International Women's Day: Gender Equity and Non-Discrimination

The Global Fair Trade Movement is founded on principles which can be viewed as a living document; a "life-form" that evolves and progresses with time. As members we are enabled to keep our movement relevant by periodically reflecting upon and revisiting these principles. In June of 2011, recognizing the importance of cultural influences, the WFTO improved Principle 3 on Fair Trading Practices:

Fair Trade recognizes, promotes and protects the cultural identity and traditional skills of small producers as reflected in their craft designs, food products and other related services.

On this International Women's Day, I propose two essential changes to Principle Six: Commitment to Non Discrimination, Gender Equity and Freedom of Association. 

Firstly, we have identified Non-Discrimination as a principle we abide by, however there has been an oversight in defining the term itself. As it stands, Principle 6 simply states, "The organization does not discriminate in hiring, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on race, caste, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union membership, political affiliation, HIV/Aids status or age." However, can we improve upon this single sentence; can we provide more clarity to answer the basic question: What is Discrimination?  

When an organization utilizes a Rights-Based Approach they recognize poverty as injustice and includes marginalization, discrimination, and exploitation as central causes of poverty. To integrate a Rights-Based Approach is to strengthen our trade partners not only in trade relations, but in their quality of life; to enjoy the freedoms internationally recognized as inherent to all human beings. Isn't this what we want for our producers?

Admittedly many corporations around the world have incorporated policies to clearly define this issue and it is time the Fair Trade Movement does the same. However, we can do much better than a providing a corporate framework or dictionary definition of discrimination. If we integrate a Rights-Based Approach to Fair Trade, we don't need to look far in order to find a fitting definition which can be readily applied. 

 
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is the convention with the most signatory nations of all the human rights treaties. Article 1 of this groundbreaking treaty presents a clear definition of discrimination which can easily be incorporated into our existing principles.
 

"‘Discrimination against women’ shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.” 

 – United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
Article 1

 

Let's break this down more carefully to clarify what this Article is stating; to examine to actions, conditions and impacts that define discrimination:

• The term “discrimination against women” shall mean
• any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the
• effect or purpose of
• impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women,
• irrespective of their marital status on a basis of equality of men and women,
• of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. 

 

We can clearly see that this definition looks at impacts far beyond hiring, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement. In fact, it looks at the restriction of women's human rights as a means to determine if an action is discriminatory.

Discrimination defined in CEDAW is clear, and easy to understand. Unfortunately the wording of Fair Trade Principle 6 fails to recognize the many forms of discrimination:

• Direct or Indirect (Intended or Unintended) – Indirect includes a neutral law which has the effect of discriminating
• In law (de jure) or in practice (de facto)
• Present or Past/Structural, which is to say "historical discrimination"
• In all fields (civil, politcal, social, cultural, economic)
• Inter-sectional / Multiple Discrimination

 

By clarifying inter-sectional, CEDAW recognizes that groups of women suffer multiple discrimination based on additional grounds such as:

• Race or Ethnicity
• Religion
• Disability
• Age
• Class
• Sexuality

Why is incorporating this definition important?
Considering a majority of the global inhabitants (51%), and a majority of Fair Trade Producers are women who experience various forms of discrimination on a daily basis, the Fair Trade Movement must take a more active role in eliminating discrimination against women. We can also broaden this definition to include discrimination based on race, caste, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, union membership, political affiliation, HIV/Aids status or age.

For the sake of clarity, I propose rewording of the Principle of Non-Discrimination in such a way as to integrate a Rights-Based Approach to our work: 

The organization does not discriminate in hiring, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement. The term “discrimination” shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex, race, caste, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union membership, political affiliation, HIV/Aids status or age which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by anyone, irrespective of their marital status on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.

The second proposed change to our principle of Gender Equity is recognizing women's right to a Paid Maternity Leave

As it stands, our Fair Trade principle on Gender Equity does not recognize this right. As a matter of fact, it only recognizes pregnant women in one sentence, "The organization takes into account the special health and safety needs of pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers." Initially this point may seem unnecessary, or a Western luxury, but when we view this from a Rights-Based perspective, women are already entitled to a paid maternity leave and it is our collective duty to uphold this right. If we, as a global movement believe that we stand for the rights of women, we must insist all Fair Trade producers, buyers, exporters, importers, wholesalers  and retailers recognize women's right to a paid maternity leave.

