WIEGO General Assembly
April 21-23, 2006
Summary Report
Since it was founded in 1997, the global research policy network
Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)
has held four general meetings: in Ottawa, Canada (April 1999),
Cambridge, USA (May 2000), Ahmedabad, India (January 2002), and
Durban, South Africa (April 2006). The common purpose of all WIEGO
general meetings has been to share experiences and knowledge, set
priorities and frame issues, and review WIEGO’s past activities
and future plans. Another purpose has been to expand and strengthen
the WIEGO network: click
here for brief write-ups on the first three general meetings.
The general meeting in Durban, held in April 2006, had an additional
special purpose: namely, to launch the new governance and accountability
structure of WIEGO as mandated in the Constitution that was ratified
by the WIEGO Steering Committee in October 2005. As such, it was
a landmark event for the WIEGO network marking the first General
Assembly with formal Members, both Institutional and Individual.
Members of WIEGO belong to one or another of three constituencies:
delegates from member-based organizations of informal workers; researchers,
statisticians, or academics; and staff of development agencies (inter-governmental,
governmental, or non-governmental). Member-based organizations of
informal workers are invited to join WIEGO as Institutional Members:
their representatives to General Assemblies are called Delegates.
Individuals from the other two constituencies are invited to join
WIEGO as Individual Members.
In all, 100 participants from 32 countries participated in the
General Assembly: 38 of the participants were Delegates from the
14 member-based organizations that are Institutional Members of
WIEGO; 37 of the participants were new Individual Members of WIEGO;
and 25 participants were interested individuals from South Africa
and elsewhere: click
here for list of participants in the General Assembly . Sixty
other new Individual Members of WIEGO were not able to attend but
were consulted beforehand by email about the proposed candidates
for the new Steering and Nominating Committees: click
here for list of all Institutional and Individual Members of WIEGO.
An additional eighty persons participated in the Urban Policies
Colloquium that WIEGO co-organized with StreetNet International
and the University of KwaZulu Natal immediately following the General
Assembly.
What follows is a brief report on the WIEGO General Assembly in
Durban: click
here for the programme of events.
Friday, April 21
Warwick Junction Field Trip
On Friday afternoon, most participants took a walking tour of Warwick
Junction, the primary transport node and street trade market in
Durban, followed by a briefing on the Warwick Junction Renewal Project
by Richard Dobson, the former project director and now director
of the larger iTRUMP urban renewal initiative. The Warwick Junction
precinct is located on the edge of Durban’s inner city. In
1997 the new democratically elected city council launched an urban
renewal project in the area. This project has won a number of awards
and is arguably one of the best examples in South Africa of integrating
poor people into urban planning. The area contains a confluence
of rail, taxi and bus transport and is the primary transport node
feeding the inner city with an average of 400,000 commuters traveling
through the precinct every day. Given the high volume of pedestrian
traffic, this area has always been a natural market for street vendors.
Under apartheid informal trade was heavily controlled and it was
only with deregulation in the late 1980s and early 1990s that traders
were allowed to operate. Currently it is estimated that between
5,000 and 8,000 street vendors operate in the precinct. The project
initiated substantial capital works - upgrading of public transport
facilities, street lighting, landscaping as well as facilities for
street traders like a dedicated market for traditional medicine
(or muthi) sellers and facilities for meat and corn on the cob (or
mielie) sellers. The project has been characterised by high levels
of consultation. This has led to self regulation among those working
informally in the area particularly with respect to the managing
of crime and cleanliness. Further through this project the city
also piloted a new approach to area-based management. An important
feature was the innovative redesign of a municipal building which
serves many functions: meeting-place, adminstrative centre, and
training venue, among others.
The Warwick Junction tour gave participants both a flavour of this
vibrant part of Durban city and an opportunity to engage with those
involved in the design and implementation of this innovative project.
Most importantly, it illustrated that it is possible to integrate
the working poor into urban planning and economic planning more
generally. By so doing, the tour got the WIEGO General Assembly
off to a fitting start.
Welcome Dinner
Later that evening, all of the participants gathered for a welcome
dinner at the Blue Waters Hotel on the Durban beachfront (the venue
of the General Assembly). Marty Chen and Francie Lund welcomed the
participants to Durban. Dan Gallin was the featured dinner speaker.
