2009

The Fair Trade goes out on the street

The context

The International trade is dominated by transnational corporations that impose the rules of the game: keep a trading system based on the exploitation of small producers and workers from the South, depletion of natural resources, pollution of the nature, child labour exploitation, discrimination of women and trade union repression. Through international organizations such as the international organization of the trade, the countries of the North imposed free market. There, they are competitive and create protectionist mechanisms where they cannot compete with the countries of the South, such as in agriculture. The products of the South are then in a disadvantage position in international competition.

The consumers of the North, as are aware of his power -without consumers there is neither production nor benefits-, they can use it to create a world based on ethical values. The payment of fair wages, good working conditions, respect for the environment, or investments in the community, among others, trade fair "humanizes" the international trade and is one of the ways that consumers and citizens can collaborate with a commercial system that causes poverty and marginalization, by participating in the construction of a more just world.

The project to evaluate

The assessment will focus on the project El Comerç Just surt Al carrer, promoted by the Association S'Altra Senalla. It aims to spread the fair trade, and analyse the causes and the consequences of its existence. The project offers educational and awareness activities, so that the proposals can reach a wide range of population.

The project has been executed in Islas Baleares – Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza -and is an example of the importance of awareness and education for development in the framework of the fulfilment of the goals and commitments of the development cooperation policies, which have gained increasing recognition in the cooperating institutions in recent years.