United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Article 11

2. In order to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of marriage or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work, States Parties shall take appropriate measures

(a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination in dismissals on the basis of marital status;

 

(b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or social allowances;

 

(c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting social services to enable parents to combine family obligations with work responsibilities and participation in public life, in particular through promoting the establishment and development of a network of child-care facilities; 

 

(d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy in types of work proved to be harmful to them.

By incorporating a Paid Maternity Leave into our Principles we are not introducing a foreign concept, but integrating internationally recognized rights entitled to all women regardless of where they reside. 

Integrating Paid Maternity Leave with Fair Trade Producers

In 2011, while working with Helvetas Intercooperation, a Swiss NGO, in Vietnam we encountered a common practice amongst Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). According to Vietnamese law, SMEs are required by law to financially support the women on maternity leave. This is done through purchasing a Social Insurance where the workers pay 8.5% of their salary and SMEs pay 20% of their pay for the triple insurance coverage plan. However, most SMEs do not purchase this insurance for their workers thereby cutting costs. The consensus amongst SMEs in Vietnam regarding maternity leave seems to be that women are entitled to an unpaid leave and many return to work afterwards. According to the law, those who don’t provide them with insurance must pay out of pocket the same amount for maternity leave. When women assert their rights to a paid leave, more frequently than not, they are fired without separation pay and not welcome to return to the position they once held. 

Helvetas wanted to integrate a paid maternity leave into the contract with producers, however, we quickly discovered a difference between the Helvetas standard of 6 weeks maternity leave and Vietnamese law. Maternity leave in Vietnam as per the Labour Law is:

• Normal working condition: 4 months paid maternity leave
• Hardship (rural / military / dangerous environment): 5 months paid maternity leave
• Disabled women: 6 months paid maternity leave

 

Our predicament was to write a policy in the contract which can be implemented globally. Through dialogue and discussion with producers in Vietnam, we came to set a policy that is acceptable to both Helvetas and Vietnamese producers: 

Producer offers whichever is greater: a minimum paid Maternity Leave of not less than 6 weeks or what is established in the national labour laws, regardless of contracting status or time in employment; plus additional leave on an as-needed basis with a guarantee of resuming employment upon return.

So, in short, incorporating a Paid Maternity Leave is not only possible, it is essential. Without integrating this right, we neglect to uphold our responsibility to women worldwide.

Today I submit to you that Fair Trade, as a Global Movement, must integrate a Rights-Based Approach to strengthen our trade partners not only in trade relations, but in their quality of life. We can start through a comprehensive integration of women's rights into our principles of Gender Equity and Non-Discrimination. 

Sincerely,

Mitch Teberg, MA 

International Consultant

Sustainable Development / Fair Trade/ Women's Rights and Gender

Researcher / Trainer / Consultant   

Feel free to add your comments, thoughts or ideas below or catch me on facebook. For those who prefer reading black on white, here is the downloadable version of this post on pdf:

International Women's Day - Gender Equity and Non-Discrimination

Women's Empowerment and Fair Trade

According to Principle 6 of Fair Trade, We the producers, artisans, weavers, farmers, and craftswomen and men; We the Fair Trade Organizations, NGOs, and Community-Based Organizations; We the local, national and regional Fair Trade networks; We the advocates, activists and supporters; We the conscientious buyers, importers, retailers, and consumers; and We the global movement all embrace Gender Equality. However, we need to ask exactly what does this mean and how is it attained?

Obviously to begin we need to define Gender. Firstly, gender is not sex; it is not a biological difference.  In March, 2011 I examined how gender originates: International Women's Day: What is Gender?  To be succinct, Gender is a social construct; it is how society views and judges men and women differently based on five reproductive organs, our only physical differences. To understand that gender is a social construct is to examine the effects of this construct in our own lives. Ask yourself, what roles women have in the household, in the family, in the community, in society and within culture. How do those roles differ from the roles of men? What are the expectations a given society places on women and men based on those roles. 

When we separate sex from gender, we begin to see the differences between men and women are nothing more than socially constructed differences. It isn’t that men are better decision-makers just because they have a penis; or that women are better caretakers of children just because they can give birth. These are all assumptions; social constructs surrounding reproductive functions, not based on fact.  Now let's go on...

What is Gender Equality? 

