Common Threads : Steelcase and ARZU's Market-Led Approach to Create Employment Opportunities for Women Weavers in Afghanistan
ARZU, a Chicago-based Non-governmental Organization (NGO), was founded on the goal to apply a market-led approach for sustainable poverty alleviation achieved through artisan-based employment that empowers women. Focusing on Afghan women, the organ...
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/912491468180891188/Common-threads-steel-case-and-ARZUs-market-led-approach-to-create-employment-opportunities-for-women-weavers-in-Afghanistan http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27448 |
| Summary: | ARZU, a Chicago-based Non-governmental
Organization (NGO), was founded on the goal to apply a
market-led approach for sustainable poverty alleviation
achieved through artisan-based employment that empowers
women. Focusing on Afghan women, the organization identified
rug weaving as an employment opportunity that fit within the
cultural framework and limitations for women that exist in
the country. To begin the initiative in 2004, ARZU hired
local staff based in Kabul, and they began to meet with
village elders and explain what they wanted to do and ask
for permission, taking into account the cultural norms of
Afghan society. ARZU uses a combination of donations and the
proceeds from sales to fund its social programs and pay the
weavers fair market wages. It also covers the cost of local
staff to ensure quality control, train weavers to improve
techniques, and manage the distribution channels. Currently,
ARZU's sales fund 50 percent of its social programs,
and the organization hopes to be fully financially
sustainable in the next several years. Steelcase and
ARZU's partnership illustrates the realized potential
of what can happen when an NGO and a corporation overlap in
their strategic vision and goals and work together to create
job opportunities for the poor. In this partnership,
Steelcase accepted a product development cycle that was
nearly six months longer to support employment in
Afghanistan. As ARZU continues to forge new corporate
clients and steelcase continues to seek new partnerships
that employ workers in developing countries, a key lesson
learned from this private sector-NGO partnership is that it
is feasible for a corporation to contract out to social
enterprises without lowering quality standard or
significantly affecting profitability. |
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