WIEGO Electronic Newsletter
Volume VIII
July- December 2006
Greetings and happy new year from the WIEGO Secretariat! As you
can see, we're unveiling a new format for our electronic newsletter
in celebration of our transition to a member-based governance structure.
If you have any suggestions on further ways to improve this newsletter,
please email the WIEGO Secretariat
with your ideas.
Wishing you all the best for the new year ahead!
NEWS FROM WIEGO'S INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS
SELF EMPLOYED WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION
SEWA Joins ICFTU
In July 2006, SEWA was admitted
as a member of the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), joining 236 national
trade union federations and 1.55 billion workers from more than
150 countries. SEWA applied for membership in 2005 after its membership
reached 500,000, the number required to be considered an Indian
national federation. In reviewing this application, in April 2006,
ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder and 8 other prominent trade union
leaders visited SEWA, met with SEWA executive committee leaders,
and visited SEWA members at their places of work. To learn more
about SEWA’s membership in the ICFTU, click
here
New International Trade Union Confederation
is Born
On November 1, 2006, the
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) was officially
born at its Founding Congress. The ITUC is comprised of the affiliated
organizations of the former International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World
Confederation of Labour (WCL), which were dissolved to form
this new confederation. In addition, eight other national trade
unions joined the ITUC, marking these organizations first time affiliating
with an international confederation. The delegates attending the
ITUC Founding Congress represented 168 million members of the 304
affiliated national trade union centers in 153 countries and territories.
Click here to read the ITUC spotlight interview with Renana Jhabvala,
WIEGO Chair and SEWA National Coordinator, click
here.
Mirai Chatterjee of SEWA speaks in Parliamentary
hearing in the German Bundestag
On November 29, SEWA Social Security Coordinator and Moderator of
VimoSEWA, Mirai Chatterjee, served as an international expert at
a Parliamentary hearing in the German Bundestag. Against the background
of SEWA's experience Mirai especially explained the importance of
social protection for women workers in the informal economy. Her
key message was to highlight the insurance worthiness of poor women
as the most critical factor for building sustained social security
systems. The hearing was initiated by the former Federal Minister
of Labour, Walter Riester MP, one of the most reputed politicians
of the country. The findings from the Hearing will be considered
in order to define what steps Germany will be taking to promote
social security in developing countries in the context of the G8
Presidency.
AFL-CIO SOLIDARITY CENTER
AFL-CIO Solidarity Center continues to expand
work with workers in the informal economy
The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center has been working to empower unions
and workers’ organizations to better represent informal workers
and improve respect for their rights. The Solidarity Center has
supported an education and research program for informal workers
and community organizers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and assists the ZCTU
labor confederation in Zimbabwe in efforts to strengthen the economic
and political voice of informal workers. The Solidarity Center recently
completed two pilot projects assisting street vendors associations
in Venezuela and supporting organizing among domestic workers in
Indonesia. In addition, the Solidarity Center is presently expanding
its work in Indonesia to new groups of informal workers and has
added two new initiatives—one, focusing on organizing informal
migrant workers in Thailand, and another working with market vendors
and workers' cooperatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. For
more information on the Solidarity Center’s work with informal
workers, please see the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's Annual Report
by clicking
here.
NEW MAKOLA MARKET TRADERS UNION
The New Makola Market Traders Union was formed in 1999 with about
1000 members, mostly traders. The union has organized many workshops
and seminars inside and outside the market on a number of topics
including the following:
HIV / AIDS WORKSHOP - The union in collaboration
with the Ghana Aids Commission has organized HIV/AIDS workshop for
the traders and the porters, who are often forced to sleep in groups
with their male counterparts in the slums of the capital. Many of
them are raped at night as they don't have decent sleeping places.
SOCIAL SECURITY - In Ghana, about 90% of the working population
are informal workers and have no bright future in terms of Social
Security contributions and in light of this, the Makola Market Traders
Union and the Ghana Traders Congress (G.T.U.C) have contacted the
Social Security Dept, to press for the inclusion of the informal
worker to pay little of their daily earnings as Social Security
Contribution. Today, many of the informal workers who are mostly
traders pay their contribution to Social Security concept so that
old ages can benefit from the pension concept.
STREET TRADERS - Through the effort
of the New Makola Market Traders Union, a new market is to be opened
for the street traders of Accra the capital of Ghana. The Union
and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly meets regularly to discuss matter
concerning the traders in the Makola Market. By 1st January, 2007
all the street traders will move to a New Market near the Kwame
Nkrumah Circle, Accra. This will give free flow of traffic and pedestrians.