Gender Equality is commonly defined as a social order in which women and men share the same opportunities and enjoy full participation in the social, cultural, political, legal, and economic arenas, to include both the public and domestic realms. In other words, there are no "glass ceilings" limiting levels of participation, no constraints placed on either men or women due to socio-cultural constructs or expectations, and no consequences for pursuing goals and ambitions in any of these areas. 

What is Gender Equity?

Gender Equity entails the steps, set of actions, attitudes, and assumptions that provide equal opportunities in the progress towards gender equality.

One action a state takes towards gender equity is to sign and ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). To understand the principles of this convention, read A Rights-Based Approach to Fair Trade: Understanding CEDAW. Once this treaty is ratified by the state, the onus of responsibility for ensuring equality between men and women belongs to the state. The state in turn enacts laws and policies to be implemented in the legal systems. Ultimately the implementation of gender equality laws influence the socio-cultural norms of society.  

 

Why is it important for the Global Fair Trade Movement to understand this?  To begin, there is a direct linkage between globalization, exploitation and poverty, which Fair Trade aims to address. Gita Sen, a well known Indian intellectual and author of Development, Crises, and Alternative Visions: Third World Women’s Perspectives, has greatly helped to transform popular thinking on Gender and Development. In her speech, Challenges to Gender Justice in a Neo-Conservative Era, she noted: 

"As kept being recorded in one human development report after another, was soaring global inequality, between countries and within countries, soaring inequalities between different classes, between different sections and segments of people and particularly the feminization of poverty on a dramatic scale.

Now this is interesting because globalization is often held up as being the era of the feminization of the labour force.  Women in fact have come into the labour force in large numbers. What is ironic therefore is that you have a feminization of the labour force and a feminization of poverty taking place simultaneously. And I think this reflects the paradoxes and the ironies of the current stage of global capitalist order.  Because it means that getting a job is no guarantee that you will be out of poverty.  The number of working poor, the insecurity for those who work and who struggle to survive increased.” 

                                                                                    - Gita Sen

Considering the ‘feminization of poverty’ Sen illuminates in her speech, the impact of the free market ideology on poor women in developing nations is particularly harmful. When we utilize a Rights-Based Approach we recognize poverty as injustice and includes marginalization, discrimination, and exploitation as central causes of poverty.   

For a Rights-Based Approach to be successful, it helps to have a comprehensive framework on which to build a movement. Winner of the 2003 Africa Laureate, Sarah Longwe, designed a theoretical model based on a five-step approach to Gender Equity, a model I utilized for my Master’s Degree thesis on the Obstacles and Approaches to Gender Equality in Sri Lanka, © 2008 (see below).

Longwe's Women's Empowerment Framework

The purpose of Longwe's Women's Empowerment Framework is to move upwards from gender equity to gender equality. Firstly, through the provision of the needs of women; then onto raising awareness of women’s rights. The third through fifth steps are to facilitate access to, participation in, and ultimately share control of three frameworks: Social-Cultural, Legal and Political. In short, Sarah Longwe’s Framework presents a Road Map to rise from gender equity to substantive gender equality (read: A Rights-Based Approach to Fair Trade: Understanding CEDAW) as emphasized in the UN convention on Women's Rights and embraced by UNIFEM. Below is Longwe's Empowerment Framework, to see the progressive steps read it from bottom up; from Welfare to Control:

Longwe’s Women’s Empowerment Framework
Control ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑	Empowerment seeks a balance of power between women and men, so that neither is in a position of dominance. It means that women have power alongside men to influence their destiny and that of their society. In Longwe’s view, empowerment is an inter-connected cycle of countering discrimination and oppression. Addressing the roots of inequality at one level leads to a discussion about all of the other levels. Empowerment takes place as individual women and groups of women move between levels, gaining strength along the way. Empowerment occurs in the Process of Social Change
Participation / Mobilization ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑	The individual woman in the home is not likely to make much progress in challenging traditional norms – Power expands in numbers and connection. Mobilization is therefore the fourth and crucial stage of empowerment, which enables the collective analysis of gender issues, and the collective commitment to action. Mobilization is largely concerned with redefining participation in decision making, as participation of a mobilized group will spark the search for empowerment at yet another level. In development projects, it includes involvement in needs assessment, project design, implementation and evaluation. Social Change occurs with mobilization!!!
Conscientisation ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑	Here an understanding of the difference between sex roles and gender roles comes into force with the belief that gender relations and the gender division of labour should be fair and agreeable to both sides, and not based on the domination of one over the other. Access now pertains to women’s access to factors of production, land, labour, credit, training, marketing facilities, and all publicly available services and benefits - on an equal basis with men. Equality of access is obtained by securing equality of opportunity through legal reform to remove discriminatory provisions. Social Change is on the agenda!
Access ↑ ↑ ↑	The gender gap at the welfare level results from inequality of access to opportunity, information, and other resources. Empowerment means that women are 1) made aware of the gap and 2) animated to take actions for gaining access to their fair and equal share of the various resources available within the household, and within the wider system of state provision. Action here takes women automatically to the next level.
Welfare ---------	At this base level work views women as passive recipients and welfare pertains to the level of material welfare of women, relative to men, with respect to food supply, income and medical care, without reference to whether women are themselves the active creators and producers of their material needs. This level is not sustainable nor does it empower women.

