The social part is about ensuring that all people get a good and fair basis for a decent life.
A product. A future.
At Bokhari, Scandinavian design and Pakistani craftsmanship are combined in beautiful quality products. In order to create safe and decent jobs for hundreds of artisans in Pakistan, and ensure schooling for their children at the LAMS school next door to the weavery, we can offer the following areas of expertise:
- Bokhari merch: a wide selection of quality merchandise products for marketing and branding. We also offer screen, digital and transfer printing services.
- Bokhari interior: our own collection of exclusive interior and textile products designed by Runa Klock and made in limited edition.
- Bokhari home: offers selected partners the opportunity to develop products and collections in exclusive designs, made from more sustainable materials.
People. Planet. Prosperity.
What exactly is sustainability? At Bokhari, we believe that real and lasting sustainable development must consist of all three dimensions of economy, environment and social conditions. Or in other words: people, environment and welfare. This is also called the triple bottom line (people, planet & profit/prosperity).
The connection between these three dimensions is what is decisive for whether something is sustainable! At Bokhari, we work every day to find new, smart solutions that both balance the impact on the environment with the consumption and the economy we have, in addition to finding better ways in which we can distribute resources. It is only then that it becomes sustainable for both us humans and the environment.
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The environment part is about stopping climate change and taking care of nature as a renewable resource for people.
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The financial part is about ensuring financial security for people and society.
Sustainable. Human. Engaged.
Do businesses have a responsibility for people and the environment? Our answer is a resounding and unequivocal YES! By taking our responsibility t the next level, beyond expectations, and even a little further, we aim to make our small contribution to a better world.
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For Bokhari, sustainability means that we care about both the environment and the people. We only use sustainable materials in all our products, and where possible we choose reuse and recycling. We have a number of environmental certifications for both the products and the business in general, and work continuously to reduce our climate footprint and increase the positive social impact.
Read more about how we contribute to the sustainability goals.
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We don’t hire people to make products – we make products to hire people.
With that mindset, we make conscious choices in product development and operations that ensure that more women and men are secured safe and decent workplaces.
Read more about our approach to decent work and the sustainability goals.
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We want to contribute to security and social care for our employees and their families. Not only today, but also in the future. It is therefore important for us to contribute to ensuring that all children receive the education they are entitled to, when local authorities do not have the resources to offer it. Good education is also important to contribute to hope for the future and secure a financial framework. We see that many of the girls at the LAMS school are the first in their families to learn to read and write!
Read more about the LAMS school.
Who are we?
Bokhari consists of a total of over 450 women and men, in Pakistan and Norway. Creative director Runa Klock and general manager Amar Bokhari, together with warehouse manager Monica Breivik, handle all work in Norway, whereas all production takes place in Sultan Town, a suburb of Faisalabad in Pakistan. There, our skilled artisans, mostly women, make all our products. Our shared vision is to contribute to a more sustainable future for people and the planet.
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Runa is a forward-looking Norwegian designer with a focus on sustainability and social entrepreneurship. She has broad experience from the design of quality products and exhibitions for leading brands and museums, to urban planning and the production of apple juice. Runa is the creative leader at Bokhari and uses her knowledge, experience and passion to further develop Bokhari and design new products from sustainable materials. Runa lives in the Western part of Norway, in Sjøholt, Ålesund, and has a daughter.
Telephone: +47 958 87 414
E-mail: runa@bokhari.no -
Amar is a passionate social entrepreneur with a background in international development and humanitarian work. He has a passion for social and economic justice, with a particular focus on children’s and women’s rights. This is reflected in his vision that Bokhari should be a driving force to promote sustainable solutions that also put people in focus. Amar is the general manager of Bokhari with responsibility for the day-to-day operations and further development of the company. Amar lives in Oslo, Norway, has three daughters and is married to Noor.
Telephone: +47 948 48 093
E-mail: amar@bokhari.no
Our story
An informal meeting in 2014 between designer Runa Klock and social entrepreneur Amar Bokhari was the basis for the restoration and continuation of the vision of creating unique handmade textile and interior products, and through that creating safe workplaces for women and men and schooling for their children – a work that was started over 30 years ago. Because the story of Bokhari goes all the way back to the end of the 1980s when the idea to produce the traditional Norwegian fillerya in Pakistan was conceived on a beautiful winter’s day at Maihaugen in Lillehammer.
Certifications
Whereas certifications are tremendously helpful to ensure that all activity that takes place at our weaving mill is in accordance with the current international standards, as well as contributes to ensuring that our suppliers follow these stricts requirements too, we have chosen to go beyond the minimum requirements of the certifications. We continuously strive to ensure that, in everything we do, we exceed expectations - that way, we can contribute to truly sustainble impact on people and planet.
We currently have the following certifications:
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The Fairtrade certification system is rigorous, independent, and in line with best-in-class certification practice. We offer our range of merchandise products in Fairtrade certified cotton.
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All our recycled products meet the requirements of the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), the world’s leading certification standard for recycled textiles which also includes social criteria. This means that our production is continuously checked by an external partner to ensure good conditions for both people and the environment from start to finish.The main goal of GRS is to increase the use of recycled materials in products and reduce the damage caused by production. GRS certified products must contain at least 50% recycled material, but we always try to use as much recycled material as possible. Our carrier nets are made from 100% recycled material. The certificate also ensures good working conditions, in terms of wages, working hours, health and safety and ensures that child labor is not used.
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We have the ISO 14001: 2015 certification, which specifies the requirements for an environmental management system that an organization can use to improve its environmental performance. Through this, we seek to handle our environmental responsibility in a systematic way that contributes to the environmental arrow in sustainability. Furthermore, this certification helps us to achieve the intended results of our environmental management system. In accordance with our environmental policy, the intended results of an environmental management system include:
- improvement of environmental performance
- fulfillment of obligations
- achievement of environmental goals.
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We meet all the requirements of ISO 9001: 2015 certification for a quality management system, including:
- consistent ability to offer products and services that meet customer and applicable legal requirements, and
- improved customer satisfaction through effective application of the system, including processes for improving the system and ensuring compliance with customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
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The aim of ISO 45001 is the reduction of occupational injuries and illnesses, including the promotion and protection of physical and mental health.
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Through our Sedex membership certified at the level of SMETA, an ethical audit format that reports on Sedex’s four pillars in work, health and safety, environment and business ethics.
This is how we work with the SDGs
Bokhari is inspired and guided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world’s joint work plan to eradicate poverty, fight inequality and stop climate change by 2030.
Through our responsible business model, we directly contribute to achieving several of these goals and indirectly to many more.
Don't take our word for it
At Bokhari, we work tirelessly to improve our ways of doing things, so that we can make even better products and contribute to improving the lives of our staff and their families – and by doing so contributing to a brighter future for all.
But don’t take our word for it.