World Fair Trade Day 2014 celebrations all around the world

Under the motto ‘Fair Trade People’ on 10 May thousands of people all around the world celebrated World Fair Trade Day, calling for fairer terms of trade for small artisans, farmers and workers. Different Fair Trade organizations, producers and supporters took part in a wide variety of events, reflecting the creativity and diversity of the Fair Trade movement. Find here some of the plethora of activities:

Vote for Fair Trade Campaign

A public debate amongst a Fair Trade producer from El Salvador, candidates to the European Parliament elections and dozens of young Europeans took place in Strasbourg on the occasion of World Fair Trade Day, in the context of the European Youth Event 2014. Mr. Jose Alexander Flores, member of the Fair Trade producer association APRAINORES in El Salvador, as keynote speaker, kicked-off a debate amongst candidates to the European Parliament and dozens of young Europeans on how the European Union could support Fair Trade after the European Parliament elections.

An outdoor Fair Trade stand, hosted jointly cross-border by the world shops of Offenburg and Strasbourg, raised awareness on Fair Trade among the young attendees. Two hundred people from more than thirty countries visited the stand where Fair Trade products were sold. Visitors also participated in translating ‘Fair Trade’ in their language.

Pictures of the event are available here. And a short interview with Jose Alexander Flores is available here.

World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO)

Dozens of events around the world were organized by WFTO actors. E.g. Fair Trade Group Nepal organised a rally for Fair Trade, while fair coffee and tea with banana were offered at Elimu (Rovaniemi, Finland).

Find out more by having a look at the event calendar.

WFTO-Europe organised a Fair Trade picnic in Brussels: supporters from different countries such as Italy, France and Finland gathered around homemade Fair Trade dishes and participated in a puzzle competition on the theme of Fair Trade people.

Fairtrade International

Fairtrade farmers and producers also joined the celebrations too: banana farmers in the Dominican Republic organised a family sports day with the local community, while in Guatemala and Mexico, producers invited local people to join them on a Fair Trade walk with the slogan “Un camino de solidaridad y justicia con los pequeños productores”. Lebanese and North African farmers, Beirut shoppers, Fairtrade International and Fair Trade Lebanon staff came together for a massive Fair Trade lunch in the centre of Beirut, celebrating the finest of local and Fair Trade cuisine. Read the event´s details here.

Campaigners in the UK were ‘Going Bananas for Fairtrade’ and handed in a petition with over 50,000 signatures to the government asking to make bananas fair.

Thousands of German homes, offices and schools were hosting Fairtrade breakfasts from 25 April to 1 June.

Czech Fair Trade organisation Nazemi celebrated World Fair Trade Day in 119 places within the Czech Republic with a very strong media impact. The events were reported especially by the regional journals, but also by the national ones as well: for the first time, the Fair Trade Breakfast was featured in the main evening news on public television. The media and the public also loved the video-invitation “love your producer – show him your love on Fair Trade Breakfast”.

Watch the video by Nazemi here.