He spoke about the unique structure of SEWA (part union, part cooperative)
and its role in promoting a growing movement of organizations of
informal workers, about the role of WIEGO in supporting and promoting
the organization of informal workers, especially working poor women,
and about the shift within the trade union movement towards organizing
informal workers: click
here for the text of Dan Gallin’s remarks. After dinner,
Linus Ukamba of the Nigerian Labour Congress led the participants
in singing trade union and civil rights songs, changing the lyrics
of some to incorporate WIEGO issues and personalities.
Saturday, April 22
Opening Plenary
The opening plenary of the General Assembly was designed to provide
the new Members of WIEGO a better sense of the organization, particularly
its role in relationship to member-based organizations (MBOs) of
informal workers.
Renana Jhabvala (founding member of WIEGO Steering Committee) welcomed
participants, introduced the speakers, and chaired the opening plenary.
Ela Bhatt (founding chair of WIEGO Steering Committee) opened the
General Assembly with a set of remarks about WIEGO and its role
in the wider movement of member-based organizations of informal
workers. She began by noting the significance of meeting in Durban
where Mahatma Gandhi began his struggle for political and economic
freedom. She then described how WIEGO was born out of the campaign
for the 1996 ILO Convention on Homework. During the last year of
that campaign, a sympathetic researcher known to the activists leading
the campaign, Marty Chen of Harvard University, was asked to provide
facts and figures on the numbers of homeworkers around the world;
and UNIFEM was asked to help convene a regional policy workshop
to engage government officials from various Asian countries on the
issue of homework. With the passage of the Convention, the activists
recognized the importance of allying with researchers and development
agencies in their on-going struggles for economic justice. For the
remainder of her remarks, Ela Bhatt focused on why and how poor
working women are excluded from – or do not benefit from –
economic globalisation. She concluded that the working poor need
to be organized and that member-based organisations of the working
poor need to partner with allies, such as WIEGO, in the fight for
global economic justice: click
here for the text of Ela Bhatt’s opening remarks.
Francie Lund (Director of WIEGO’s Social Protection Programme)
welcomed participants to Durban, providing interesting facts on
the city (including the fact that French is the fastest growing
language in the city due to large numbers of immigrants from Francophone
Africa), and explained the purpose and programme of the General
Assembly: click
here for introductory presentation to the General Assembly.
Marty Chen (Coordinator of WIEGO) then provided an overview of
WIEGO including its major concerns and overall goals, its membership
and institutional structure, its activities and ways of working,
and its defining features: click
here for the power point presentation WIEGO: Who, What, Why, and
How. The programme staff of WIEGO – five Programme Directors
and two Research Coordinators – gave brief introductions to
each of WIEGO’s five programme areas: global markets, urban
policies, social protection, organization and representation, and
statistics. Marty Chen ended the presentation with some of the key
research findings and policy messages of WIEGO, including a) the
fact that informal employment represents half to three-quarters
of non-agricultural employment in developing countries and more
than 90 per cent of total employment in some developing countries;
and b) the premise that increasing the voice (through organizing)
and visibility (in official statistics) of informal workers is essential
to ensuring an appropriate policy response to informal employment:
click
here for the power point presentation Key Findings and Messages
of WIEGO.
The opening plenary concluded with a discussion period during which
participants presented WIEGO with interesting challenges.
- It was suggested that WIEGO should do more work on the skills
and training of informal workers and on issues related to trade
agreements and the World Trade Organization.
- It was also suggested that WIEGO should develop a publication,
communication, and dissemination strategy.
- WIEGO was asked whether there has been a change in the thinking
about the informal economy in mainstream institutions which could
be attributed (at least in part) to WIEGO. Marty Chen noted that
“productive employment and decent work” were added
as priorities to the Millennium Development Goals at the UN Summit
in September 2005, that the World Bank is now working on the informal
economy, and that the ILO has just launched an InFocus Programme
on Informal Employment.
- Susan Joekes of the International Development Research Centre
(IDRC) of Canada put a major challenge on the table: given the
current renewed interest in the informal economy this appears
to be a “magic moment” to make WIEGO the worldwide
resource on the informal economy.
