50 years of Empowering Women & Preserving The Craft of Needlework

Behbud is a self-sustainable non-profit organization that has trained more than 300,000 women artisans spanning over five generations, and has paved the way to preserve some of the most exquisite crafts of Pakistan. Realizing the devastating impact of the war of 1965, on widows and their children, a group of dedicated women volunteers, initiated the Behbud Association of Pakistan. Behbud began in a garage- A small set-up with a few sewing machines for the widows of the war to make crafts and home textiles for sale. Two years later, in the summer of 1967, Behbud was formally launched in Rawalpindi, with a mission to economically empower women through skill training in local crafts, free healthcare, counseling and education for their children.