The UNESCO-AHPADA Award OF EXCELLENCE for Handicraft Products of Southeast Asia was jointly established by UNESCO and the ASEAN Handicraft Promotion and Development Association (AHPADA) in order to establish standards of quality and to enhance international market awareness of handicrafts from the 10 Southeast Asian countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Products or product lines qualifying for the UNESCO-AHPADA AWARD must conform to rigorous standards of cultural, environmental and production excellence.

     The AWARD serves as a quality control mechanism and marketing device that guarantees excellent quality of hand-made traditional and/or innovative craft products from the region. The AWARD is therefore not an awards competition given for the most outstanding piece, but a “stamp of approval” that guarantees that a handicraft product or product line meet the highest standards of quality and have been produced with careful regard to cultural authenticity and environmental conservation.

     In its inaugural year – 2001 – the AWARD drew 50 entries from 6 of the ten ASEAN countries, in all of the categories and materials set out in the regulations. 11 of the submitted 50 entries were judged eligible to receive the UNESCO-AHPADA AWARD, a testimony to the truly high standard of excellence required to receive this distinction.

     The AWARD has been on an annual basis from 2001-2008. Producers of craft products and product lines from the ASEAN countries are invited and encouraged to submit their highest quality items for consideration to receive the prestigious and standard-setting UNESCO-AHPADA AWARD of EXCELLENCE for handicraft products.

     Entry forms and regulations are available on this website. Printed brochures are also available upon request from AHPADA chapter offices located in each ASEAN country or from the Bangkok office of the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific.

Definition of Crafts

     Produced by artisans, either completely by hand, or with the help of hand-tools or even mechanical means, as long as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the most substantial component of the finished product. These are produced without restriction in terms of quantity and using raw materials from sustainable resources.The special nature of artisanal products derives from their distinctive features, which can be utilitarian, aesthetic, artistic, creative, culturally attached, decorative, functional, traditional, religiously and socially symbolic and significant.

     (Definition adopted for crafts/artisanal products at the UNESCO/ITC International Symposium on “Crafts and the International Market: Trade and Customs Codification”, Manila, Philippines, October 1997)

Benefits

1. The AWARD certificate can be used as a promotional tool to indicate the quality and authenticity of a product.
2. Relevant producers will be invited to display and sell the products at the annual exhibition and trade fair organized exclusively for SEAL products and at international trade fairs.
3. National and sub-regional design marketing training workshops will be organized for the SEAL producers targeted especially at recipients of the Certificate of Quality, to assist them to improve their product lines.
4. All AWARD products will be listed on the AHPADA website, on which buyers can place orders directly to the produces.
5. Relevant AWARD products will be submitted for selection for sale at the SantaFe Folk Craft Market annually in New Maxico, USA.