Break-Out Group Discussions
The afternoon break-out group discussions were designed to provide
an opportunity for new Members to give feed-back to WIEGO on its
past activities and future plans. Two rounds of break-out group
discussions on each of WIEGO’s five programmes were held,
allowing each Member the chance to participate in discussions on
two programme areas. During round # 1 of the break-out group discussions,
the delegates from the Institutional Members of WIEGO took part
in a separate Delegates Meeting to discuss WIEGO overall as well
as its Organization and Representation Programme. In a closing plenary,
chaired by Jacques Charmes (member of WIEGO’s Steering Committee),
there were report-backs from the Delegates Meeting and from the
five programme discussion groups.
Delegates Meeting –
Member-based organizations of informal workers that are active in
WIEGO are invited to join WIEGO as Institutional Members and to
send Delegates to each General Assembly. At each General Assembly,
the Delegates are to also meet separately in their own Delegates
Meeting. The idea behind this constitutional provision is to provide
a time and space for the grassroots delegates to be fully briefed
on WIEGO and to provide their feed-back. The Delegates Meeting opened
with a presentation by Marty Chen: click
here for power point presentation on WIEGO at the Delegates Meeting.
This was followed by a lively discussion on WIEGO’s role and
relationship with the member-based organizations of informal workers,
including what WIEGO does and does not do (e.g. WIEGO does not raise
funds for other organizations), whether WIEGO focuses on both men
and women workers (yes, but with a central focus on women), and
how WIEGO involves member-based organizations in their research
projects (with examples from Thailand and the Philippines).
Highlights of the discussion, as reported by Pat Horn (from StreetNet
International) in the closing plenary, were:
- Consolidation: All
five programme areas are important and should continue. WIEGO
should consolidate its core functions.
- Capacity Building: WIEGO
should help to strengthen the capacity of MBOs of informal workers
by
- Helping MBOs to develop funding proposals or building their
capacity to do so
- Building policy advocacy capacity through involving MBOs
in more policy dialogues
- Assisting in the development of a manual on organizing
in the informal economy, including: identifying, documenting,
and disseminating existing organizing efforts; providing links
on the WIEGO website to training and organising materials
- Collecting and making available relevant films and videos
on informal workers and on organizing informal workers
- Supporting and helping strengthen the work of the International
Coordinating Committee (ICC) on organizing in the informal
economy
- Resources and Information:
WIEGO’s research findings and other information on the informal
economy should be presented in simplified formats/language and
disseminated to MBOs of informal workers. WIEGO could act as a
resource for fund-raising by providing a list of funding agencies
and what they fund.
- ILO Conventions:
WIEGO could help current efforts to promote the ratification and/or
implementation of the 1996 ILO Convention on Homework, and encourage
the ILO to initiate a similar convention on domestic workers.
- Policy Dialogues: WIEGO
should engage in more policy dialogues with governments in different
countries. The involvement of international organizations like
WIEGO would strengthen MBOs in their national advocacy efforts.
- Research:
- Proposed labour law project - to be initiated as soon as
possible
- Research on pro-poor insurance in South Africa – to
be extended to SADC region
- Documentation of micro-finance institutions, including
micro-insurance schemes
- Research on impact of free trade agreements on workers and
human rights
- Statistics on employment, gender and poverty and on progress
towards the Millennium Development Goals (Philippines)
- Research on causal factors driving the increase in informal
employment
- Social Protection:
- networking: WIEGO should encourage trade unions to organize
informal workers around issues of social protection
- new thinking: WIEGO should encourage new thinking to break
out of existing stereotypes about social protection and bring
the new thinking to the attention of key stakeholders
Programme Discussion Groups –
To prepare for these discussions, WIEGO Members had been asked to
review the two-year plans and to consider a set of questions for
each of WIEGO’s five programmes: click
here for the Two-Year Plans and Key Questions for each programme.
The Directors and Research Coordinators also made brief presentations
on their respective programmes to start both rounds of discussions:
click
here for the programme presentations.
What follows is a summary of the main issues and recommendations
that emerged during the two rounds of programme discussion.
Global Markets: The
main points that emerged in the two rounds of discussion, as reported
by Elaine Jones (Programme Director), were as follows. In terms
of future activities, the discussions focused on the following topics:
- Migration and Informality: Participants endorsed the proposed
research project on migration and informality, as described by
Sarah Gammage (Research Coordinator of the Global Markets Programme),
and encouraged WIEGO to involve relevant policymakers at the concept
or design stage of the research.
