AZOWA: Empowering female artisans
AZOWA is a sustainable social business platform and sister concern of AMAL Foundation that aims to showcase products made by female artisans in rural areas of Bangladesh. The women working under this project are provided with proper training in many required skills at AMAL Foundation's Rowshan Ara Women's Skill Centre at Sonpocha, Bogura.
AZOWA intends to set up a platform where goods made by women can be displayed and sold at reasonable prices. In this way, the craftsperson can earn profits and be motivated.
"Azowa is a kind of cottage industry where we support and train artisans to improve their designs and help them create handcrafted accessories and clothes," says Efrit Karim, the CEO of AMAL Foundation. "We later send them to bustling shops of Dhaka to sell their products."
Many women in rural areas go through issues such as early marriages, early childbirths, and lack of nutrition among others. AMAL Foundation aims to provide such women with a good source of income.
"Many of these women are not aware of their rights and thus it is very easy to harass them both physically and mentally. Thus, we came out with this initiative, where they not only receive knowledge and skills through training but also lead an independent and self-sufficient life," says Esrat Karim Eve, Founder and Director of AMAL Foundation.
Bearing in mind the women's need to earn money and support their children, AZOWA intends to introduce more income sources for the women of Sonpocha soon. Their agenda is to motivate these women to develop their own identities and voices.
With the motto, 'We all have hidden skills, we just need the opportunity,' AZOWA is dedicated to the cause of creating notable opportunities for female artisans.
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