What I appreciate about Longwe's model is that Empowerment is not a given, and the end result is not equated to material gains. Empowerment takes place as individual women and groups of women move between levels, gaining strength along the way; Empowerment occurs in the Process of Social Change. However, one thing remains - How does this empowerment framework relate to Fair Trade? 
 

This may seem a bit academic, but to test where Fair Trade stands in relation to empowering women on this framework, I have placed relevant principles of Fair Trade in line with the level of actions taken towards gender equality.

Longwe’s Women’s Empowerment Framework		Fair Trade Principle
Empowerment seeks a balance of power between women and men, so that neither is in a position of dominance. It means that women have power alongside men to influence their destiny and that of their society.	Control	Principle 6: The organization actively promotes applications from women for job vacancies and for leadership positions
Women’s collective analysis of gender issues, and the collective commitment to action. Redefining participation in decision making, as participation of a mobilized group will spark the search for empowerment at yet another level	Participation	Principle 6: Women fully participate in decisions concerning the use of benefits accruing from the production process; The organization respects the right of all employees to form and join trade unions of their choice and to bargain collectively. Principle 2: The organization finds appropriate, participatory ways to involve employees, members and producers in its decision-making processes. Principle 4: A fair price is one that has been mutually agreed by all through dialogue and participation; equal pay for equal work by women and men.
Understanding of the difference between sex roles and gender roles; division of labour should be fair and agreeable to both sides, and not based on the domination of one over the other. Access now pertains to women’s access to factors of production, land, labour, credit, training, marketing facilities, and all publicly available services and benefits - on an equal basis with men.	Conscientisation	Principle 6: The organization provides opportunities for women and men to develop their skills; in production situations where women's work is valued less highly than men's work, women's work is re-valued to equalize pay rates and women are allowed to undertake work according to their capacities. Principle 8: The organization develops the skills and capabilities of its own employees or members; Organizations working directly with small producers develop specific activities to help these producers improve their management skills, production capabilities and access to markets Principle 3: (When a pre-payment is received) from buyers, (the organization) ensure that this payment is passed on to the producers or farmers who make or grow their Fair Trade products.
Empowerment means that women are 1) made aware of the gap and 2) animated to take actions for gaining access to their fair and equal share	Access	Principle 6: The organization does not discriminate (regardless of) gender or sexual orientation; The organization takes into account the special health and safety needs of pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers.
The gender gap at the welfare level results from inequality of access to opportunity, information, and other resources	Welfare	Principle 1: The organization supports marginalized small producers… it seeks to enable them to move from income insecurity and poverty to economic self-sufficiency and ownership. Principle 6: Organizations working directly with producers ensure that women are always paid for their contribution to the production process, and when women do the same work as men they are paid at the same rates as men.

  

From this matrix we can clearly see that Fair Trade is not solely about earning a living wage, but is genuinely a movement which embraces gender equality. To make Longwe's framework easily accessible and functional for the women and men of Fair Trade I have published it here on a downloadable pdf format:

Longwe's Women's Empowerment Framework

However, before we celebrate the proactive steps Fair Trade takes towards women's empowerment, I invite you to read a blog post which is reflective of the realities on the ground for some Fair Trade producers. While on the Journey for Fair Trade in Ache, Indonesia, I discovered that despite FLO certification, none of the twelve cooperatives had followed through on their obligations towards empowering women. 

