We definitely believe that World Fair Trade Day is an occasion to be celebrated. After all, it helps to create a more ethical world!

The Fair Trade movement campaigns to improve the lives of workers and small producers, especially those within developing economies, by asserting their rights and raising their visibility within international trade.

World Fair Trade Day was started by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) in 2002, though the WFTO itself came into existence 15 years earlier, in 1989.

WFTO is a global association of 324 organizations in over 70 countries, and World Fair Trade Day takes place on the second Saturday of May of each year, and it is an inclusive worldwide festival of events celebrating Fair Trade as a tangible contribution to the fight against poverty and exploitation, climate change and the economic crisis that has the greatest impact on the world’s most vulnerable populations.

If you want to take part in this special day, researching the work conditions of people around the world would be a good place to start, just so you can get a general idea about how some people are forced to live. You are likely to be shocked at how the things you enjoy on an everyday basis are made, but awareness is the first step towards making any kind of change.

When workers are paid fairly, they and their families are able to lead better lives. Everyone benefits because there is a fairer and healthier world. It helps to open our eyes to some of the injustices in the world so that we can all fight to do better.

Start with today and make the simple but effective promise to only buy certified Fair Trade products whenever possible, thereby giving your hard-earned money to only those companies that truly care about the well-being of those less fortunate.