Behind every piece in UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency's MADE51 Peace Collection is a refugee artisan with a story of skill, heritage, displacement and hope for peace.
Created by refugee artisans and MADE51 social enterprise partners around the world, the Peace Collection brings together handmade products that carry a shared message: until everyone is safe, peace is needed now more than ever.
For many refugee artisans, craft is more than a way to earn an income. It is a way to preserve cultural heritage, express memory, support family and carry forward hope for a safer future.
This year’s Peace Collection includes the Peace Pencil Case, crafted by Sudanese refugee artisans in Egypt through MADE51 social enterprise partner Threads of Hope, and the Peace Tassel Keyring, made by Malian refugee artisans in Niger using traditional leatherwork and metalwork techniques.
Together, these pieces show how refugee-made products can connect people across borders through craft, story and solidarity.
The Peace Pencil Case: Embroidery as a Language of Memory
The Peace Pencil Case is crafted by Sudanese refugee artisans working with Threads of Hope, a MADE51 social enterprise partner in Egypt. The pencil case features delicate embroidery that carries a message of longing, safety and return.
It features the embroidered quote by Mashaer, a Sudanese refugee artisan living in Egypt: "I hope that we can return to our beautiful farms and green gardens."
The words reflect a longing shared by many people forced to flee — not only for safety, but for the homes, communities and everyday moments left behind. Embroidered into each pencil case, the quote transforms a practical object into a reminder of the hope for peace that sits at the heart of the collection.
For Egbal, a Sudanese artisan who came to Egypt in 2006, embroidery is a way to express what words cannot always hold.
“Embroidery is a craft that allows a person to express themselves through the designs,” she says, “and to communicate what they are feeling through the drawings and needlework.”
Her words reflect the heart of the Peace Collection. Peace is not an abstract idea. For people forced to flee, peace is connected to home, security, family and the possibility of rebuilding life with dignity.
“Peace to me is security,” Egbal says. “Peace is everything. It encompasses all aspects of a person’s life.”
For fellow Sudanese artisan Nawal, handmade work carries both personal meaning and a wider message.
“I hope that people can understand the value of handmade products,” she says. “When I work on a piece, I long to go back to Sudan, so I’ll always hope for peace and safety, and for all people to be united.”
Through embroidery, the Peace Pencil Case becomes more than an everyday object. It becomes a refugee-made product shaped by memory, skill and hope.
The Peace Tassel Keyring: Leatherwork, Metalwork and Tuareg Heritage
The Peace Tassel Keyring is handmade by Malian refugee artisans using traditional leatherwork and metalwork techniques.
Crafted by Malian women, each tassel is made from carefully cut leather, sliced with handcrafted knives and bound with thread. The keyring is finished with a cow horn bead engraved with "Peace” engraved in Tamashek, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic communities in the Sahel region.
For leather artisan Fatouma, from Ménaka in Mali, this work is part of a heritage passed down through generations.
“This craft goes back to my great-grandparents,” she explains. “It’s not new. We’ve known how to do it for a long time.”
After fleeing violence in 2014, Fatouma continued her craft in Niger. Today, leatherwork helps her earn an income, buy food, pay school fees and support her family.
“With what we earn, we buy food, pay our children’s school fees, buy clothes, and cover our needs,” she says. “It’s very good work because this has been our craft since the beginning.”
The keyring also brings together the skills of metal artisans, including Almahmoud, a Tuareg artisan from Mali who inherited his craft.
“I inherited this craft from my father, who inherited it from his father,” he says. “It’s our heritage, and we grew up with it. In our culture, everyone practices it — it’s part of Tuareg tradition. We train our children too. Once they reach 18, they know everything, just like their fathers. That’s why when we came here, we continued working the same way, together, as a team.”
Almahmoud works with metal, silver, bronze, leather and wood. His craft reflects Tuareg tradition, where making by hand is both livelihood and cultural identity.
"I came from the bush in northern Mali. My father used to work completely by hand, no machines, nothing. When I came to Niger, I continued. UNHCR gave me training and provided equipment like gas and many other things, and now, praise be to God, the work has become easier."
Craft as Livelihood, Heritage and Hope
The Peace Pencil Case and Peace Tassel Keyring are very different objects, made in different countries by artisans from different cultures. Yet both carry the same message.
They show how refugee artisans use traditional craft skills to create income, preserve heritage and share their hopes for peace with the world.
Through MADE51, refugee artisans are connected with global markets, helping them earn an income through their own skills and craftsmanship. Every purchase of a refugee-made product supports dignified work and helps bring these stories into more homes and lives.
For artisans like Egbal, Nawal, Fatouma and Almahmoud, peace is not only a word. It is safety. It is the chance to keep going.
Shop the MADE51 Peace Collection
This World Refugee Day, discover the MADE51 Peace Collection and the refugee stories behind each handmade piece.
From accessories to home decor and jewellery, every product is crafted by refugee artisans and carries a message of peace, solidarity and shared humanity.
Shop the full Peace Collection at MADE51.
Because until everyone is safe, we stand with refugees.