Their failure to follow our shared principles was reflected in the fact that most of these coffee producers had NO WOMEN REPRESENTATIVES out of the 50+ elected representatives in their decision-making bodies. Granted, a couple cooperatives I had been exposed to in the region had elected one or two women to decision-making boards, but this was hardly representative of the women's membership. I encourage you to read the post: Coffee Part III - Empowering Communities through Action in which I discuss what actions I took to break the ice to address this seemingly culturally sensitive issue. Not that change imminently followed my actions, but a seed was dropped, and social norms questioned for the first time.


With that said, Johannes Egger the FLO-Cert Auditor for Indonesia has presented me with another experience he has with two cooperatives, "There are also some success stories in Aceh!!!! There is one with a complete board of a cooperative of women. Another successful cooperative is managed by a woman (one of the best managements I have seen the last three years)."  I find this to be an inspiration, that change can happen through Fair Trade!

My point here is that 

Fair Trade is as much about Social Change,

    as it is about Empowering Producers.

 

When I call for integration of a Rights-Based Approach to Fair Trade, I am calling for the enactment of what has already been set in motion through our shared principles: Women's Empowerment through Social Change. 

Join Chou and I in integrating a Rights-Based Approach to Fair Trade.

Mitch Teberg, MA 

International Consultant

Sustainable Development / Fair Trade/ Women's Rights and Gender

Researcher / Trainer / Consultant   

Feel free to add your comments, thoughts or ideas below or catch me on facebook.

To see how Longwe's framework was utilized to analyze the national women's movement of Sri Lanka, I have published it here in a downloadable pdf format: 

Obstacles and Approaches to Gender Equality in Sri Lanka, Mitch Teberg, 2008

A Rights-Based Approach to Fair Trade: The Onus of Responsibility

Globally, Fair Trade is a movement for international trade justice. For producers, artisans, weavers, farmers, and craftswomen and men around the world it is an ethical business model which empowers disadvantaged communities with practices that are free from exploitation; is based on respect for universal human rights, women's rights, child rights, migrant rights, rights of the disabled and labour rights; embraces gender equity; and which incorporates environmentally sound practices. 

Fair Trade has been established as a means to alleviate poverty by providing economic opportunities for disadvantaged communities. The cause for most groups to be economically disadvantaged often starts with various forms of discrimination, hence the importance of addressing these communities. Discrimination can be based on:

• Gender 
• Race or Ethnicity 
• Religion 
• Disability 
• Age 
• Class 
• Sexuality

Human Rights Day:
December 10, 2011

A Rights-Based Approach

In the field of International Development, programs and projects are often designed to target root causes. When an organization utilizes a Rights-Based Approach they recognize poverty as injustice and includes marginalization, discrimination, and exploitation as central causes of poverty.

As Fair Trade buyers of handicrafts, textiles and consumable products such as coffee or chocolate, it is nice to believe that we are leading the way in making ethical consumer choices a reality in the global marketplace. However, for producers, artisans, weavers, farmers, and craftswomen and men without a concrete understanding of these principles, rights and practices it is not possible for them to fulfill their role as Catalysts for Social Change in their communities. Simply stated, they are not empowered with an understanding of what Fair Trade is; how it is intended to benefit them and their communities; or the rationale for introducing ethical business practices. For Fair Trade to be ensured throughout the supply chain, producers must be brought into the fold.

But to integrate a Rights-Based Approach seems a near impossible task when admittedly, there is a low level of awareness amongst the artisans, weavers, farmers, and craftswomen and men engaged in Fair Trade. This must change if Fair Trade is to be sustainable well into the future! 

The first issue to be addressed is to inquire as to why a low level of awareness exists amongst those whom Fair Trade is intended to benefit.

As I wrote in January of 2011, Upon initiating this Journey for Fair Trade I had an email correspondence with Rodney North, the “Answer Man” of Equal Exchange. For over two decades this organization has been empowering farmers and producers through fairly traded coffee, tea, bananas and chocolate. He wrote of their experience in relation to my travels; “for what it’s worth – in our 24 yrs in the Fair Trade movement we’ve found that, by & large, individual farmers who are members of co-ops that export Fair Trade coffee or tea or sugar often have very little awareness of Fair Trade, and that this actually makes sense upon closer inspection. Conversely the professional staff of those same co-ops (the managers & other paid staff who process, market, export the coffee etc or do quality control and have regular contact with foreign buyers) often know much more about Fair Trade (as well about the other certification schemes their co-op uses – Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, Ethical Tea Partnership, etc).