GHANA SOCIAL OF THE PHYSICALLY DISABLED
- The Union has been making yearly contribution to the disabled
either in cash or kind. Lastly, plans are at advance stage for the
Union to publish their news letter.
STREET CHILDREN - The Union also helps
the street children with dresses, foods and many essential commodities
and has adopted the Nursery School at the Makola Market. Many of
the Traders send their trodders to Nursery School and collect them
after the day's trading activities.
SEWA BHARAT
SEWA Bharat Co-organizes Rally to Demand Social
Security for Workers in India
A dharna (rally) was organized by SEWA
Bharat on 2nd October at Rajghat, on the occasion of Gandhi
Jayanti in order to demand social security for the workers of India.
The Unorganised Sector Workers’ Bill was first formulated
by the Second National Commission on Labour. When the UPA Government
came into power the National Advisory Committee headed by Smt Sonia
Gandhi formulated the Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security
Bill, 2005 which was given to the Prime Minister. Subsequently,
the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector,
headed by Shri Arjun Sengupta, has formulated the Unorganised Sector
Workers Social Security Bill, 2006, which was submitted to the Prime
Minister and is presently with a Committee of Secretaries headed
by the Cabinet Secretary. Organisations and trade unions such as
SEWA, HMS, MKSS, Lokayan, Samajwadi Jan Parishad, CITU, CPT, Delhi
Shramik Sangathan working with unorganized sector workers came together
on 2nd October Bapuji’s birth anniversary to demand that Parliament
pass a Law. We demanded that in 2007, the 60th year of India’s
independence, the workers of India must all be covered with social
security, like health care, maternity benefit, insurance and pensions.
SEWA Bharat SGSY Project
The SEWA Bharat Swarnjayanti
Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) Project is a holistic approach
towards poverty reduction in rural India through creation of self-employment
opportunities in the rural swarojgaries. The scheme is designed
to help poor rural families cross the poverty line by providing
income generating assets and inputs to the target groups through
a package of assistance consisting of subsidy and bank loan. In
its preparatory year, the project has already achived the following:
- A socio economic survey among the rural, poor women highlighting
the challenges in their life and the viability of the project
for them. For further details on the survey, please see
the Socio economic survey.
- The concept of Jeevika Sadhan was disseminated among the villagers
in the target areas at village meetings. A preparatory material
was formulated for concept communication in the villages.
- Though the target for formation of SHGs was scheduled in the
first year of the project, five Self Help Groups in Munger and
ten in Bhagalpur are already functional under the project. The
formation of SHGs was preponed keeping in mind the existent needs
of the target beneficiaries as well as to initiate the process
of saving early on in the project. The SHGs are involved in micro
credit activities like savings, credit internal lending and rotation
of loans etc. All the groups have already formed their accounts
in the banks and are independently dealing with their accounts
with minimum help from SEWA.
- Preliminary market survey for activities like dairy, agarbatti
and horticulture has already been initiated at the field level.
A comprehensive survey will be conducted in May/June 2006.
- To read the survey report on the socio-economic status of
construction workers in Delhi, please click
here.
- To read the survey report on developing strategies to increase
production and enhange market linkages of milk, please click
here.
- To read the survey report on developing strategies to increase
production and enhance market linkage of horticulture, please
click
here.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STREET VENDORS OF INDIA (NASVI)
NASVI Dharna to Demand Implementation of Indian National Policy
on Street Vendors
More than 100 street vendors gathered at Dehradun on 11th Oct 2006
to raise their voices at a dharna to demand theimplementation of
National Policy on Street Vending in the state of Uttranchal. They
took out a procession to blockade the Legislative Assembly. The
Dharna/Rally was organised by the National
Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) affiliate, 'Laghu
Vyapar Association.,’ Laghu Vyapar Association President,
Mr. Sanjay Chopra, presented the state government with a memorandum,
which was accepted by Mr. Nagendra Kumar from Urban Development
Department. Mr. Kumar said that the demands of the vendors will
be addressed soon. To read more about this dharna, click
here.
Rajasthan Implements National Street Vendors Policy
In Rajasthan, the problems of street vendors seem to be soon coming
to an end, as the state government is now ready to implement the
National Policy in all 183 cities in the state. According to the
policy, upon registration all the vendors will get legal permission
to carry out their business. The main points of the vendors policy
are:
- There will be a restricted zone in the city for the street vendors
- There will be particular time for opening and closing of the
shop which vendors must follow
- Upon registration of vendors, municipal bodies will be able
to charge a monthly rental fee
- Legal action will be taken against those who continue to vend
without registering and those who attempt to vend in a restricted
zone
For further information on the implementation of the National Policy
on Street Vendors in Rajasthan, please click
here.