- Impact of World Trade Organization Negotiations and Agreements:
Participants encouraged WIEGO to develop a research project on
the impact of WTO negotiations and agreements on a) the market
access of informal producers and b) the labour standards of informal
wage workers (notably, the impact of Mode 4 - “the temporary
movement of natural persons” - under the General Agreement
on Trade in Services, GATS).
- Synthesis of Garments Studies: Participants supported the plans
to synthesize the
findings from the various garment studies commissioned by WIEGO.
- Fair Trade – Participants supported plans to develop simple,
accessible and synoptic resources on fair trade for MBOs on the
WIEGO website.
In terms of how to engage WIEGO members in the programme activities,
the participants recommended:
- Use of Website: Participants encouraged WIEGO to use the website
more actively to inform Members of what WIEGO is doing in this
area and to solicit feed-back.
- Creation of Research Networks: Participants encouraged WIEGO
to form networks of interested researchers, using managed list
serves for communication around specific research topics.
Urban Policies: The participants endorsed
WIEGO’s proposal to broaden the scope of the Urban Policies
Programme to include other categories of urban informal workers
in addition to street vendors, who have been the main focus of the
programme to date. Topics for future research and policy dialogue
that emerged in the two rounds of discussion, as reported by Sharit
Bhowmik (Programme Director), were as follows:
- Political Economy of Urban Space Allocation, including the privatization
of urban space
- Multiple Economies in Cities Today, including formal-informal
as well as urban-rural economic features
- Good and Bad Practices in Urban Planning, from the perspective
of the working poor in the urban informal economy
- Good Practice Examples of Street Vendor Representation, in chambers
of commerce as well as urban planning bodies
- Ensuring Continuity of Good Practices, need for “institutional
memory” given frequent bureaucratic transfers, for sustained
political commitment given political reshuffling, and on-going
support to sustain organizations of informal workers
Social Protection: To illustrate the
different issues and recommendations that emerged from different
constituencies in the two rounds of discussion on the Social Protection
Programme, Carmen Roca (former WIEGO Regional Coordinator for Latin
America and the Caribbean) asked the participants to consider two
imaginary persons - an organizer from Timbuktu, Mali named Marianne,
and a bureaucrat from Buenos Aires, Argentina named Pedro. Both
wanted more case studies of good practice. However, Marianne wanted
local-level case studies (including how to organize informal workers
around social protection), while Pedro wanted national-level cases
studies (including cost-benefit analysis). Marianne wanted the large
insurance companies to cover the working poor in the informal economy;
Pedro said the insurance companies would need an actuarial analysis
of the costs and risks involved before deciding whether to extend
their coverage. Marianne wanted exchange visits between organizations
working on social protection for the working poor, while Pedro wanted
an international conference on the topic. Both felt that WIEGO should
develop a better documentation and dissemination strategy to promote
promising examples of social protection for the working poor in
the informal economy.
In addition to these general points, illustrated by the perspectives
of these imaginary persons, the participants agreed that there is
an ongoing need for more documentation of good practice; endorsed
the idea of engaging with the mainstream insurance industry; and
called for wider dissemination of the activities, findings, and
recommendations of the WIEGO Social Protection programme.
Organization and Representation: Dave
Spooner (member of Advisory Committee of WIEGO’s Organization
and Representation Programme) reported on the discussions of this
programme, as follows:
- Past Accomplishments
- technical inputs and political advocacy contributing to
the passage of a) the 1996 ILO Convention on Homework and
b) the Conclusions to the General Discussion on Decent Work
on the Informal Economy at the 2002 International Labour Conference
- political and (in some cases) financial support to the
formation of StreetNet International, the National Association
of Street Vendors in India (NASVI), and the International
Coordinating Committee (ICC) on organizing in the informal
economy
- Current Activities
- database on organizing in the informal economy –
click
here to see a sample of the database
- waste collectors international meeting and network –
funds should be raised as soon as possible for this initiative
- labour law and the informal economy – funds should
be raised as soon as possible for this initiative
- workers’ education – WIEGO should continue
to partner with IFWEA and others on workers’ education
for informal workers and their organizations
- domestic workers – WIEGO should continue to liaise
with networks of domestic worker organizations
- Key Recommendations
- WIEGO website should be used more actively to disseminate
information on the organization and representation of informal
workers
- a training manual for organizing domestic workers should
be developed
- WIEGO should not be a funder or fundraiser for member-based
organizations of informal workers
Statistics: The main points
that emerged in the discussion, as reported by Joann Vanek (Programme
Director), were as follows:
- Dissemination of Statistical Definitions, Measures, and Data:
Participants agreed that WIEGO needs to further develop its website
so that when people want the latest information on the informal
economy, they will go to the WIEGO website. For the Statistics
programme, in particular, the following types of web-based information
were recommended:
- user-friendly basic statistics tables: containing available
national data from as many countries as possible, including:
updated tables from the 2002 ILO publication, written by Joann
Vanek and Marty Chen, called Women and Men in the Informal
Economy: A Statistical Picture.