This lack of awareness by the co-op members will be lowest when their co-op only sells a small portion of its production to Fair Trade buyers and will be higher – usually – if the co-op sells a lot to Fair Trade buyers. Other variables will be how long the co-op has been selling to the Fair Trade market, how much of a price difference those Fair Trade sales make, and how much direct contact the co-op members have w/ Fair Trade buyers. E.g. at a very remote/unvisited co-op the farmers/workers will generally have that much less awareness of Fair Trade.

To help increase the level of awareness of Fair Trade amongst coffee farmers in Guatemala we’ve given two grants to a non-profit, Cultural Survival, in recent years to produce radio programs on Fair Trade (& other topics) to be broadcast in multiple languages across a network of micro-radio stations in that country. To our knowledge this is a rare effort. 

I have to admit that before and during the Journey for Fair Trade, I encountered the same obstacles Rodney North listed and generally for the same reasons. However, this is inexcusable. 

Fair Trade cannot be a northern concept for northern markets – it has to be localized in the local communities of southern markets if Fair Trade is to be sustainable, and to do that requires a concerted and unified effort with the producers!

Look at this from the perspective of utilizing the established Principles:

Principle 1: Creating Opportunities for Economically Disadvantaged Producers.

Poverty reduction through trade forms a key part of the organization's aims. The organization supports marginalized small producers, whether these are independent family businesses, or grouped in associations or co-operatives. It seeks to enable them to move from income insecurity and poverty to economic self-sufficiency and ownership. The organization has a plan of action to carry this out. 

My question here is simple: 

Unless the producers comprehend the cornerstones of Fair Trade, how are they enabled to move to economic self-sufficiency? Change can only occur when Fair Trade producers are empowered to bring change locally.

To empower producers they must have full knowledge of Fair Trade principles, understand their rights, and able to implement ethical business practices. However, for many producer groups there needs to be a well planned, comprehensive training program provided to facilitate this empowerment process.  

But who is responsible to sponsor or provide a training program in Fair Trade principles for producers?

Principle 4: Fair Trading Practices states, “The organization maintains long term relationships based on solidarity, trust and mutual respect that contribute to the promotion and growth of Fair Trade.”

Understandably, long-term relationships which contribute to the expansion of Fair Trade must include Capacity Building of trade partners. 

Principle 8: Providing Capacity Building states, “Organizations working directly with small producers develop specific activities to help these producers improve their management skills, production capabilities and access to markets local / regional / international / Fair Trade and mainstream as appropriate. Organizations which buy Fair Trade products through Fair Trade intermediaries in the South assist these organizations to develop their capacity to support the marginalized producer groups that they work with."

Clearly the onus for ensuring producers are empowered through knowledge of Fair Trade is on their trade partners: importers, buyers, wholesalers and retailers all share this responsibility!!! 

For producers Fair Trade is a partnership, not a charity. It is the responsibility of Fair Trade importers, wholesalers, buyers, and retailers to provide for the development of producer groups in order that they are empowered, self-sufficient trade partners capable of conducting international trade in ways which are beneficial to them and their community free from any form of exploitation! 

However, simply emailing a copy of the ten principles of Fair Trade in their language is not fulfilling the requirement to conduct, sponsor or facilitate a well planned, comprehensive training program. More needs to be included.... much more if Fair Trade is to be sustainable. Remember, our trade partners are coming from disadvantaged communities and for many the concepts embraced in Fair Trade are not only new and unfamiliar, but in some cases may be very foreign. The same goes for common business practices in a community.

In rural communities where many of the world's Fair Trade producers reside, I have found that local government officials are influential in establishing a social norm through their actions. For example, in localities where government corruption is a major impediment to national development, the concepts of Transparency and Accountability can be viewed as a threat and needs to be explained clearly and able to convey why this is important in Fair Trade.  

With the responsibility of providing capacity building clearly established in our shared Fair Trade Principles, the next question is: What does in mean to integrate a Rights-Based Approach? This will be the subject of the next blog post...

Mitch Teberg, MA 

International Consultant

Sustainable Development / Fair Trade

Researcher / Trainer / Consultant 

For those who prefer reading black on white, here is the downloadable version of this post on pdf: 

A Rights-Based Approach to Fair Trade - The Onus of Responsibility