Bhubneshwar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Creates
Vending Zone
Bhubneshwar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is addressing the needs
of the street vendors and will be constructing a vending zone at
various locations within the city. The BMC has identified 17 areas
to be categorized as vending zones and 28 areas where kiosks will
be contrcuted for the rehabilitation of educated youths. The first
of these vending zones, called ‘Bhubaneswar Haat,’ was
opened on Local Self-Government Day (31 August 2006) at Gandamunda.
For further information on the plans of the BMC, please click
here.
HOMENET THAILAND
Homenet Thailand Launches Occupational Health
and Safety Program for Informal Workers
In March 2005, Homenet
Thailand launched its program, “Improving the Quality
of Life of Informal Workers Through Occupational Health and Safety
(OHS)”. The project, which will continue through February
2007, is supported by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth)
at various provinces in north, northeast, south, central regions
and Bangkok. In addition to working with homeworkers, the project
also includes contract farming workers and garbage collectors. The
project seeks to create a different model of OHS to informal workers,
raising awareness among stakeholders to participate on health promotion
for informal workers, their families, employers, and community,
improving primary health care unit on OHS, and strengthening homeworkers
and their alliances at different levels to campaign for appropriate
policy pertaining to improving quality of life of informal workers.
For more information, please
click here.
HOMENET SOUTHEAST ASIA
Homenet Southeast Asia's Subregional Workshop
on Fair Trade and Marketing
Homenet Southeast Asia's Subregional Workshop on Fair Trade and
Marketing was held in the Philippines, 23-25 November jointly sponsored
by UNIFEM-ESE Asia, Oxfam Hong Kong, Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) ,
and Asia Fair Trade Forum (AFTF). The venue was the idyllic Lake
Island Resort in Binangonan, Rizal (which hosted the World Art Festival
on 17-26 November, in which Homenet Southeast Asia also participated).
The objectives of the fair trade and social marketing workshop were
to facilitate exchange of experiences, and deepen knowledge and
skills regarding fair trade advocacy, social marketing through participatory
video, e-commerce, and other means, in the context of the issues,
concerns, and aspirations of producers/workers in the informal economy.
Official representatives of Homenet SEA and leaders of national
Homenets from Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, and the Philipppines attennded
the workshop. Local participants from various producer groups, as
well as representatives from fair trade groups in Vietnam, Cambodia
and Timor Leste also presented their country experiences.
Participants arrived on November 22, which allowed them time for
setting up their display in exhibit booths at the town plaza of
Angono where foreign and local buyers converged. Workshop commenced
on November 23, with an opening ceremony in the morning and a fair
trade forum in the afternoon featuring sharing of country experiences.
This continued in the morning of November 24 followed by innovative
learning sessions on participatory video, e commerce, and social
marketing for fair trade. In the evening, there was a multimedia
supported fashion show that showcased informal workers' products
crafted by the homeworkers of Homenets Thailand, Indonesia, Laos,
Vietnam and the Philippines. "Models" from the various
Homenets , including homeworker leaders, made the fashion show doubly
significant and entertaining. In the morning of November 25, there
was a meeting of the Homenet Southeast Asia Subregional Council
and an exposure trip to PATAMABA’s homeworkers’ communities.
The evening was capped by a Solidarity Night and closing rites.
Workshop highlights included: a fair trade forum in the afternoon
featuring sharing of country experiences; innovative learning sessions
on participatory video, e commerce, and social marketing for fair
trade; a multimedia supported fashion show that showcased informal
workers' products crafted by the homeworkers of Homenets Thailand,
Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines and modeled by homeworker
leaders; a meeting of the Homenet Southeast Asia Subregional Council;
and an exposure trip to PATAMABA’s homeworkers’ communities.
For more information, please click
here.
Homenet Southeast Asia Participation in the
2nd ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) in Cebu City, Philippines
10-12 December
The 2nd ACSC held in Cebu City in December 2006 was the culmination
of a series of ACSC national consultation processes held in 2006
in seven ASEAN member countries—the Burma-Thai border, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam—where
national civil society groups gathered to consider various proposals
and views on issues confronting the ASEAN today, especially the
idea of ASEAN integration and the ASEAN charter. Homenet Southeast
Asia was able to participate in a forum held on November 21 at the
University of the Philippines in Diliman to discuss its draft position.
