Fair Trade Day: Calling for a #BusinessRevolution with Refugee-Inclusion & Fair Pay

Written by Ciara Barry, Fair Payment System Consultant for MADE51

This World Fair Trade Day, coming up on May 11, we are shining a spotlight on the MADE51 collaborative model and its positive impact on people’s lives and communities. 

The World Fair Trade Day theme for 2024 is #BusinessRevolution! The #BusinessRevolution that MADE51 would like to see, in line with Fair Trade principles, is the inclusion of refugees and other at-risk groups in global supply chains, and a commitment to fair pay for all workers. The MADE51 model champions this vision, and would celebrate the expansion of refugee-inclusion and fair pay in other businesses and global supply chains. 

Millions of people work in global supply chains to make the products we use every day. The vast majority of these workers earn so little that they are trapped in poverty. What’s more, at-risk groups, like refugees and people with disabilities, are often entirely excluded from accessing work. Routinely, refugees are forced to leave behind their livelihoods when they flee violence, which exacerbates their vulnerability and restricts their ability to secure employment.

Fair pay: a central pillar of decent work

The MADE51 model enables refugee artisans to earn a sustainable income by utilising their heritage craftsmanship and culture. We strive towards Living Wages that allow artisans and their family to live in dignity and afford a decent standard of living. Living Wages account for local living costs including food, water, housing, education, transport, clothing, healthcare and a small margin for savings to navigate unexpected events. Simply put, a Living Wage is "the wage level that is necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account the country circumstances and calculated for the work performed during the normal hours of work", International Labor Organization (ILO). In a refugee context in which humanitarian support may be provided, this support is also taken into consideration when calculating living costs.

The protection and support of the artisans we work with and the communities we work in are values that are shared across the MADE51 network –  and fair pay is central to this commitment. It’s not a form of charity or a hand out, but rather about dignified work. 

Many artisans in the MADE51 network work part-time and flexible hours. This flexibility is particularly beneficial to women, who assume the lion's-share of domestic and caring responsibilities for their households. In 2023, 94% of MADE51 artisans were women. The MADE51 model also proudly includes artisans with disabilities. 

Partnership with WageIndicator Foundation

MADE51 has recently partnered with the WageIndicator Foundation to work collaboratively towards fair wages for all refugee artisans that make MADE51 products. We use the WageIndicator Living Wage dataset to benchmark artisan wages and establish fair piece-rate pay based on daily wage rates. 

In partnership with leading universities across the world, WageIndicator has created one of the largest global Living Wage databases, which currently covers 166 countries (and 2733 regions in those countries). Every 3 months, over 300 data collectors across the world conduct surveys to ensure the datasets are up-to-date. This primary data is corroborated by secondary data, too. Take one component of a Living Wage - food - as an example. A basket of region-specific goods is designed and its cost calculated through a combination of face-to-face interviews with local households, visits to local markets, supermarkets and webshops, and structured surveys to determine region-specific diets in line with FAO guidelines. Similar calculations are made for other components of a Living Wage - from housing to transport costs. You can read more about their methodology here or in their methodological report.

MADE51 considers minimum wages as the floor, not the ceiling. Artisan wages always meet or exceed minimum wages, but we are moving fast towards Living Wage rates. Some local social enterprises in the MADE51 network already pay Living Wages, and have for some time. Others are working hard to close the gap between minimum wages and Living Wages in artisan pay. WageIndicator regional Living Wage estimates have been invaluable in this process - enabling an aligned effort to calculating Living Wages across the MADE51 global network. 

Living wages: an enabling right 

MADE51 is incredibly proud of the outstanding leadership of our local social enterprise partners in firstly, including refugees in global supply chains and secondly, their commitment to pay fair wages. These efforts far exceed that of bigger brands the social enterprises compete against.

Alleviating poverty through fair pay is transformative in itself. But it’s incredibly inspiring to consider the longer-term, broader positive impacts that Living Wages will have for the refugee artisans that make MADE51 products and their families. Living Wages unlock other human rights - from food to education. Poverty is a root cause of child labour and gender-based violence, and Living Wages empower women to live safe and secure lives, and increase the likelihood of children completing school. In 2023, 13,990 children benefited from increased family income through MADE51 and its partners. In a case study in South Sudan, we found that 74% of the artisans involved in MADE51 were single female heads of households. In Kenya, this number was even higher at 89%. These findings underscore how refugee women disproportionately benefit from the flexible work model offered by MADE51. 

This World Fair Trade Day, join us in the vision for a #BusinessRevolution that includes refugees in global supply chains and a commitment to fair pay for all by shopping MADE51 products here.