ARZU STUDIO HOPE

ARZU, meaning “hope”, transforms lives by empowering Afghan women to lift themselves and their families out of poverty through ethical, artisan-based employment, education, and access to healthcare, thereby changing the way they see the world and their place in it. ARZU is an innovative model of social entrepreneurship with a mission to create economic stability for communities in need. Through the sale of Afghan-made rugs, ARZU STUDIO HOPE supports a holistic approach to sustainable poverty alleviation through artisan-based employment that empowers Afghan women. Women, earning fair labor wages, weave exquisite hand-knotted rugs. Innovative social benefit practices drive transformational change by providing grassroots access to vital education, healthcare, clean water and sustainable community development programs. ARZU’s vision is to drive peace through prosperity by linking good-paying jobs to behaviors that drive long-term sustainable change. What began as a concept eleven years ago has now matured into a working, humancentric, design thinking system ready to be replicated, adapted and scaled by organizations and governments elsewhere in the world.