Five from Homenet Southeast Asia -- Boonsom Namsomboon of Homenet
Thailand, Hesti Wijaya of Homenet Indonesia, Josephine Parilla of
PATAMABA - Homenet Philippines, Pet Soudaphone of Homenet Laos,
and Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo – participated in the 2nd ASEAN
Civil Society Conference (ACSC) Dec. 10-12 at Montebello Hotel,
Cebu City. Two of them, Drs. Wijaya and Ofreneo also participated
in the workshop sponsored by the Asia Pacific Network on Food Sovereignty
(APNFS) on December 9, also in the same venue, where they pointed
out the convergence of issues being addressed by informal women
workers and rural women workers. For more information on this meeting,
please click
here.
An abridged version of the Homenet position paper for the 12th
ASEAN Summit (entitled “Towards Human Security in ASEAN Through
Solidarity and Engagement of All Workers, Informal and Formal, Women
and Men”) was published in the December 10 issue of the Philippine
Daily Inquirer, the leading newspaper in Manila with a circulation
in the hundreds of thousands. It came out in the “Talk of
the Town” session featuring ASEAN-related articles under the
title “Group must address insecurities working people face.”
STREETNET INTERNATIONAL
StreetNet International Launches International Campaign “World
Class Cities for ALL”
It has become a predictable reality that, when a country prepares
to host a high-profile international event, the country and its
local government authorities prepare to create “World Class
Cities” of a particular type, i.e. World Class Cities which
will attract foreign investment and have no visible poor people
or social problems. This usually includes the eviction of street
vendors, sometimes accompanied by “slum clearance” programmes
in which the poorest members of the population also lose their homes.
Many of the newly homeless, being unable to enter the formal labour
market, are also in the informal economy – many of them street
vendors – which means that such people lose both their homes
and their livelihoods at the same time, leaving little for them
to fall back upon as their survival strategy. Unless viable alternatives
are provided. StreetNet International
is launching a World Class Cities for ALL (WCCA) campaign to challenge
this traditional approach to building World Class Cities and create
a new, more inclusive concept of “World Class Cities for All”
with the participation of street vendors and other groups of the
(urban) poor. The campaign will have a strong focus on women and
other vulnerable street vendors who are the first to lose their
livelihoods and the most invisible in most plans for “World
Class Cities”. A South African launch was held on November
28th in Johannesburg. To read a press release, please click
here.
StreetNet International Asian Regional Meeting
on Street Trade
In October, WIEGO Institutional
Member GEFONT hosted the StreetNet International Asian Regional
workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal. The purpose of the meeting was sharing
the experiences of street vendors and hawkers in the region and
to hear about the experiences of vendors in other countries. In
addition to StreetNet International and GEFONT, WIEGO Institutional
Members AZIEA, NASVI, and SEWA. Meeting outcomes included a list
of recommendations at the policy, organizing and network levels.
For more information, visit the GEFONT
website or click
here.to view the NASVI newsletter or click
here to visit the StreetNet International website.
NEWS FROM WIEGO'S INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
Jennifer Gordon’s Forthcoming Piece,
“Transnational Labor Citizenship”
The Southern
California Law Review will be publishing an article by Jennifer
Gordon in its March 2007 edition. The article, “Transnational
Labor Citizenship,” examines worker solidarity and global
labor migration. To read an abstract of this article, please click
here. If you’d like further information on how to obtain
a copy of this article, please email
Marais Canali.
Srilatha Batliwala’s article, “When
Rights Go Wrong,” appears in January edition of Seminar
In the January 2007 edition of the Indian journal Seminar
includes an article by WIEGO member Srilatha Batliwala. The article,
“When Rights Go Wrong,” provides an interesting critique
of the rights-based approach to development currently being utilized
by donors in developing country contexts. To read this article,
please click
here.
Rosa Irene Vera Fernandez participates in
seminar on Informal Work and Economic Solidarity
On November 13, Rosa Irene Vera Fernandez participated in an event
focused on the informal economy entitled, “Seminário
Trabalho Informal e Economia Solidária,” hosted by
INEMSOPAC (Incubadora de Empreendimentos Solidários Populares
Pw. Agustin Castejon) at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica
(PUC) do Rio de Janeiro. In addition, she served as a moderator
for one of the three panel presentations at the event. For more
information (in Portuguese), please click
here.
