Feminist Majority Foundation Afghan Women's Craft Project

TheFeminist Majority Foundation is a women's rights advocacy organization and leads theCampaign to Help Afghan Women and Girls. After being asked by Afghan women's organizations if we could help sell crafts to generate income for Afghan women refugees, the Feminist Majority Foundation created the Afghan Women's Craft Project.

The Feminist Majority Foundation works with non-profit organizations based in Pakistan and now in Afghanistan that runhealth,education,and income generation projectsfor women in Afghanistan and Afghan women living as refugees in Pakistan. One income generation project is the production and sale of crafts. The sale of crafts helps generate income for these women that is crucial for the alleviation of their poverty. Moreover, proceeds from the crafts also assist in the provision of health and educational services for Afghan women and their children.

The non-profit organizations work closely with these women on the design of crafts, provide materials for craft production, and assist in the production of crafts. Women make the crafts in their own homes.All women are paid much above local market prices for the crafts upon their completion. These crafts are then shipped to the Feminist Majority Foundation as well as a few other organizations outside of Pakistan. In the United States, the Feminist Majority Foundation in turn sells crafts primarily through the internet as well as at conferences, meetings and craft sales.

The Feminist Majority Foundation absorbs all administrative costs of the project.One hundred percent of the money generated from craft sales is transferred through secure channels back to the organizations responsible for the crafts. We have been told by the organizations in Pakistan that the craft funds are the only source of income for some of the women and that the money is also a significant assistance in filling in gaps in resources at the schools and clinics .