The RugMark Foundation

The handmade carpet industry exploits nearly 300,000 children. This has to end, and it will.

The RugMark Foundation is the international nonprofit organization devoted to building schools, programs and opportunities that give children back their childhoods by ending child labor in the handmade carpet industry in South Asia.

The organization was founded on a simple premise: If enough people demand certified child-labor-free rugs, manufacturers will only employ skilled, adult artisans and the exploitation of children in the carpet industry will come to an end.

RugMark recruits carpet producers and importers to make and sell carpets that are made without illegal child labor. By agreeing to adhere to strict no-child-labor guidelines and by permitting random inspections of their carpet looms, manufacturers earn the right to place the certified and individually numbered RugMark label on their carpets. If inspectors find children working on looms, they are offered the opportunity to go to school instead, and producers and importers lose the privilege to use the RugMark label.