PlanetCornucopia.com
Organizing Document
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Planet Cornucopia is to provide a means for urban Third-World Art Communities to generate enough income to send their children to school and to become self-sufficient through an arts and crafts industry in a world market while learning to connect their urban third-world communities to the wider world through internet commerce.
PlanetCornucopia.com
Planet Cornucopia is a non-profit organization designed to create jobs in dangerously impoverished areas of the planet through small business and manufacturing development.
Our clients are people living in high-poverty communities who are able to manage a business that will create jobs and provide a good for sale.
Marketing via etsy.com and similar sites will provide a very real education for the indiginous community. The internet is probably the second most important thing we will bring to the community. Health, in the form of regular meals and vaccinations, is of course, the first priority.
Sustainable health of the individual, the family, and the community, is our primary goal. Projects will have marketing assistance. The products will be items with proven sales, and be compatible with assembly-line employment to create room for an industry to grow.
By addressing the needs of the most at-risk populations, we are able to create a lasting life improvement, community by community, with very reasonable expense input. Input including food, medicines, education, money for equipment, and travel for donated professional time.
Commitment to Responsible Trade
PlanetCornucopia.com is committed to support trade with concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized producers in developing countries. This means equitable commercial terms, fair wages and fair prices. Unfair trade structures, mechanisms, practices and attitudes, and efforts to maximize profit at the producer’s expense will be identified and avoided. Responsible Trade is seen as a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development through market access.
PlanetCornucopia.com further commits:
Transparency
To openly share information, business practices, marketing and development program plans on a regular basis. This openness is tempered with respect to sensitive commercial or political information.
Ethical Issues
To reflect in our structures a commitment to justice, fair employment, public accountability and progressive work practices. To aim for adequate income for workers to meet their basic needs, including health care, education and the capacity to save.
Working Conditions
To support a safe working environment that satisfies at a minimum all local statutory regulations. To provide the opportunity for all individuals to grow and reach their potential. To ensure that work is carried out under humane working conditions, using appropriate materials and technologies, while following good production and work practices. To train producers in the latest health and safety measures and to help them obtain safety protection equipment, if necessary.
Equal Employment Opportunities
To oppose discrimination and ensure equality of employment opportunities for both men and women who suffer from the exploitation of their labor and the effects of poverty and racial, cultural or gender bias.
Concern for People
To promote development which improves the quality of life and which is sustainable for and responsible to both people and the natural world. There will be no exploitation of child labor. Trading activities should not violate indigenous peoples’ claims on land or any resources of vital importance to their way of life.
Concern for the Environment
To encourage the trading of goods which apply responsible and sustainable methods of production. To design artisan products and artisan service programs for efficiency, thereby reducing the ecological impact.
Cultural Identity
To support the preservation of cultural integrity and the unique cultural traditions and identity of an artisan community.
Collaborative Design
To encourage production and development of products that fit within the traditional skills, cultural heritage and natural resources of a community through a process of collaborative design. To promote new applications of traditional skills and to assist artisans in understanding market needs.
Education and Advocacy
To support campaigns or campaign for national and international policies that will improve the living conditions of the poor in developing countries and promote eco-friendly trade practices.
To advocate for handcrafts as a vital, irreplaceable source of livelihood for millions of individuals and their families that mitigates rural-to-urban migration and contributes to cultural and social identity and cohesion.
To increase public and corporate consciousness of responsible trade.
To uplift the perception of handmade craft and the skills and dignity of artisans.
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