Asha Handicrafts Association participated in the Mumbai Marathon along with 200 youth who are the future of our country. This event was held on 15th January 2006. We were there to create awareness among the general public about the necessity of ensuring the values of Fair Trade and how it would impact artisans at the grassroots level. Our motto for the event was "Make Trade Fair".

Make Trade Fair campaign is a growing international Movement initiated by OXFAM, which fights for artisans and farmers in underdeveloped countries to enable them to get a fair deal by changing the unfair rules of world trade and works towards policy reforms at the domestic level. This campaign wants to ensure that the governments of developing countries have the power to decide the scale and pace of liberalization so as to protect and ensure food security, decent livelihood and all round rural development. OXFAM has highlighted the negative impact that globalization has on the craftsmen and farmers. It aims at bringing in regulations that improve the living standards of Indian artisans and farmers.

Today millions of people around the world are mired in the cycle of poverty because they are unable to sell their produce in markets, which are biased against them. You are all aware of the negative impact of unfair trade on the economies of countries and the havoc it has caused in the lives of people. The alternative we propose is to make sure that Trade is done absolutely fairly.

This has the potential of lifting millions of poor people around the world out of the morass of poverty. Together we can put an end to this exploitation. Help us Make Trade Fair!

Asha Handicrafts Association is not a 'new kid on the block'. They are a pioneer Fair Trade Organization that have been striving for the last thirty years to empower Indian artisans by marketing their handicrafts abroad, thus helping them to earn a decent standard of living and often keeping a dying craft alive.

As a Fair Trade organization, our focus is on education of the children of the artisans, giving them a level playing field, when they seek employment. To this end we give out education grants to the artisans - who are economically backward - in the form of reimbursement of expenses of their school fees, uniforms, books etc., we feel is well spent. The other areas that we are into are, health care facilities for the artisans and their families and occasionally we organize training for the artisans to improve their skills, thus enabling them to compete in the marketplace.

We are actively involved in campaigning and lobbying for equitable policies, laws and regulations in support of Fair Trade which includes gender equality, protection of the environment, no child labour, capacity building, decent working conditions and making sure that there is no form of exploitation of the craftsperson. Our goal is to make life more liveable for the home-based, disorganized labour at the grassroots level. It would be wonderful if you could let us know how we could do better.