Problem

In Nicaragua, there are many free trade zones where workers, mainly women, labor in sweatshops. There, they produce clothing under unacceptable conditions (long hours, low pay, and unsafe workplaces) that may violate human rights and public policies. Many of these employees are single mothers, who are unable to provide for their families on their meager salaries. They have few other options.

The Gift

The members of The Fair Trade Zone are working to avoid that fate. This Nicaraguan cooperative was formed after Hurricane Mitch by a group of 11 women facing the loss of all of their belongings.

Living in a new urban area called “Nueva Vida" (New Life) with an 80% unemployment rate, they struggled to find an alternative to sweatshop work. Today, with the motto “Our sweat! Our sale! Our success!" they produce clothing from organic cotton, and have been recognized as the world’s first worker-owned free trade zone.

Your support, through financing from Root Capital (a social investment fund), will help keep The Fair Trade Zone alive, empower these female workers in continuing their meaningful work, and promote a successful worker-owned cooperative as an inspiring example to those seeking a way out of sweatshops.