Request for Proposals - Aurat Foundation

Who should apply
Home based women workers associations, trade associations, CBOs and NGOs based in the
selected districts are encouraged to apply for this grant.
2. Product development, refinement and facilitation of market integration (one sub-grant
up to $100,000)
Sub-grant 180: National
Pakistan’s home based workers and women artisans have a diverse skill base and produce a
variety of handicrafts. Their skills, often passed down generations, form the basis of their
livelihoods and are the resource they rely upon for earning an income. While their existing skill
base provides a unique opportunity to enhance their incomes further and boost empowerment
levels, the demand for their craft and the monetary returns it offers is fast diminishing. There is
little professional guidance available to these women to bring innovation into their design,
develop market-relevant products, improve the overall quality of their work, or successfully
integrate their wares into a high-return market.
Through this sub-grant effort to work with these women to bring innovation into their traditional
crafts/products, facilitate development of value chains and optimize marketing opportunities, is
being envisioned. The aims of this sub-grant are to:
Identify potential market opportunities for products based on traditional skills;
Design and develop a range of innovative products appealing to the identified markets;
Test, modify and refine the products until they are ready for production;
Work with women artisans to build their capacities on the new products, while enhancing
their understanding of contemporary designs, color palettes and marketability;
Create linkages between the women artisans/ home based workers and the identified
markets, and successfully integrate the new products into the identified market niches
This sub-grant will work in close coordination with the district-level sub-grants outlined above
(under 168-177). The existing skill base and range of products being developed in these districts
will be identified under 168-177. The successful applicant for this sub-grant will coordinate with
the district partners and pursue refinement and further development of the existing products.
Suggested time period: 12 months
Minimum suggested outputs:
Mapping exercise conducted to spot existing and upcoming market opportunities for
the identified traditional arts and craft products
Sets of innovative products developed for each of the ten districts
Facilitate skill development and product enhancement workshops organized under subgrants
168-177 for the village-level home based workers groups/committees
Promote and leverage the new products in the identified markets
Integrate the products into the identified market opportunities and establish linkages of
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