Profile
Uganda Crafts was formed in 1983 with the primary aim of supporting disabled and widowed women and their families through income generating schemes. The majority of the artisans are either people who are disabled, widowed or young. Uganda Crafts markets crafts for the artisans and provides training in quality control, design and marketing. The organization also owns a retail store that provides employment for people with physical disabilities. Recently, Uganda Crafts purchased an 85-acre plot of land where they plan to build Uganda Crafts Village. The center will be used mainly to teach youth with disabilities about income generation. Many of these young people have now successfully started their own businesses. In June 2000 Uganda Crafts became a privately held organization and took the name Uganda Crafts 2000 Ltd.

Initially there was no system set up by the Ugandan government to support people with disabilities and unemployment was rife. It has always been the goal of the organization to empower people in ways of generating income through training and mobilization. In their founding years this involved crop growing initiatives and handicraft training production. Their scope became more extensive over the years and has provided hope by employing those with HIV, orphans, the disabled and widows. The Mission and Vision of the organization is to be innovative, encouraging creativity and ingenuity in designs, colours, patterns and materials as well as to run the business according to Fair Trade principles, pay a fair wage promptly, respect the environment, empower the marginalized, train and build skills and trade honestly transparently. Throughout Uganda many people, especially women, are living in poverty. They struggle to educate their children, maintain an adequate diet, build proper shelter and access decent and continuous medical care at times of need. Life is subsistent and the marginalised such as HIV sufferers, the disabled and widows are in greater need. One way of generating income is through craft making which lifts the whole family. Each craft that is purchased in Uganda crafts 2000 ltd directly helps in the fight against poverty.

Uganda Crafts 2000 ltd today stills runs, with the same aim of assisting the disadvantaged members of society by working with them on producing of the hand crafted products, promoting their products, marketing and general training.