the project will enable widowed artisans to sell their exquisite and unique hand-embroidered products in the international marketplace and, in return, earn income to provide for their families.
In Kandahar, Afghanistan, decades of war and internal conflict have left tens of thousands of women desperately poor and widowed with few or no opportunities to provide financially for their families. This burden is aggravated by local conservative and patriarchal traditions that leave over 90% of Kandahar women illiterate with little mobility outside the home. This project is designed to provide dignified and durable work that will enable women in Kandahar the means to support her family.
In addition to material and technical support, GGP's design team will develop a range of products designed to appeal to international audiences that incorporate Khamak embroidery, a unique art form handed down from one generation of Kandahar women to the next. With GGP's established sales network, Kandahar Treasure products will reach an audience far beyond the local market, expanding the artisans' incomes and future earning potential.
The project will provide material and operational support to 400 women artisans in Kandahar, Afghanistan, while at the same time developing Kandahar Treasure's in-house capacity to design collections of products for the international marketplace. With broader market appeal and robust promotion through GGP's marketing and sales network, this project will strengthen Kandahar Treasure's internal capacity and ensure fair living wages for women artisans for years to come.
This project has provided additional documentation in a XLSX file (projdoc.xlsx).