I made this speech as part of the debate on the Overseas Aid Development Commission Annual Report. Fair Trade is close to my heart, having had a Fair Trade business for many years and my husband being a member of the Fair-trade Steering Group for over a decade.
Sir, I would like to thank the President of OADC for both this policy letter and the Annual Report. It appears to me that the Commission now has added impetus under her leadership.
I am particularly pleased that the remit for Fairtrade is now going to fall under the OADC and trust that this means that there will be renewed vigour in promoting Fairtrade within the States of Guernsey. Guernsey has the status of Fairtrade Island, something that visitors are made aware of when they arrive and pass through the airport. We can and should do more.
Unlike aid, charity or just doing good, the point about Fairtrade is it recognises the fact we are a global community and what we do can impact on those many miles away. Fairtrade looks holistically at the supply chain to address market failures and social impacts at source, but at the same time takes account of the need for profitability. It helps people help themselves, which in turn benefits us all.
Through agreed minimum prices, social premiums, direct purchasing, transparent and long term ptrading partenrships, co-operative not competitive delaings, provision of credit and market info to producers, democratic producer organisations, sustainable production and absence of slave labour, Fairtrade aims for an equality of exchange within a partnership approach.
Fair trade has proven to have a direct and indirect impact, increasing income, improving education, empowering women and preserving cultures. That leads me to an important point here and something that I think may be worth OADC considering. Indeed the President may have views herelf on this, and that is how and whether OADC could and should measure impact of the work that it does, qualitatively and quantitatively.
And finally, on that note, members will have read in 7.4.2 about support being given to Ugandan artisanal gold miners through a partnership between the Commission, 2 local businesses and Fairtrade Guernsey.
These funds helped to equip the miners with the required pieces of mercury-free gold technology, so that they were able to achieve Fairtrade gold status.
As an update, I was pleased to hear that the first ever shipment of African Fairtrade gold from Uganda was recently delivered.
This is just one example of the hugely positive work done by the OADC, and something we should be proud of.