Washington, D.C. – “Shop the Cause,” an innovative project spearheaded by Women Thrive Worldwide, offers holiday and year-round hand-crafted gifts that are beautifully made and that help the impoverished women who make them. This year, as Women Thrive celebrates its 10th anniversary, Shop the Cause showcases its most extensive offering to date, which includes hundreds of items from more than 15 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
DC-based Women Thrive works with legislators on Capitol Hill to put the force of U.S. foreign policy behind helping the world’s poorest women and their children rise out of poverty.
“Women Thrive advocates for policies that give these women opportunities that help them achieve fair wages, better working conditions, access to credit, property rights and protection against violence,” says Ritu Sharma Fox, Women Thrive co-founder and president. “Such opportunities allow them to create beautiful products that can bring in money to help feed their children, and often, their extended family and orphans in their community.”
Shop the Cause is a partnership of Women Thrive with four leading fair trade companies that create safe jobs and positive economic opportunities for women, many of whom are war widows, victims of abuse and sexual assault, or living with a disability. A range of products, including extraordinary jewelry and handicrafts like frames and bowls, are available, and all sales directly benefit the women who create them. Also, purchasing gifts from Shop the Cause helps further the nonprofit’s important advocacy work on behalf of women through a 10 percent donation given to Women Thrive by all four fair trade organizations.
“This year, purchasing gifts from Shop the Cause will be especially meaningful given the global food crisis and major natural disasters that have greatly affected women worldwide,” adds Sharma Fox. “People who purchase gifts at Shop the Cause can feel good knowing that they’re giving a beautiful present with multiple beneficiaries – their friends and loved ones who receive the gift and also the woman who created it.”
For more information on how to support Women Worldwide in its quest to end poverty, visit the Web site and sign up to find out how you can be an advocate for women living in poverty worldwide. Women Thrive Worldwide is the leading nonprofit organization shaping U.S. policy to help women in developing countries lift themselves and their families out of poverty. Women Thrive, with 50 organizational partners and 25,000 individual members, advocates for international assistance and trade policies in Washington, D.C., that prioritize the needs of women and girls worldwide.
