HOPE TO LIVE AGAIN!
Madonna’s Foundation gives Empowerment to Women in Palestine…Hands out loans
*Foundation extends 2 year loans to women to start their own business
BY TIMI LAWREL/REPORTER
AMERICA’S singer, Madonna has scored another feat this time around by setting up a foundation called ‘Palestine Fair Trade Association’ to cater for women with little or no funds who desire to go into small businesses.
So far, over 1, 700 women have benefitted from this foundation that have brought them succor from poverty, starvation and lack.
On ground works in collaboration with Palestine Fair Trade Association to direct funds raised to specific projects of their choice and its export partner Canaan Fair Trade, while the PFTA sponsors a range of programs with far-reaching social and economical benefits.
About Madonna Foundation
Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA) is a non-profit farmers’ collective in Palestine. The PFTA is the largest fair trade producers’ union in Palestine, with over 1700 small Palestinian farmers joined in fair trade collectives and cooperatives across the country. PFTA’s foremost mission is to assure fair profit and economic stability for producers of agricultural products in small, vulnerable, marginalized, and excluded Palestinian communities, but it is also a vehicle for long term social and economic empowerment. All of these empowerment ideas are being championed by Madonna.
Micro-Loans for Women
The micro-loan project of the PFTA is designed to enable small producers with little or no resources, especially women, to become producers and benefit from the fair trade returns. The PFTA micro-loan project extends two-year loans to individuals who otherwise would not have the means to start a business. All recipients are organized in women-owned fair trade producing cooperatives under the umbrella of PFTA, gaining collective membership and representation for their cooperative.
Fair trade women’s cooperatives have introduced many traditional Palestinian handmade products to the world market – couscous, za’atar and olive oil soap among them. These products give women an opportunity to earn income and empower them as they gain experience and skills in management, problem-solving, and cooperative relationships. Economic success has led to greater self-confidence, greater civic participation, and greater influence for many women.
PFTA and its exporting member Canaan Fair Trade ensure the success of micro-loan recipients by providing specific production methods, quality specifications and proper training, then marketing the products produced.
This program has been made possible by the support of grassroots organizations abroad. Special thanks to the generous support of Resource Center for Non-Violence, Santa Cruz, CA, Project Hope, Canada, and Islamic Aid, United Kingdom (UK). Organizations and individuals abroad may support this program by funding a cooperative or one woman to become a producing member in a cooperative society.