NEWS FROM WIEGO
GLOBAL MARKETS PROGRAMME
Membership in and Collaboration with Ethical
Trading Initiative
WIEGO has recently become a member of the Ethical
Trading Initiative (ETI), a tripartite membership organization
made up of companies, trade union organizations and NGOs. The ETI
was established in 1998 with the mission to improve the lives of
workers in global supply chains by promoting responsible corporate
practice that supports this goal. It specializes in developing innovative
approaches and tools for implementing voluntary codes of practice
that address supply chain labour conditions, and is widely recognized
as a global leader in this area. The membership is composed of a
large number of High Street retailers such as Marks
and Spencer, The
Body Shop International, The
Gap, Next,
Monsoon,
Boots and
others as well as the big supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s,
Tesco and
Asda.
The global trades unions are represented as are the international
development NGOs such as Oxfam,
Save
the Children, Traidcraft
and other network organisations that are concerned to promote the
rights of workers. For a full list of members of the Ethical Trade
Initiative, please click
here.
WIEGO’s entry into the ETI offers a great opportunity to
combine the forces of two organizations that share common goals
and common constituents amongst their respective membership. Initially,
WIEGO will participate in two of ETI’s pilot activities: documentation
of a homeworkers’ project in India which has benefited from
the involvement of SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association),
a founder of WIEGO, and the development of training tools on labour
standards for supervisors in the wine industry in South Africa.
Elaine Jones (Director, Global Markets) will provide technical advice
to the documentation of the first project. Two WIEGO Programme Directors
from South Africa - Francie Lund (Social Protection) and Chris Bonner
(Organization and Representation) - will provide technical advice
on the training materials for the second project.
SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMME
Research Seminar on “Challenging the
Development Paradigm: Rethinking the Role of Social Security in
State Building”
Francie Lund (Director, Social Protection) was asked to participate
in this two-day research seminar organized by the ILO,
DFID and German
GTZ. Francie served as a discussant for a research paper by
Peter Townsend and presented a preliminary outline for a paper currently
being written on integrating informal economy concerns into social
security.
Asia Social Protection Dialogue
In May 2004, WIEGO and HomeNet Thailand co-organized a regional
dialogue on social protection in Asia. At the event, which included
policy makers, activists and researchers, organizations of informal
workers expressed a strong need for an Advocacy booklet promoting
social protection for informal workers. The booklet called Tools
for Advocacy: Social Protection for Informal Workers is
available in English on the WIEGO website and has recently been
translated into the eight main languages of the Asia Social Protection
Dialogue participants. The booklet discusses examples of successful
initiatives involving informal workers, identifies areas for starting
campaigns, and highlights the research and policy priorities discussed
at the Dialogue. To download the booklet in English, please click
here.
URBAN POLICIES PROGRAMME
Regional Reviews and Global Volume on Street
Trade
For the past two years, WIEGO has been working with researchers
in the WIEGO network to complete regional reviews of street trade.
In 2004, Urban Policies Programme Director Sharit Bhowmik completed
a review of street trade in Asia, which was later published in the
well-known Indian journal, Economic and Political Weekly). Winnie
Mitullah (former Director, Urban Policies) completed a review of
street trade in Africa in 2004. Both of these publications are available
on the WIEGO website. In early 2006, WIEGO commissioned Sally Roever
of the University of Leiden to write a review of street trade in
Latin America. The review, “Street Trade in Latin America:
Demographic Trends, Legal Issues, and Vending Organizations in Six
Cities”, was completed in fall 2006 and is available on the
WIEGO website. WIEGO is currently looking for researchers and/or
practitioners to carry out regional reviews of street trade in North
America, Western and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Additionally,
WIEGO has asked Caroline Skinner of the University of KwaZulu Natal
to expand upon the review of street trade in Africa to include a
wider range of examples. It has also identified an interested publisher
for a volume on street trade globally which would feature the regional
reviews and other research publications on street trade and related
policy issues. Funds are currently being sought for the writing
of four additional regional reviews and for the editing of the global
volume.
- To read Sharit Bhowmik's review of street trade in Asia, please
click
here.
- To read Winnie Mitullah's review of street trade in Africa,
please click
here.
- To read Sally Roever's review of street trade in Latin America,
please click
here.
ORGANIZATION AND REPRESENTATION PROGRAMME
International Seminar on “Protection
for Domestic Workers”
Chris Bonner (Director, Organization and Representation) participated
in an international seminar on domestic workers organized by IRENE
and hosted by the national trade union federation, FNV,
of the Netherlands in Amsterdam in November 2006. The international
steering committee for the event included WIEGO and the Committee
for Asian Women (CAW) as well as IRENE and the FNV. The event
was attended by 60 representatives from domestic/household workers'
trade unions, associations and regional/international networks,
Global Unions and national trade unions, and support NGOs, from
around the world. Conference attendees agreed to set up an interim
working group to explore, with the Global Union Federations, the
need and potential for a) an international network of domestic worker
organizations; and b) an ILO Convention on the rights of domestic
workers. A final report from the event, which will include a list
of recommendations to protect domestic workers, will be available
in March 2007.