- statistical briefs: explaining key statistical definitions,
concepts, and measures, including how national statistical
offices should operationalise these to generate improved data
on informal employment and how researchers might use and analyze
the data
It was noted that many users in developing countries, especially
activist groups, do not have access to internet so it is important
to distribute CDs with the contents of the WIEGO website to
Members on a regular basis.
The possibility of a user-oriented flagship publication by
WIEGO including current statistics on informal employment as
well as its policy approach to the informal economy was also
raised. However, the difficulty of doing such a publication
given the limited resources of WIEGO was also noted. It was
agreed that, while WIEGO should keep open the possibility of
doing such a book in the future, it should focus in the short-term
on the web-based outputs listed above.
-
Data on Specific Categories of Informal Workers: The need for
data on specific categories of workers in informal employment
was highlighted: for example, home- based workers and street
vendors.
-
Data Analysts and Data Sources: Existing plans to identify
and create a network of researchers analyzing national data
sets on informal employment and to identify potential data resources
were seen as an important initiative for WIEGO.
- Topics for Future Data Analysis: The following topics for future
data analysis were suggested:
- time use data: to explore relationship between informal
employment and unpaid work
- national labour force and income-expenditure data: to explore
relationship between informal employment and poverty
- panel data: to explore what happens over time to specific
individuals and households
- Topics for Future Research: The following topics for future
research were endorsed or suggested:
- rethinking labour markets: specifically, the conceptual
work proposed by James Heintz (Research Coordinator of WIEGO’s
Statistics Programme) on rethinking labour markets in terms
of theory, reality and application.
- impact of trade in goods and services on informal employment:
e.g. analysis of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign
Affiliates Trade in Services (FATS) statistics on exports/imports
of goods and services, employment, and number of enterprises
“Fun Dinner”
Francie Lund and Shannon Moffett organized a surprise “fun
dinner” at the BAT (Bartel Arts Trust) Centre, a community
arts and culture centre in the Durban Harbour. Participants were
greeted by street musicians who later serenaded the group over dinner.
Tributes were paid and gifts presented to Ela Bhatt, the out-going
and founding chair of WIEGO and founder of SEWA. Tributes and gifts
were also made to those who worked behind the scenes to extend the
warm hospitality and ensure the smooth running of the General Assembly:
namely, Beth Graves, Marais Canali, Shannon Moffett, and Suzanne
Van Hook (the Logistics Committee), Chris Bonner (who helped with
invitations to South Africa participants), and Francie Lund and
Caroline Skinner (the remarkable “hosts” from Durban).
Sunday, April 23
Opening Plenary
The opening plenary was designed to brief the new Members on a)
the new governance and accountability structure mandated in the
WIEGO Constitution; b) the selection process for the new Steering
Committee; and b) the election process for the new Nominating Committee.
William “Biff” Steel (member of both the Drafting and
Transition Sub-Committees and the Steering Committee of WIEGO) chaired
the session.
Renana Jhabvala (founding member of WIEGO Steering Committee) briefed
the new Members on the history, background, and rationale of the
governance and accountability structure: click
here for the WIEGO Constitution and a background
note on WIEGO’s Constitution and Institutional Structure.
In brief, the new institutional structure is a hybrid with governance
by a board (called the Steering Committee) and accountability to
Members who have the right to elect their representative to the
Nominating Committee and provide feed-back on, approve, or disapprove
future plans and budgets.
