Carpets For Afghanistan

Available for purchase before and during the auction

Help Afghanistan

Afghanistan is facing a worsening humanitarian emergency with the economy near collapse and about half the population now reliant on aid. There are more than 3.5 million people displaced by conflict inside the country, including some 700,000 forced to flee this year alone. With winter fast approaching, temperatures in the capital are already reaching close to 0°C at night and may dip to as low as –25°C in mid-winter, putting those sleeping outside at risk of hypothermia.

Zuleya carpets, woven in FBMI centers in Afghanistan, have been donated to UNHCR to support their charitable work. The proceeds will go towards providing core relief items to the most vulnerable Afghan families during the coming winter season.

 

FBMI

Fatima bint Mohamed bin Zayed Initiative was founded in 2010. The initiative was originally established to initiate a change in the stark realities of Afghanistan’s women and children. FBMI invests locally in healthcare, education, numerous social and economic reforms, and dignified employment opportunities. About 70% of FBMI employees are women and widows. Each employee receives free vocational training, medical care and schooling for their children.

Zuleya is the retail brand of the initiative that sells the carpets and the handicrafts made by the initiative in Afghanistan.

FBMI’s other retail brand, Mira, has united independent farmers from all over Afghanistan under a shared vision of sustainability, and created a market to sell their naturally grown produce in the UAE.

All the profits made by both retail arms are invested back into the initiative, to preserve Afghanistan’s cultural heritage, and to provide underprivileged communities with critical social services.

UNHCR

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created in 1950, during the aftermath of the Second World War, to help millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes.

Today, over 70 years later, UNHCR is still hard at work, protecting and assisting refugees around the world. With staff in more than 130 countries around the world, the primary purpose at UNHCR is to safeguard the rights and well-being of people who have been forced to flee. Together with partners and communities, UNHCR works to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country.

For over half a century, UNHCR has helped millions of people to restart their lives. They include refugees, returnees, stateless people, the internally displaced and asylum-seekers. The protection, shelter, health and education offered by UNHCR has been crucial, healing broken pasts and building brighter futures.