This is my friend Saeeda.
Saaeda is a jewelry artisan from Afghanistan.
Saaeda was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan,
where she became sick during the first year of her life,
and lost her hearing.
Saaeda is deaf,
she communicates with sign language,
and her actions are powerful and inspiring.
I met Saaeda when she came to New York.
She was receiving an award from the United Nations for sustainability,
with a team from Turquoise Mountain,
a charity from the UK that works in developing nations
to provide jobs and pride for workers.
Saaeda has a community in Kabul,
and these workers are making jewelry,
they're making products, woodworks, handicrafts,
and they rely on access to our Western markets
for their livelihood, for their income,
and to provide for their families.
Afghanistan is a war zone,
bombings happen with regularity,
and the Taliban is in and around more than we wish.
This is my friend Juana.
Juana is from Lachuá, Guatemala.
I met Juana on a cacao sourcing trip for my chocolate business,
and as we walked through the jungles and the cacao farms of Lachuá,
I noticed that Juana did not have shoes.
I thought of all the shoes that I have in my apartment in New York City,
that my friends have,
that all of you here tonight may have in your closets
of colours, shapes and styles,
and I felt so guilty.
Are we wrong to enjoy things that we can afford,
that we've worked for, that we've earned,
and our lifestyle in New York, or Paris, or Florida?
What can we do about it?
In the $2.4 trillion garment industry, 80% of the workers are women.
Many are subject to low pay, mistreatment and abuse,
and human rights issues.
90% of the worlds cacao is farmed by smallholder farmers
that live on less than $2 a day.
That's half the price of a Starbuck's coffee.
5 million women and children work in the jewelry industry in the mines.
They are subject to human rights abuses, low wages,
to make our bracelets, our necklaces and our rings.
So again I ask you what can we do about it, besides feeling terribly guilty?
The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
two weeks ago,
had the theme of Globalisation 4.0,
and they asked:
"How do we create a shared economy that works for everyone
and not just the fortunate few?"
There's a solution.
Some of you may have heard of it.
If not, I encourage you to take part.
It's 'conscious consumerism' -
buying with intent, buying with purpose,
and literally, in the case of a chocolate bar,
putting your money where your mouth is.
By buying with purpose, by buying brands and products that we can respect,
with ethical, radically transparent supply chains,
we could make a difference
in the artisans, the factory workers
and the farmers
around the world in developing nations,
or your own nation,
through conscious consumerism.
You can support quality products, quality brands and quality companies.
Executives, about 65% right now, are looking at sustainability
and ethical, transparent supply chains
as something that they expect us to expect of them.
About 50% of millennials and 46% of Generation Z customers
research the brands before they buy.
How can we bring that number up
and transfer it communally to whole generations
to make a difference in the lives and express the values that we want
and make a difference in the world?
How does one do it?
It sounds a little complicated, it might take some time, some effort.
Let's set our intention first.
One dollar, one vote.
One dollar, one voice.
Those are phrases we've heard before.
But literally, when you vote with your wallet,
you're expressing what kind of world you want to have.
When you vote and have a voice with your dollars,
it becomes a chorus of values,
each individual person becomes a chorus when we vote collectively.
So you set your intention:
we will mobilise our dollars to conscious consumerism
for economic empowerment.
Do your research, how do you know what brands to support?
Google's a pretty good option.
Check out annual reports, websites,
companies with radical, transparent supply chains
that are doing ethical business and practising fair trade
can really express to you what's happening,
and you can learn about them easily,
because they care, and they want you to know
so that you buy their products.
Take your time.
It's important to take your time before purchasing.
We live in a society where we are forced to be fast.
We have to think fast, to do fast and spend fast.
When you invest in products over the long term,
for example, a chocolate bar,
you buy a chocolate bar,
and you invest in that brand again and again -
not such a bad option, chocolate, everyone loves chocolate -
you are creating a steady flow of income for the farmers who grow that chocolate,
those cacao beans.