Chris Bonner (chair of the Interim Nominating Committee) briefed
the new Members on the selection process for the new Steering Committee
and the election process for the new Nominating Committee:
click here for background notes on the Selection of the Steering
Committee and Election of the Nominating Committee. In brief,
each new Steering Committee is selected by the out-going Steering
Committee from a slate of candidates proposed by the Nominating
Committee in consultation with the Membership. The Nominating Committee
consists of five people, one each elected by the three Constituencies
of WIEGO and two appointed by the Steering Committee.
Marty Chen (Coordinator of WIEGO) presented a consolidated two-year
plan, focusing on the more general activities that do not fall under
any of the five programme areas of WIEGO: click
here for power point presentation on WIEGO Consolidated Two-Year
Plans. She also raised some strategic dilemmas that WIEGO faces:
how much should WIEGO focus on its current range of activities or
on other types of activities?; how much should WIEGO focus on undertaking
its own activities versus participating in related activities of
other institutions or in relevant networks and expert groups?; and
should WIEGO provide technical assistance to individual member-based
organizations of informal workers?
Suzanne Van Hook (Financial Manager of WIEGO) described what costs
are covered under WIEGO’s core budget and programme budgets
and how these budgets are developed and funded. She noted that,
over the past two years, WIEGO has been able to raise roughly the
same amount in programme funds (from over 15 different donors) as
it raised in core funds (from 3 donors): click
here for power point presentation on WIEGO Financial Overview.
After the presentations, the new Members of WIEGO asked an important
set of questions regarding the new governance and accountability
structure. These questions, with the answers to them, include the
following:
- Who ratified the WIEGO Constitution? The Steering
Committee in October 2005
- Can the Constitution be amended, and how? Yes, by
a two-thirds majority of the Steering Committee. The three Constituencies
can propose amendments.
- What is the decision making body of WIEGO? The Steering
Committee. The Membership is entitled to elect representatives
to a new Nominating Committee every four years; approve/disapprove
of the nominated membership to the Steering Committee every four
years; and approve/disapprove WIEGO’s plans and budget every
year.
- Is WIEGO a member-based organization (MBO)? No, it
is a research policy network that seeks to support member-based
organizations of informal workers.
- Does WIEGO help MBOs with funding? No, WIEGO does
not have a mandate or the capacity to raise funds for other organizations.
- Is WIEGO registered? No, WIEGO has considered registration
but has not, as yet, faced a compelling enough need to do so.
- Has WIEGO considered the optimal or maximum size of the
organization? No, this has not been considered. However,
WIEGO will need to consider the size issue and reach a decision
in the future.
Constituency Meetings
As noted earlier, Members of WIEGO belong to one or another of three
constituencies: delegates from member-based organizations of informal
workers; researchers, statisticians, or academics; and staff of
development agencies (inter-governmental, governmental, or non-governmental).
Each Constituency met separately for 1.5 hours to a) elect their
representative to the new Nominating Committee; b) review WIEGO’s
Plans and Budget; and c) discuss other issues arising.
Closing Plenary
Representatives from the three Constituencies provided brief feed-back
on the discussion in their respective Constituency meeting. While
each Constituency elected a representative to the new Nominating
Committee, there was concern expressed that, in the future to make
the elections feel more genuine, the Nominating Committee should
nominate more than one candidate for each constituency.
The members of the new Steering Committee were introduced at the
closing plenary: click
here for photo of the new Steering Committee.
Management Committee:
Chair: Renana Jhabvala (SEWA)
Coordinator: Marty Chen (Harvard University)
MBO Constituency: Pat Horn (StreetNet International)
Research Constituency: Dan Gallin (Global Labour Institute)
Development Constituency: William Steel (ex-World Bank)
Constituency Representatives:
MBO Constituency: Kofi Asamoah (Ghana Trade Union Congress)
Research Constituency: Jacques Charmes (l’Institut de Recherche
pour le Développement (IRD))
Development Constituency: Dave Spooner (International Federation
of
Workers’ Education Associations)
Programme Directors (ex officio):
Global Markets: Elaine Jones (ex-Body Shop and Twin Trading)
Urban Policies: Sharit Bhowmik (University of Mumbai)
Social Protection: Francie Lund (University of KwaZulu Natal)
Organization and Representation: Chris Bonner (ex-DITSELA)
Statistics: Joann Vanek (ex-UN Statistics Division)
As provided for in the Constitution, two additional at-large members
were selected by new Steering Committee on April 25: Jose Del Valle
from a trade-union federation, CROC, in Mexico; and Victor Tokman,
ex-ILO and currently with ECLAC/CEPAL in Chile.
