Our Values

Global Goods Partners (GGP) is defined by eight core values. These values guide all of our work and remain at the heart of all of our programs around the world and here in the US. When you make a purchase through GGP, you know that each of the following core values is supported.

The value of adhering to fair trade standards
The values of conscious consumption and eco-production
The value of handcrafted products
The value of creating sustainable livelihoods
The value of building community
The value of promoting human rights
The value of advancing global health
The value of supporting access to education

The value of adhering to fair trade standards
In partnership with locally based organizations, GGP provides poor communities with a fair and reliable income and a workplace that is democratic, safe, and healthy.

We honor fair trade in our relationships with global partners by:

• Maintaining long-term, trusting, and transparent relationships
• Ensuring that communities receive at least 50% payment upfront when the order is placed
• Investing in the training and development of community organizations and producers to improve products; manage microenterprises; provide services to their local communities; and organize for human rights

All of our global partners uphold core fair trade principles themselves by:

• Paying fair wages in a local context that are agreed upon through dialogue and participation
• Providing clean, safe, and healthy workplaces
• Respecting the environment
• Helping women and families from marginalized communities to earn a fair and reliable income
• Offering public accountability
• Supporting workplaces that are democratic and foster open and trusting communication
• Developing producer independence through capacity building
• Ensuring that children's participation is child-centered rather than forced and does not impact their well-being, education, or need for play

The values of conscious consumption and eco-production
At GGP we consider the ecological and social impact of each product and take great effort to minimize our environmental footprint, as do our community-based partners around the world. We know that every choice to produce or consume can have a positive or a negative impact and that if everyone consumed like the average person in the US we would need between 3-5 planets. With this in mind GGP takes the following steps to promote conscious consumption and eco-friendly production.

Whenever possible, GGP sources products made from easily renewable plant matter, that use vegetable rather than chemical dyes, or are made from recycled materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. Where this is not yet the case, GGP provides product development training and support with an emphasis on sourcing sustainable and local raw materials; using recycled materials where possible; and producing products in an environmentally conscious manner.

GGP's global partners work to achieve economic sustainability and human rights for marginalized communities while sustaining the environment on which their livelihoods depend. We help community organizations to access the US market, creating sustainable alternatives to exploitative and environmentally destructive means of production and enabling our partners to create economically sustainable development programs that promote public health, education, and sustainable resource use.

We source products that use made-by-hand production processes, meaning that products have a lower carbon footprint.

We encourage young people in the US to explore the impact of each purchase they make and to think critically about their role as consumers and global citizens.
 
Knowing that conscious consumption is one step toward social change and that sustainable, systematic change also requires advocacy, policy change, and the support of grassroots social movements, GGP raises awareness and links consumers to relevant advocacy campaigns to take further action.

The value of handcrafted products
All GGP products are handcrafted by artisans from around the world. Products are made using traditional techniques and design elements to create unique items of beauty and use in our modern lives. While generating revenue for communities, support for such products also preserves traditional production processes and cultural motifs. In particular, GGP seeks to preserve crafts and art forms at great risk of being lost including art from conflict regions and marginalized indigenous communities globally.

The value of creating sustainable livelihoods
In partnership with our community-based partners, GGP creates sustainable livelihoods by building reliable access to markets to create economic opportunity for the most marginalized communities around the world. In order to do this, GGP relies on you as a committed customer who understands and values the great impact your purchase has globally.

Further, we encourage economic development through self suficiency. In order to make real and lasting progress, communities must be empowered to identify their own needs and create and implement solutions to respond to them. To that end, GGP seeks to address the root causes of social, political, and economic inequality within communities, focusing on expanding women's role, status, and voice in marginalized communities around the world. Acknowledging that earned income is a first and vital step to women's empowerment, GGP places added value on funding community-based organizations that act as catalysts for further social change.

GGP's model generates revenue that goes further than providing income by funding programs that tackle broad social justice issues within communities, forming partnerships with community-based organizations and social enterprises rather than individual artisans. GGP's partners provide training in literacy, business, and design, ensuring that women have the opportunity to play an active role in the aspects of a business that interest them, rather than remaining constrained to piece work over the long term.

By providing our partners with increased income generation, a greater global audience, and flexible capacity-building assistance, we ensure that communities are able to grow and sustain livelihood opportunities.

The value of building community
At GGP, we work in solidarity with Global South partners, supporting participatory and community-led development that engages women and youth.

Our development approach embraces the wisdom of community members, particularly women and youth; advocates for leadership from the ground up; encourages economic development through self-sufficiency; and focuses on the most marginalized communities in the Global South.

Our global partners are managed by local leaders (often women) and demonstrate democratic governing principles that include women. They address long-term solutions to social, political, and economic inequities in their communities while maintaining a strong focus on the wellbeing of women. Providing leadership and skills training, our partners engage their communities in advocacy to hold local governments accountable, empowering individuals and bringing people together for a common cause.

Further, our model emphasizes bridging communities across the globe, fostering understanding and solidarity between constituents in the US and communities around the world through awareness raising and advocacy.

The value of promoting human rights
Human rights are the foundation of our work. GGP and our community-based global partners promote dignity, security, and equality as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We promote basic human rights for individuals including the right to food security, shelter, education, and healthcare for women and their families.

Our global partners are advocates for democratic governance and leadership from the ground up, organizing their communities to take an active role in policy and social change.

The value of advancing global health
Marginalized communities globally face multiple challenges to accessing sufficient health services. The communities GGP supports suffer high rates of HIV and AIDS, malaria, and tuberculoses (TB) and their children die of easily preventable diarrhea and dehydration. Poor health is a result of unequal access to education and care. GGP and our partners emphasize the importance of ensuring access to appropriate health care and education, including preventative care, treatment, drug access, and HIV/AIDS care and support.

Further, we provide access to vital income for people living with HIV and AIDS. Many with the disease lack other job opportunities either because of their deteriorating health or because of stigma from other community members.

The value of supporting access to education
GGP supports access to all levels of education. This includes early childhood, primary, and secondary education for children with equal access for girls. It includes literacy and numeracy for adults, particularly for marginalized women and widows. And it includes vocational training and business skills so that a woman is able to take on any aspect of running a business or social enterprise that interests her. Further, GGP values education programs that are appropriate to local communities, taking into consideration support for the way of life of indigenous communities and providing access to education in local languages. Raising education levels and ensuring equal access further promotes health knowledge and access; increases access to job opportunities; and empowers marginalized communities to stand up for their rights and improve local conditions.