Fair trade at ARTISAN COMMUNITY means: ֎ Creating opportunities: employing minorities and underprivileged men and women, who face great difficulties to obtain a decent job in the regular Nepalese employment market. ֎ No child labour. ֎ Equal wage for equal work: independent of sex, gender, race or any other personal features. ֎ Women’s Empowerment: Especially the felting sector offers employment to women. A fair payment enables the women to give their own fair share to their family’s income, and thus raising their self-confidence as well as ensuring a respected position within the mostly paternalistic family structures. ֎ Fair living wages: additional to a fair wage all employees receive health, accident and old age pension insurance benefits. ֎ Work with respect: some of the employees for the first time of their life enjoy the experience to be treated with the same respect as all others. ֎ Fit for the future: The employees, and especially the women are offered advanced training and further education. They are strongly encouraged to care for their children’s education, and supported in financing their children’s visit of a school with good education standards. ֎ Fair & eco supply channels: our suppliers are partners in fair trade, and produce according to fair trade principles. The share of our textile production made with organic cotton cloth has increased to well over 90 %, supplemented by working with even more sustainable lyocell fabrics. In the wool sector we only work with No-Mulesing-Wool originating from New Zealand, and with carefully picked Cashmere Wool respecting the animals’ well-being.