social enterprise partners - Zambia

FREE Zambia

About FREE Zambia

Free Zambia is a non-profit based in Lusaka, Zambia. FREE, which stands for ‘Foundation for the Realization of Economic Empowerment’, began in 2011 with the mission of using business and trade to lift women out of poverty. FREE’s main product lines are jewelry made from discarded electrical wire and copper. The artisans that make these pieces are young Zambian women who are trained in metalworking, a craft that few women in the country practice. Alongside their jewelry ranges, FREE is now working on homeware ranges that incorporate weaving and metalwork.

Refugee Artisan Group

A group of 66 Congolese and Angolan refugees, living in Zambia’s Mayukwayukwa refugee settlement, work with FREE. Currently, the group is 98% women. These artisans specialise in making coil basketry with copper details from locally sourced bark and grasses.

© FREE

DR Congo

Emergency

Learn more about Congolese refugees and UNHCR’s work in the region

Partners
since:
2021

Artisan
origin:
DR Congo and Angola

Production
Locations:

Mayukwayukwa refugee settlement, Zambia

Heritage skills

Basket weaving

Features

"Humanitarian assistance saves lives and must continue wherever needs arise. But when emergency tools become the long-term default, and entire generations remain trapped in dependency, we are not building sustainability. We must measure success by whether people can rebuild their lives."

- Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Refugees