First Minister Launches New Fair Trade Campaign
Last Wednesday, at The National Eisteddfod in Blaenau Gwent, The First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones launched Fair Trade Wales' Final Push 4 Fair Trade Counties campaign.
Over 80% of Welsh counties have Fair Trade status and the campaign, run by Fair Trade Wales, aims to get the rest of the counties signed up too.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “I am pleased to be launching the Final Push 4 Fair Trade Counties campaign.
“I was very proud to celebrate Wales’ second anniversary as the world’s only Fair Trade Nation earlier this year and I hope that now we can achieve 100% of Welsh counties with Fair Trade status.
“This could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of the many volunteers and campaigners from across Wales."
A Fair Trade County should show a demonstrable understanding and awareness of Fair Trade in the local community, have Fair Trade products widely available and show a commitment to increasing sales of these products as well as increasing awareness further still through promotional and educational activities.
Elen Jones, the National Co-ordinator for Fair Trade Wales said, “We are honoured that the First Minister of Wales agreed to launch our campaign.
Wales continues to show that as a nation it understands and cares deeply for the lives of the workers in developing countries who produce our everyday luxuries. Who better than the First Minister of Wales to launch this campaign?”
Also at the launch, The First Minister of Wales presented the Bridgend County Fairtrade Partnership with a certificate for becoming the newest Fair Trade County.
Richard Lewis, coordinator for the Bridgend County Fairtrade Partnership, said, “We are really pleased that we’ve managed to achieve this for Bridgend County. It’s taken a long time to get all this information together and I’d like to thank everyone who has helped to make this a reality. I hope that we can get all counties in Wales to get Fairtrade status.”
4 Comments – Post a comment
smithsreunion
Commented 21 months ago - 9th August 2010 - 12:51pm
Decent Article - However the Fair Trade scheme in Wales is not a new thing, if my memory serves me correctly it has been around for five years now. Along with the Wales to Africa scheme which sees the Welsh Assembly create 13 projects (last year) to benefit the people of Africa, as well as twinning welsh locations with those of African areas. Admittedly a good cause but the question is how many people in Wales will switch to fair trade goods!
Tyezer
Commented 21 months ago - 10th August 2010 - 09:44am
Good point smithsreunion. It's one thing having the title of 'Fair Trade Nation', but how much does the individual actually do? I know loads of people that don't even consider buying Fair Trade products- it's just not a concern of theirs.
Fair Trade Wales
Commented 21 months ago - 16th August 2010 - 14:07pm
Hi both, thanks for your comments!
You are both right of course but the Fair Trade movement has never pretended to have all the answers. Ultimately it is a small step in the right direction - the title of Fair Trade Nation is not an end in itself, it is recognition of the fact that Wales is committed to supporting Fair Trade and will continue to do so.
Again you are right when you say many people do not even consider buying Fair Trade products. This may be for a variety of reasons such as lack of awareness or the perceived increases in cost, however, results from a recent independent survey show that, in Wales at least, awareness of Fair Trade and the purchasing of Fair Trade goods is on the increase.
Small actions can and do make a big difference though – here is just one recent example on how the Fairtrade Premium (the additional sum of money paid to Fairtrade producers to spend within their communities) has helped villages in Ghana - http://divinedelights.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/new-toilets-kuapa-style
Tyezer
Commented 21 months ago - 16th August 2010 - 16:22pm
I bet they're really pleased with their new toilets. It's good to hear a nice story.
True what you said about cost being an influence. I hate it when people say that they can't afford Fairtrade or ethical products. Because if we don't swallow the cost, it's a much higher price to pay for the people that produce this stuff. It costs some people their lives, yet we can still say 'it's too expensive, so I won't buy Fairtrade this time.'