International Coordinating Committee on Organizing
in the Informal Economy
Chris Bonner (Director, Organization and Representation) provides
technical support on a regular basis for the International Coordinating
Committee (ICC) which was established at the December 2003 international
conference on “Organizing in the Informal Economy” held
in Ahmedabad, India. Together with the ILO, the ICC organized a
regional conference on “Organizing for Decent Work in the
Informal Economy” in Dakar, Senegal in October 2005. Chris
Bonner assisted with the facilitation of the conference, chaired
one of the group discussions on legal frameworks, and produced a
report of the conference. Among other WIEGO Members, Françoise
Carré (University of Massachusetts at Boston) participated
in the conference as an expert on labour policies, labour markets,
and social protection in Europe and North America. In addition,
the ICC held a set of meetings and consultations at the International
Labour Conference in June 2006, especially around the General Discussion
on The Employment Relationship. Most recently, a second international
conference on “Organizing in the Informal Economy” was
organized by the ICC and hosted by WIEGO Institutional Member, the
Ghana Trades Union Congress, in Accra, Ghana in September 2006.
A third international conference on organizing in the informal economy
is being planned for 2009 in Mexico.
Database on Organizations of Informal Workers
A major on-going activity of the Organization and Representation
programme is building a database of member-based organizations of
informal workers. The database provides, as far as possible, contact
details, information on membership, type of organization, affiliations,
objectives, organizing strategies and position of women in the organization.
Questionnaires have been distributed to over 300 organizations.
The database has recently been posted on the WIEGO
Organization and Representation page. The information in the
database has been used in the development of education materials
on organizing informal workers, and organizations wanting to network
with others in their sector have also drawn on the information.
International Network of Waste Collectors
To date the growing number of member-based organizations of waste
collectors (cooperatives, trade unions, federations and various
other forms of organization) have had little opportunity to come
together internationally, and build global linkages and networks.
Working with members of waste collector organizations, researchers
and others, WIEGO is planning an international conference of waste
collector organizations to be held in either Brazil or Argentina
in September 2007: at which organizations will share experiences
and organizing strategies; identify common issues of concern; and
discuss future cooperation, including the possibility of forming
an international network of waste picker organizations.
If you have information on organizations of informal waste collectors,
please email Marais Canali.
Information and Advice to Organizations of
Informal Workers
On a regular on-going basis, Chris Bonner (Director, Organization
and Representation) responds to requests for information from organizations
of informal workers and the International Coordinating Committee,
especially on organizing strategies. She also provides technical
support on topics such as workers’ education.
STATISTICS PROGRAMME
ILO-Delhi Group Manual on Surveys of Informal
Employment and Employment in the Informal Sector
WIEGO helped the
ILO Bureau of Statistics and the Delhi
Group on Informal Sector Statistics raise matching funds (to
those already committed by the ILO) from the Government of India
for the preparation of this manual. Joann Vanek (Director, Statistics)
and Jacques Charmes (Member, Steering Committee) are each writing
chapters for the manual. Joann Vanek is also the co-editor of the
manual, together with Ralf Hussmanns of the ILO Bureau of Statistics.
Other team members include Rodrigo Negrete and N.S. Sastry (both
WIEGO members) and V.J. Verma. The writing team met in January 2007
to discuss the first draft of the report, which is scheduled to
be completed by mid-2007.
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(ESCAP) Project on Measuring Informal Sector and Informal Employment
A project called “Interregional cooperation on the measurement
of the informal sector and informal employment” developed
by UN-ESCAP in collaboration
with ILO and WIEGO was awarded funding under the UN
Development Accounts Project. The objectives of the project
are to improve the availability of data on these topics as well
as to strengthen the analytic use of the data, particularly in the
preparation of national economic accounts. Joann Vanek (Director,
Statistics) has been invited to serve on the Steering Committee
for this project. She and James Heintz (Research Coordinator, Statistics)
recently prepared a report on measuring the links between informal
employment and poverty for the ESCAP project.
“Non-Standard Work, Informal Employment,
and Informalization: Toward a Unified Framework for Statistics,
Research, and Policy” Proposal
Joann Vanek (Director, Statistics) and James Heintz (Research Coordinator,
Statistics) are preparing a research proposal for the next key component
of WIEGO’s work in statistics: , to develop a unified framework
for labor statistics, labor law, and labor policies that bridges
non-standard work in developed countries, informal employment in
developing countries, and informalization around the world. Research
partners are currently being identified; and research funds are
being sought.
