Arun Paudel of GoodWeave Nepal at the STARS Impact Awards
GoodWeave Nepal has just been selected by The STARS Foundation as the winner of the 2011 Asia-Pacific STARS Impact Award in the category of Protection. The $100,000 Impact Award is fabulous news and recognises the work that GoodWeave does in Nepal in both rescuing and preventing children from entering child labour in the rug industry; it will give a huge boost to the organization and what it can achieve.
Arun Paudel Executive Director of GoodWeave Nepal and the Nepal team attended the ceremony to receive the STARS award, $100,000.00 unrestricted funding and invaluable access to independent consultancy. It was held at the British Academy Thursday 24th November and Arun was accompanied by Samantha Towle and
Arun Paudel (left) and Jonathan Blagnrough (right) of GoodWeave
Jonathan Blagbrough from the GoodWeave UK Board.
To win the Award, Arun Paudel and his team were closely scrutinised by the STARS assessment team, who visited them to see for themselves the work they are doing and the organisation. Their report makes interesting reading and highlights their extraordinary achievements with extremely limited resources:
“Throughout the application process, GoodWeave Nepal came across as a well-focused organisation, with a clear desire to meet the needs of child weavers in Nepal. Both the STARS assessment team and the independent Panel were impressed by the innovative way in which GoodWeave Nepal has sought to meet these needs, working both with the carpet industry and the NGO sector to address the issue of child labour in carpet factories. GoodWeave Nepal also demonstrated a commitment to reaching the most vulnerable groups in a holistic manner, focusing both on the prevention as well as the rehabilitation of child weavers.
The evident impact these services are having in terms of improving the lives of children and offering them access to care and support and good quality education were very impressive.
GoodWeave Nepal also came across as a well-run and well-organised organisation, with clear systems and processes in place. It was very positive to meet staff members who have been involved with the organisation for years. During our visit, GoodWeave Nepal’s team came across as knowledgeable and committed to their work, demonstrating a good level of experience. The interaction of GoodWeave Nepal’s staff with beneficiaries came across as excellent. “
Arun has an extensive list of projects which can now be actioned thanks to the awards; these include an extensive educational programme to inform rug-making communities that child labour is illegal and how they can help to put an end to it, plus training programmes for adult weavers, who are in short supply in Nepal, so that there is less pressure to force children to work.
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