A woman with resources is a woman with voice

By Archana Chaudhary

A woman with resources is a woman with voice. And private sector plays the most important role in providing resources directly to women by providing them with more job opportunities.

Beyond a mere financial investment, the private sector must be a partner. Working with women and families in the remote villages in India, there are three main barriers we had to work on for women empowerment & for her better health and well-being. If the woman herself or the family or the community, didn’t believe that a woman can work, we saw that it was un-sustainable for women to be employed long term. Bringing that shift in mindset and Integrating not only women but their families and communities to bring sustainable change was key for us.

And this doesn’t apply only to remote Indian villages but to all such marginalized and underserved communities of the world.

After years of investment and learnings, Jaipur rugs currently employees forty thousand artisans in 600 villages across five states in India. Over 80% of the artisans are now women. We are the only company in the USA in the rug industry that is run by female ownership.  To further our cause, I am delighted to announce the recent acceptance of Jaipur Rugs foundation as a member of the Every Women Every Child movement.

We have committed to:

• providing Skill training to 4000 women
• Functional literacy to be imparted to 2000 women
• and Access to health for over 12,000 women and children in remote areas in India

This commitment will directly and indirectly impact over 50000 lives mostly women and children over the period of next 4 years. We are humbled to be a partner in this great cause with The UN.

Jaipur Rugs Foundation has benefited approximately 20,000 rural lives through our health camps and over 2000 women through our functional literacy programs in the last five years.  The effect of these interventions on the community has been evident – we have seen 20% growth in access to periodical health benefits after being exposed to health camps. We also saw 51% reduction in child marriages after the family having access to better health, education and financial inclusion. These are just a couple of examples. We hope to share many such other examples in the near future after our partnership with UN and platforms like Every Women Every Child.

Ms. Archana Chaudhary is the Director of Supply Chain, Jaipur Living, Inc.  a well-known area rugs brand connecting people around the world with the extraordinary talent of grassroots women artisans from 600 villages in India.