Code of Conduct

                                                               

 

Akuaipa Artisans: Code of Conduct & Ethical Supply Chain Policy

 

1. Preamble & Core Values

This Code of Conduct outlines the binding minimum standards for all employees, field coordinators, business partners, and external stakeholders working with or representing Akuaipa Artisans. We believe that personal integrity and transparent partnership must guide every business choice. Our core mission balances commercial activity with the absolute preservation and support of Wayuu cultural traditions, languages, and rights.

2. Social Responsibility & Fair Treatment

All stakeholders must treat indigenous communities and individuals with absolute dignity and respect.

Voluntary Engagement, Autonomy, & Collective Organization

  1. Zero Coercion: All artisan partnerships must be entirely voluntary. Any form of forced, bonded, or exploitative labour is prohibited.
  2. Freedom of Association: Artisans have the absolute right to form, join, and actively participate in independent artisan cooperatives, associations, or community unions of their choice.
  3. No Retaliation for Organizing: Membership in a cooperative will never negatively impact an artisan's contract status, order volume, or relationship with Akuaipa Artisans.
  4. Right to Exit: Wayuu artisans maintain complete freedom to pause, change, or terminate their commercial relationship with Akuaipa Artisans at any time without fear of penalty.
  5. No Workplace Harassment: We maintain zero tolerance for psychological hardship, sexual harassment, personal harassment, or cultural humiliation.
  6. Absolute Maximum Working Hours: Under no circumstances shall any employee, contractor, or supply chain worker be required or permitted to work more than sixty (60) hours per week, inclusive of all regular hours and overtime. Primacy of Local Law: Where local laws set lower maximum limits, those lower limits shall take absolute precedence.

3. Child Labour Prohibition & Youth Protection

  1. Strict Prohibition: We strictly adhere to the International Labour Organization (ILO) standards, the Political Constitution of Colombia, and the Colombian Childhood and Adolescence Code (Law 1098 of 2006). The employment or commercial exploitation of children under the legal minimum working age is prohibited in any part of our operations or supply chain. For the purposes of this code “child labour” applies to any individual fourteen (14) years of age or younger; the minimum legal age for employment is fifteen (15) in Colombia.
  2. The employment of adolescents aged fifteen (15) to seventeen (17) is permitted only under strict legal compliance and requires the following protocols:

Government Authorization: Prior to commencement of employment, the adolescent worker must possess a valid, written work permit issued by a Labour Inspector from the Colombian Ministry of Labour (Ministerio del Trabajo), or the competent local authority.

Working Hour Restrictions: Adolescent work schedules must strictly comply with statutory limits:

 

Ages 15 to 16: Maximum of six (6) hours per day and thirty (30) hours per week.

Ages 16 to 17: Maximum of eight (8) hours per day and forty (40) hours per week.

 

 

  1. Support for Education: Business operations must never interfere with a child’s schooling, education, or right to play.
  2. Safe Apprenticeship Safeguards: Traditional intergenerational crafting and family learning are respected, but youths under eighteen (18) must never perform hazardous work, handle toxic dyes, work overnight, or engage in labour that risks their health, safety, education or morals.

4. Fair Economic Practices

  1. Direct Trade Model: We eliminate exploitative middlemen by dealing directly with individual artisans, families, and organized cooperatives.
  2. Fair Trade Pricing: All artisan partners must receive fair trade prices that honour their specialized skill, time, and material investments.
  3. Equitable Profit Sharing: A minimum of 10% of company net profits must be funnelled directly back into events, institutions, and initiatives that protect and strengthen Wayuu cultural knowledge and language preservation.

5. Cultural Preservation & Intellectual Property

Traditional commercial codes often overlook the exploitation of indigenous designs. This section establishes strict compliance structures to safeguard the creative sovereignty of the Wayuu people.

  1. Aesthetic Sovereignty: Traditional patterns, symbols, and weaving techniques belong exclusively to the Wayuu heritage. We forbid the mass-produced, non-authentic replication or commercialization of these patterns by outside parties.
  2. Attribution and Respect: Marketing materials must celebrate and give credit to the individual artisans, clans, or cooperatives behind the work, treating creators as equal creative partners.

6. Ecological & Sustainable Sourcing

Akuaipa Artisans prioritizes environmental stewardship and resource conservation:

  1. Material Integrity: Sourcing practices for threads, dyes, and raw materials must prioritize local, non-toxic, and environmentally low-impact options.
  2. Waste Reduction: Production practices should support resource conservation, recycling, and minimizing waste footprint within regional weaver communities.

7. Compliance, Grievances, & Whistleblowing

To ensure these rules are actively upheld, Akuaipa Artisans implements a transparent accountability framework.

Reporting Violations

  1. Open Channels: Any artisan, cooperative leader, partner, or worker who observes exploitation, underpayment, discrimination, or cultural disrespect can file a formal complaint.
  2. Anonymity Protections: Reports can be made confidentially to our designated compliance coordinators, with options for anonymous submissions to protect vulnerable individuals from social or financial blowback.
  3. Anti-Retaliation Policy: No artisan's standing or financial security will ever be negatively affected for raising a good-faith concern or reporting a code violation.

8. Governance, Legal Compliance, & Continuous Improvement

  1. Legal Compliance: The agreements between Wayuu associations/cooperatives and Akuaipa Artisans shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, all applicable local, national, and international laws, including recognized indigenous rights frameworks.
  2. Mutual Accountability Framework: Both Akuaipa Artisans and the participating Wayuu associations/cooperatives commit to implementing a joint governance structure to oversee the active application of this Code of Conduct.
  3. Continuous Improvement: Compliance is viewed as a dynamic, evolving process. All parties pledge to work collaboratively to regularly review practices, address gaps, and constantly improve operations to better meet the social, legal, economic, and cultural expectations set forth in this document.
  4. Biannual Review Panels: Joint review meetings will be held twice a year between Akuaipa Artisans leadership and cooperative representatives to assess fair pricing metrics, working conditions, and community development impacts.