The elected constituency representatives to the new Nominating Committee
were also introduced in absentia:
MBO Constituency: Namrata Bali (SEWA)
Research Constituency: Stephanie Barrientos (IDS, Sussex)
Development Constituency: Simel Esim (ILO)
As mandated by the Constitution, the new Steering Committee will
select two additional at-large members for the new Nominating Committee.
One representative from each of the three Constituencies was then
asked to say a few words about what WIEGO and the Durban General
Assembly meant to her/him:
Linus Ukamba of the Nigerian Labour Congress
“What was most significant is the real commitment of people
here. What gives us courage in the labour movement is working for
others. But often we cannot move forward – we don’t
have the knowledge. WIEGO is important in providing knowledge and
building our capacity. The UN can provide some of this but at much
higher cost and with less scope.
What is the way forward? In the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC),
we have a resolution to organize in the informal economy. I want
the NLC to move forward and implement its resolution.”
Rosalinda Ofreneo of HomeNet South East Asia
“What was most significant was breaking down the stereotypes
of the two worlds – academics and MBOs/activists. It shows
us that academics can be involved in concrete activities and activists
can reflect. It shows us that research can lead to organizing.
What is the way forward? Recognition of the partnership between
research/policy and organization. There should be a move to democratize
knowledge and for activists and grassroots leaders to be recognized
as “organic intellectuals”. I hope that this process
can be taken further. I hope it can contribute to the protection
and organisation of women in the informal economy.”
Rosa Irene Vera Fernandez of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica
do Rio de Janeiro
“What was most significant was participating in this new WIEGO
structure. I look forward to bringing what I have learned at this
meeting back to those with whom I work in Brazil.
What is the way forward? We need to make sure that the issues of
informal economy workers are addressed in policy discussions and
debates. And we need to make sure to build on the work of this event
after we leave Durban.”
In closing, Marty Chen thanked the participants, especially the
new Members of WIEGO, for their expressed confidence and trust in
WIEGO; the time, energy, and expertise they put into making WIEGO
work; and the good ideas and feed-back they provided at the General
Assembly. She noted that, for the members of the old WIEGO Steering
Committee, it was a very gratifying moment to witness the official
launch of the new governance and accountability structure that they
had deliberated about for several years.
At the end of the General Assembly, William (Biff) Steel announced
that all participants should go down to the beach in front of the
Blue Waters Hotel for a group photo. When they reached the beach,
they found a large sand plaque with the WIEGO logo on it. Sand-sculpting
is a new art form in Durban, mostly done by immigrant men from other
countries in Africa. Biff Steel, Renana Jhabvala, Imraan Valodia
and Sarah Gammage had commissioned two sand sculptors to make the
logo: click
here for photos of the sand sculpture and other General Assembly
photographs.
Side Meetings of WIEGO Committees
Steering Committee -
The old Steering Committee of WIEGO met before the General Assembly
(on April 21 morning) to discuss the agenda of the General Assembly
and related issues. And the new Steering Committee of WIEGO met
right after the Urban Policies Colloquium (on April 25 afternoon)
to debrief on all of the events and to discuss the feed-back on
our governance structure, programmes, and budget. The new Steering
Committee took the decision to devote a good deal of time, energy,
and resources over the next year to develop a Communication and
Dissemination Strategy, which was the key suggestion or mandate
coming out of the General Assembly.
Programme Advisory Committees –
The Advisory Committees of WIEGO's five programmes met immediately
after the General Assembly (on April 23 afternoon) to discuss feed-back
from the General Assembly and to modify the two-year plans for each
programme, accordingly. After the Advisory Committee meetings, the
Programme and Secretariat staff of WIEGO met over dinner on April
23 to being strategizing about how to implement the many good ideas
coming out of the General Assembly.
Other Side Meetings
A number of side meetings took place around the General Assembly,
including meetings related to:
- Waste Collectors International Meeting: Laxmi Narayan from Kagad
Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (an organization of waste pickers
in India), Martin Medina of the Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies in Japan, and Chris Bonner of WIEGO’s Organization
and Representation Programme met to discuss how to move forward
on the existing plans (and funding proposal) to convene an international
meeting of waste collector organizations.