They can invest in their homes,
they can invest in healthcare for the families
and education for the children,
including girls, which is often the first thing to go.
So, the loyalty for brands and products can really make a great difference
over the long term.
There are a couple of controversies with this case.
There are many labels out there
that are marketed to claim to solve all these problems, and create jobs,
and be the ethical, transparent,
wonderful, gold standard that you can trust.
Please don't be fooled by this. You're all far too smart for that.
'Fair Trade' as a phrase and 'Ethical Trade' as a phrase
are wonderful options to look for when you're researching brands.
But a lot of the gold standard does not come into one label
that you may see on a chocolate bar, for example, a hang tag on a jacket.
It may contain products, parts of a product, that are not ethical trade.
For example beans,
some of the beans from a chocolate bar may not be authenticated,
the packaging may not be.
So be smart and don't be fooled.
There's another controversy too,
many might claim that conscious consumerism is an elitist philosophy,
that it's only for the wealthy.
Now, that's really not the case;
it takes a little more time, and energy, and perhaps resources,
because these products may be priced slightly higher
than those that you get at certain stores.
Why are they priced higher?
It's because people are getting paid higher wages,
they're getting paid a fair living wage,
and isn't that something that you would want to support?
Now, you may not be able to buy an electric car, or maybe you can,
but I think you could get a chocolate bar
and wouldn't that make you feel good to know that you are helping a family,
a community for the future?
In the case of fashion, quality, not quantity.
Think about your cost per wear - CPW.
Now, when you buy that inexpensive tank top,
you may be able to wear it a couple of times,
and frankly, it likely will fall apart.
And when you invest a little bit more into a higher quality item,
that you might know the origin, not only will you have a better story
and feel confident that you are supporting someone,
but it will probably last longer too.
(Video)
(Voice of interpreter) Saeeda Etebari: I like this one the best
because it reminds me of my village,
when I go there and then they grow wheat,
and they make bread out of it for the family,
so it's something that you can grow and you can feed your family with.
Interpreter: She likes this one too a lot.
Katherine Parr:
So that's my friend Saeeda again, from Afghanistan, the jewelry artisan.
I'm very proud to call her a friend, because I'm proud of how she does,
and what she speaks of.
Saeeda was simultaneously able to explain a jewelry piece,
a luxury jewelry item, as a symbol for economic empowerment.
While you purchase a piece of jewelry, a necklace, for example,
and you're creating jobs and a livelihood,
you're also getting a story, you're getting something meaningful,
and you can have the shared happiness
that both you get from buying something that you're proud of,
that you can wear to a cocktail party,
to a dinner party, to a concert, and someone compliments you,
you have a lot more to say than just a brand name.
You can say,
'I know who made my jewelry.
I'm wearing my values.'
And that's a much better story than what they say on the red carpet sometimes.
Now, I think most of us know
we are living in the fourth industrial revolution,
where changes in robotics
and developments in artificial intelligence
is going to take over.
So how do we survive in that environment? And not just survive, but excel?
Jack Ma said that it is the skills of sharing and caring
that will help us compete with the robotics
in the fourth industrial revolution.
Well, I think, it's a little simpler than that.
He's not wrong.
But if we take away the consumption,
the accumulation of material goods
and add some caring to that,
it's a shared global happiness that we can contribute to.
This necklace is from my jewelry collection,
and this is a fashion revolution campaign
that I appreciate and integrated into the programme.
We know that this woman makes our jewelry.
Wouldn't you be proud to wear something that says:
'I know who made my jewelry.'
It gives you a terrific story,
and it's really something that you can be proud of.
So, tonight we're here in a beautiful museum,
with many influencers and people with voices.
I believe that each and every one of you,
individually, and together collectively can make a difference.
I expect of you to engage in conscious consumerism
towards economic empowerment.
And you could start small.
It could be one necklace
and just one chocolate bar at a time.
(Applause)