GENERAL ACTIVITIES
Planning for Comparative Research Project
on “Employment, Informality and Poverty in China and India”
This research project, which is being planned by WIEGO and Sarah
Cook (Institute of Development Studies,
University of Sussex), will analyze and compare employment trends
in China and India with a specific focus on informal employment
and its links with both poverty, social protection, and other outcomes.
Since India has long experience in measuring, studying, and responding
to the informal economy, the first step in the project is a visit
by the Chinese team of researchers to India in early 2007. In the
case of India, there is an existing network of researchers who work
on the informal economy from the Institute
of Social Studies Trust (New Delhi), the National
Council of Applied Economics Research (New Delhi), the National
Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (New Delhi),
and the Self-Employed Women’s
Association (Ahmedabad). The India team has brought out several
joint research publications and been successful in introducing modules
on urban and rural informal employment into the National Sample
Survey and in estimating the contributions of the informal economy
to GDP and to national savings. In the case of China, Sarah Cook
has supported and networked researchers from the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (Beijing), Fudan
University (Shanghai), the Migrant
Workers Community College (Shenzhen), and the University
of Science and Technology (Hong Kong). After that visit, a research
design workshop and conference will be held at Harvard
University in April 2007. This conference will include not only
members of the research teams from China and India but also international
and US-based experts on both the informal economy and methodological
approaches to analysis of labour markets.
High Level Commission on the Legal Empowerment
of the Poor
The High Level Commission
on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (HLCLEP), co-chaired by Hernando
de Soto and Madeleine Albright, seeks to generate new policy recommendations
that will reduce poverty through secure, enforceable property and
labour rights, within an enabling environment that expands legal
business opportunity and access to justice. It has four working
groups: on justice and the rule of law, property rights, labour
rights, and business environment. Marty Chen (Coordinator) was invited
to serve as a member on two of the working groups: labour rights
and entrepreneurship. Victor Tokman (Member, Steering Committee),
is also a member of the working group on labour rights. And SEWA,
in the person of Renana Jhabvala and Reema Nanavaty, have been asked
to serve on the working group on legal business opportunities.
International Institute for Labour Studies
Conference on “Decent Work, Social Policy and Development”
Marty Chen (Coordinator) was asked to participate in a research
conference organized by the International
Institute for Labour Studies, “Decent Work, Social Policy
and Development” held in Geneva in late November 2006. In
a panel on “Governance and the Role of Social Actors in Promoting
Decent Work in Global Production Networks, Marty spoke about “Organizing
for Market Access and Fairness: Informal Producers and Workers in
Global Value Chains.”
IDRC/Carleton University Conference on “Labour
Markets and Growth”
James Heintz represented WIEGO at an conference organized by IDRC
and Carleton University conference
on "Labour Markets and Growth: Better Jobs under Globalization?"
which took place November 15-16, 2006 in Ottawa. The first day of
the conference was meant to identify the major themes and issues
regarding employment and labor markets. The second day consisted
of a series of panels to review proposed projects for the IDRC and
funded researchers. James Heintz participated in a panel entitled:
"What have we learned? What are the research gaps?" in
which he stressed the research needed on informal employment, gender,
and poverty. He also stressed WIEGO's approach to these questions.
A central objective of the conference was to help IDRC in determining
its future funding directions.
SEWA/Cornell/WIEGO Exposure Dialogue Programme
In January 2004, SEWA-Cornell-WIEGO held the first in a series of
exposures and dialogues designed to promote a dialogue between economists
from Cornell University, SEWA
organizers, and WIEGO researchers regarding the disconnect between
the reality of informal employment and the assumptions of neo-classical
economics. A follow-up technical dialogue was held in October 2004
in Boston. The discussion in the two dialogues focused on neo-classical
assumptions re minimum wage interventions and international trade.
A third technical dialogue was held at Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York in November 2006. The dialogue featured discussions on
different models of labour markets, different assumptions re interventions
in labor markets, and the pros and cons of “de-linking”
social protection from employment/labour markets. A second exposure
will be held in March 2007 in Durban, South Africa followed by a
fourth technical dialogue and a policy-dialogue on the informal
economy with government officials in Pretoria, South Africa. Stimulated
by these dialogues, the Cornell economists have written recent theoretical
papers revisiting a) the relationship between minimum wages and
employment-poverty outcomes and b) the structure of labor markets.