- Street Trade in Ghana: 12 participants from Ghana - including
people from each of WIEGO's three constituencies - caucused to
discuss current policies and practices that are likely to restrict
street trade in Accra and result in additional confrontations
with authorities. The caucus agreed to consult the municipal authorities
to try to seek a more effective plan of action.
- "Organizing in the Informal Economy" International
Meeting: Members of the International Coordination Committee (ICC)
met to discuss plans for the September 2006 meeting in Ghana on
organizing in the informal economy.
- Exposure Dialogue Programme in Durban: Namrata Bali of SEWA,
Karl Osner of the German Association for the Promotion of North-South
Dialogue, Imraan Valodia from the University of KwaZulu Natal,
and Thandiwe Xulu, a former organizer of SEWU, met to discuss
preparations for the Exposure Dialogue Programme being planned
for March 2007 in Durban as part of the on-going dialogue between
Cornell University economists, WIEGO researchers, and SEWA organizers
and members. Namrata and Karl spent a day and a night with Thandiwe
and her family to determine how the exposure methodology would
need to be adjusted to suit the context of Durban and neighboring
townships.
- Ratification of ILO 1996 Convention on Homework: Dan Gallin
and Karin Pape of the Global Labour Institute met with representatives
of HomeNet South and South East Asia to discuss plans for the
campaign to promote ratification of the Convention and/or national
policies based on the provisions of the Convention in different
countries.
- UN Habitat-WIEGO Joint Panel at the World Urban Forum: Sharit
Bhowmik of WIEGO Urban Policies Programme, Caroline Skinner of
the University of KwaZulu Natal, and Marty Chen met with Frederico
Neto from UN Habitat to plan the joint UN Habitat-WIEGO panel
at the World Urban Forum in Vancouver in June 2006.
- Launch of the book about SEWA by Ela Bhatt called We are
Poor but so Many: The Story of Self-Employed Women in India: Jointly
organized by Adams Campus Bookshop and Ike’s Books and Collectables,
this book launch was held at Ike’s Books and Collectables.
Urban Policies Colloquium: April 24-25
In conjunction with each of its general meetings, WIEGO organizes
a public event. The focus of the public event has, by design, rotated
between the key concerns of WIEGO’s three constituencies,
namely: policy, research, and organizing. The General Assembly in
Durban, the fourth general meeting of WIEGO, marked the return to
public policy as the theme for the public event: in this case, urban
policies and planning.
The urban policies colloquium held on April 24-25 was called “’World
Class Cities’ and the Urban Informal Economy: Inclusive Planning
for the Working Poor” and was co-organized by WIEGO, StreetNet
International, and the University of KwaZulu Natal. Seventy-seven
WIEGO Members stayed on in Durban for the colloquium and were joined
by another 80 participants, of whom half were international and
half were South African (from the Durban/eThewkwini municipality,
the provincial government of KwaZulu Natal, the South Africa Cities
Network, various South African trade unions, the University of KwaZulu
Natal and other universities, and the press):
click here for the list of participants at the colloquium. The
colloquium featured an opening session to set the stage (including
a vision and framework for inclusive urban planning); a session
on workers’ perspectives (featuring representatives of home-based
workers, waste collectors, and migrant workers); a session on comparative
experiences of implementing inclusive urban plans (from India, Brazil,
and Durban itself); and a two-part policy dialogue featuring current
initiatives in South Africa (from Cape Town municipality, Pietermaritzberg/Msunduzi
municipality, and KwaZulu Natal province) to include street vendors
in urban and provincial plans as well as current efforts by organizations
of street vendors (in Brazil, India, and Zambia) to negotiate inclusive
urban planning: click
here for the agenda, presentations, and photographs of the colloquium.
…….
Both Durban events were, by all accounts, a great success. Most
importantly, the participants engaged with one another – sharing
experiences, debating issues, making plans, renewing friendships,
and making new friends. One participant in the urban policies colloquium
noted that there was a real “buzz” in the air and commented
that most conferences do not generate such a “buzz”.
We hope that this report will give you some feeling of that “buzz”:
click here for the media coverage
of the two events in the South African press.
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