{"id":1927,"date":"2023-05-15T16:07:17","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T16:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/?post_type=project&#038;p=1927"},"modified":"2025-06-27T05:32:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T05:32:33","slug":"vceela-empowering-artisans-across-pakistan-by-connecting-them-to-local-and-international-markets","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/projects\/vceela-empowering-artisans-across-pakistan-by-connecting-them-to-local-and-international-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Vceela &#8211; empowering artisans across Pakistan by connecting them to local and international markets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Small artisans in Pakistan face challenges that hinder their growth and sustainability. The main ones include exploitation by middlemen due to the lack of market information and resources to access better markets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"447\" height=\"413\" src=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/dkj28.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1928\" srcset=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/dkj28.jpg 447w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/dkj28-300x277.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 447px) 100vw, 447px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Aqeel Khalid, the founder of Vceela<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Aqeel Khalid always empathised with many talented men and women artisans in Pakistan that get exploited in the trading of their craft. This inspired him to start Vceela, a social enterprise that works to empower artisans across Pakistan by connecting the digitally illiterate and unconnected artisans directly to the local and international markets thus cutting out middlemen and enabling artisans to extract higher profits from their products. This is achieved through technology supported by Vceela\u2019s ecosystem.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-edited.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-edited.png 960w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-edited-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-edited-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Women artisan&#8217;s at one of Vceela&#8217;s workshops learning how to use Vceela&#8217;s platform to profitably sell their artisanal products worldwide.&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Vceela currently works with more than 50,000 artisans from 344 villages and cities across Pakistan with 81% of Vceela\u2019s artisans being homebased women artisans that are now able to profitably sell their artisanal products worldwide.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-2-edited-1024x682.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1932\" srcset=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-2-edited-1024x682.png 1024w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-2-edited-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-2-edited-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-2-edited-1536x1024.png 1536w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Vceela-2-edited.png 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A home based artisan working at his workshop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With QECT\u2019s support, Vceela will build, test, and launch Vceela&#8217;s innovative micro-incubation model. Through this model, Vceela will connect artists and designers to work together to create new, unique and export quality products.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Small artisans in Pakistan face challenges that hinder their growth and sustainability. The main ones include exploitation by middlemen due to the lack of market information and resources to access better markets.&nbsp; Aqeel Khalid always empathised with many talented men and women artisans in Pakistan that get exploited in the trading of their craft. This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1929,"template":"","project-categories":[14],"class_list":["post-1927","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project-categories-inclusion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vceela - empowering artisans across Pakistan by connecting them to local and international markets | Queens Commonwealth Trust<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/projects\/vceela-empowering-artisans-across-pakistan-by-connecting-them-to-local-and-international-markets\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vceela - empowering artisans across Pakistan by connecting them to local and international markets | Queens Commonwealth Trust\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Small artisans in Pakistan face challenges that hinder their growth and sustainability. 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