Other outcomes have been an improved understanding of the underlying
assumptions and imperatives of neo-classical economists, heterodox
economists, other social scientists, and practitioners; and a mutual
challenge to prove whether or not using a simple dualistic model
of labor markets – rather than a multi-segmented model - reduces
the predictive power of labor market theory.
International Institute for Labour Studies
Conference on “The Effectiveness of Labour Law to Promote
Social Goals in Low Income Settings”
Marty Chen (Coordinator) participated in a workshop on “The
Effectiveness of Labour Law to Promote Social Goals in Low-Income
Settings” organized by the International
Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva.
CIDA Seminar on “Informal Employment,
Gender, and Poverty: Understanding the Linkages”
James Heintz (Research Coordinator, Statistics) and Marty Chen (Coordinator)
gave a seminar at CIDA
on September 20, 2005 entitled “Informal Employment, Gender,
and Poverty: Understanding the Linkages” at CIDA. After the
seminar, Marty Chen and James Heintz met with an Executive Vice
President of CIDA to discuss the links between employment, informality,
gender and poverty, including related measurement issues. This meeting
had been set up after Giselle Yasmeen, a Individual Member of WIEGO,
introduced WIEGO to the President of CIDA.
WIEGO NETWORK
WIEGO Management Committee Meeting, Boston,
USA, November 7-9, 2006
The WIEGO Management Committee met recently in Boston to discuss
plans for the Strategic Review and Planning Retreat at Bellagio.
The members of the Management Committee are Renana Jhabvala (Chair),
three other members of the WIEGO Steering Committee (Dan Gallin,
Pat Horn, and William Steel), and Marty Chen (Coordinator). The
Management Committee developed a detailed agenda for the Bellagio
Retreat, including key background documents and expected outcomes
for the different sessions. The Committee also discussed WIEGO’s
finances and fundraising plans as well as its communication-advocacy-outreach
strategy.
PUBLICATIONS
Bhowmik, Sharit K.
Forthcoming. “Street Vendors in India: The Struggle for Recognition.”
In John Cross and Alfonso Morales, eds. Street
Entrepreneurs: People, Place, & Politics in Local and Global
Perspective. New York: Routledge Studies in the Modern
World Economy.
Bhowmik, Sharit K. 2006.
“The Politics of Urban Space in Mumbai: 'Citizens' versus
the Urban Poor.” In Mary E. John, Praveen Kumar Jha and Surinder
S. Jodhka, eds. Contested
Transformations : Changing Economies and Identities in Contemporary
India.
New Delhi: Tulika Books.
Chen, Martha. Forthcoming.
“The Informal Economy: A Global Perspective.” In Xizhe
Peng, ed., The Informal Economy in China. (This paper is currently
being translated into Chinese.)
Chen, Martha. 2006. Self
Employed Women : A Profile of SEWA's Membership. Ahmedabad:
Self-Employed Women's Association.
Table of
Contents - Part
I - Part
II - Part
III - Part
IV - Part
V
Chen, Martha. 2006.
"Rethinking
the Informal Economy: Linkages with the Formal Economy and the Formal
Regulatory Environment". In Basudeb Guha-Khasnobi, Ravi Kanbur,
and Elinor Orstrom, eds., Unlocking
Human Potential: Concepts and Policies for Linking the Informal
and Formal Sectors Oxford: Oxford University Press. *
Chen, Martha, Renana Jhabvala, Ravi
Kanbur and Carol Richards, eds. Forthcoming. Membership-Based
Organizations of the Poor. London: Routledge.
Chen, Martha, Joann Vanek and James
Heintz. 2006. "Informality,
Gender and Poverty: A Global Picture." Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 21, May 27, 2006.
Lund, Francie. 2006.
“Working People and Access to Social Protection.” In
Shahra Razavi and S. Hassim, eds. Gender
and Social Policy in a Global Context: Uncovering the Gendered Structure
of ‘the Social’. London: Palgrave MacMillan
Press.
Lund, Francie and Jillian Nicholson.
2006. Tools for
Advocacy: Social Protection for Informal Workers. Published
by WIEGO and HomeNet Thailand.
Posel, Dorrit, Fairburn, J. and Lund,
Frances. 2006. “Labour Migration and Households:
A Reconsideration of the Effects of the Social Pension on Labour
Supply in South Africa.” Economic
Modelling, Vol. 23: 836 – 853.
Roever, Sally. 2006.
“Street
Trade in Latin America: Demographic Trends, Legal Issues and Vending
Organizations in Six Cities.” A Review Commissioned by
WIEGO.
*(Sally Roever, a member of WIEGO, also wrote a chapter for this
volume on policy incoherence towards informal traders in Lima, Peru).
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