'AfghanMarkSM' New Global Trademark Announced Today: New Brand Certifies Better Pay, Working Conditions, Access to Education, Literacy and Health Care for Afghan Women Carpet Weavers
New AfghanMark brand trademark on carpets empowers Afghan women to escape poverty. New AfghanMark brand label on carpets certifies better pay, inspected working conditions, access to health care and education, including literacy training for Afghan women carpet weavers, also enhances "shopping with a conscience" for American consumers who purchase AfghanMark brand carpets.
New York (PRWEB) February 16, 2007
The Afghan Women's Business Federation (AWBF) made the world première announcement its new trademark called AfghanMark SM, which is a certification brand label that will be carried on exported carpets made by Afghan women employed by women-owned or women-managed carpet-making businesses.
The AfghanMark SM brand label on a carpet certifies that the Afghan women who made that carpet were paid fair wages while working in inspected working conditions with no illegal child labor, and with access to health care and education, including literacy training for the Afghan women.
This is a major humanitarian, educational and business development breakthrough by Afghan women for Afghan women in the post-Taliban era of Afghan history. For centuries, many Afghan women have toiled for much of their lives on looms, sometimes barely eking out a living, while making the hand-knotted, world-famous Afghan carpets that are emblematic of the artisan culture of Afghanistan. Many of these hard-working women today are illiterate, with limited social, health care or educational opportunities. Some are war widows. Most are mothers and many are breadwinners for their families. They sometimes work on the carpet looms for wages as low as one dollar per day, or less, while making high-end, heirloom quality carpets that can sell for premium prices.
The new AfghanMark SM trademark brand means empowerment for working women not through charity but through business, with fair pay and labor rights. For these women, the AfghanMark SM brand means more and better food for their families, education, health care and, above all, greater respect for Afghan women who, under Taliban rule, and in other eras, were often treated poorly.
The new AfghanMark SM trademark empowers conscientious consumers, wholesalers, importers and retailers to make an informed choice and select high-quality carpets that meet the certification standards of the AfghanMark SM brand.
Only "heirloom quality" carpets, which the AWBF certifies as a particularly high standard of carpet, will be allowed to carry the new AfghanMark SM certification trademark. Each carpet will be numbered and will have with it a brief story of the woman or women who wove the carpet.
The AfghanMark SM was created by the post-Taliban era Afghan Women's Business Federation, which is headquartered in Kabul with women-owned and women-managed member business throughout Afghanistan. The AfghanMark SM is intended to become a true, meaningful and increasingly widely recognized symbol of a better life for Afghan women weavers who aren't asking charity, but just the opportunity to benefit fairly from their hard work on the looms.
The Afghan Women's Business Federation was established in Afghanistan after the elimination of Taliban rule with U. S. assistance from the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and funding from the United States Agency for International Development.
Note to Editor: You can find 30 downloadable digital color AfghanMark SM logo images and dozens of 300 d. p.i. color photos of Afghan women working at all stages of carpet making, from wool preparation to actual weaving, plus "snapshots" of life in Afghanistan today, including women attending school, at www. afghanmark. com/press (http://www. afghanmark. com/press)
Additional Facts: Ensuring Fair Wages for Afghan Women Carpet Makers:
Participating AfghanMark SM companies/organizations are required by AWBF to provide fair compensation to their weavers. This new AfghanMark SM level of compensation, which the AWBF has set at 150% of the current wage rate, must be paid directly to the weavers in cash. In addition, companies are required to provide an additional 10% commission on the sale of each carpet payable in cash directly to the woman who wove it. AWBF will monitor the production cost, wholesale cost, selling price and wage paid to each of the weavers of each carpet to ensure that AfghanMark SM program criteria are being met consistently.
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