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T his year, Páramo is celebrating 25 years of ethical partnership with the social enterprise
Miquelina, which empowers exploited women and girls affected by Colombia’ s civil conflict to take their future into their own hands. With support from the welfare organisation Caritas Germany and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Miquelina’ s fair trade production standards have been verified by the WFTO, of which it is now a fully-fledged member. All Páramo products produced at Miquelina from January 2017 will carry the WFTO First-Buyer label.
With Páramo’ s encouragement, Miquelina registered as a charitable organisation in 1997 and achieved the ISO 9001 quality certification in 2002. Today, the factory is responsible for well over 80 % of Páramo’ s production. All factory profits are reinvested in equipment and in social projects. A housing cooperative in a district of Bogotá gives the women the opportunity to buy property at a fair price. The nuns have built a community centre, a virtual library, a kindergarten and a canteen for local schoolchildren. A recently launched satellite project in Pereira City, 200km west of Bogotá, is extending Miquelina’ s valuable work in a new location.