Women’s Skill Development Organization

Women’s Skills Development Organization (WSDO) is a Fair-Trade organization, which has been working since 1975 as a non-profit and income generating program. They make a wide range of handwoven and handmade  products and are committed to providing customers with the highest quality  products and service. 

The organization’s history began on International Women’s Day (March 8) in 1975, when a group of Nepalese women formed an association known as the Women’s Skills Development Project to empower poor, vulnerable and excluded women—who had no  education, were dependent on or abused by their husbands, or generally in poor  health due to a lack of money and other tough circumstances. Their insight was  to teach these women new skills related to making handicrafts. Hence, the  project started with an investment of Rs 10,000 just three working women and  derelict property in Pokhara that had been granted by the local municipality.

It was the product of both crisis and extraordinary vision- the crisis came in the  form of long-standing social and gender inequalities in Nepal while the vision  came from a group of women who realized that enabling marginalized women  to learn and develop new skills can transform their lives and communities. 

Today, WSDO is dedicated to beautiful, stylish items that are made ethically and  responsibly. Their products are traditional and craft-based yet with a contemporary  touch. Their finest quality handwoven and handmade products using 100% cotton are imported from India (mostly from fair trade raw material, but also from non-fair trade suppliers who are from disadvantaged and economically challenged backgrounds) and allo wool  from nettle growing in the foothills of the Himalayas. WSDO also trains and employs women artisans that face difficult and significant social and economic hardships—being differently abled, abused, widowed, divorced, single, orphaned or of marginalized castes.  

These women are provided with free trainings and employment opportunities related to the many different steps of making WSDO’s handwoven and handmade products. All of  this is meant to follow WSDO’s vision—to improve the quality of life for all  women in Nepal—by empowering women with new skills and capacities to be self-supportive. 

WSDO also care about their supply chain members, environment, and: 

∙ Try to use fair trade products as raw materials along with eco-friendly  (natural and Azo-free) dyes, 

∙ Cooperate with non-fair-trade suppliers who are from disadvantaged and  economically challenged backgrounds, and 

∙ Invite interested persons to experience the chain of production step by  step as a volunteer. 

For more info: wsdonepal.com