LOCAL HANDICRAFTS FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

85,000 Mini Finger Puppets are Headed to Italy!

Crocheters in Gyumri, Kapan, Talin and Berd are working around the clock to complete the first of three order installments for HDIF's biggest wholesale order to date.  The order for 85,000 mini finger puppets will be delivered to Ferrere, Italy over the next six months.  HDIF met the Italian client at Ambiente, the leading international consumer goods trade fair that took place in Frankfurt, Germany in February.The finger puppets are being made in 17 different designs and 10 different colors as animals, aliens (yes, you read that right), and suns .  They are going inserted into chocolate kinder eggs as the special prize inside. Other large orders are coming in from Germany, Spain, Norway and the U.S., which means jobs, jobs, jobs for HDIF's producer partners and stronger communities throughout Armenia.

On the road

HDIF's Shop Manager, Lucy Vartevanian, participated in a two-day conference organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Tblisi, Georgia. The topic was social entrepreneurship and migration within the Caucasus. Participants came from Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.  Lucy participated in a workshop that gave Armenian and Azeri representatives the opportunity to collaborate on social enterprise program in Azerbaijan.  The result was a groundbreaking idea to create community-benefit trust funds from foreign remittances that could be channeled through UNDP's blockchain-based Aid Tech platform. HDIF was featured as a successful social enterprise in job creation.  

HDIF's Production Manager, Lilit Darbinyan, participated in an international workshop called "Exchange Your Impact," which was organized by Prague Civil Society Centre and Impact Hub Odessa in Ukraine.  Lilit made a presentation about HDIF's work in job creation through handicraft enterprise. She described the 10 Principles of Fair Trade and discussed HDIF's business model as a World Fair Trade Guarantee member. Her remarks were well received by the 45 participants from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The purpose of the conference was to exchange experience and knowledge, and to find solutions for more effective and sustainable impact on local communities.