Theme: Legal Empowerment

The Recognition and Protection of Informal Traders in COVID-19 Laws: Lessons from Asia

This analysis covers COVID-19 laws in seven Asian countries, namely, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and...

Making home-based work environments safer, healthier and productive: Improving the Physical Environment (3)

This brief is a part of WIEGO’s documentation of Mahila Housing SEWA Trust’s (MHT) work to capture insights on their work that has...

Waste Pickers and Human Rights

ILO estimates indicate that close to 20 million people worldwide earn their living from recycling waste. Many work as waste pickers who gather...

Re-examining Legal Narratives on Vagrancy, Public Spaces and Colonial Constructs: A Commentary on the ACHPR’s Advisory Opinion on Vagrancy Laws in Africa

This edition of Law and Informality Insights analyzes the implications for informal workers of the recent African Court on Human and Peoples’...

The Impact of COVID-19 Laws on Street Vendors and Market Traders: Trends and Insights from Latin America

This study examines the laws and regulations passed in response to the COVID-19 crisis in Latin America, and their impact on informal vendors,...

Strategic litigation in the informal economy

Discusses the role of strategic regulation in advancing the rights of informal workers, and provides examples of successful cases.

ILO Recommendation 204: Formalising the Informal Economy (2015)

Describes the history and background of the process leading to 2015 ILO Convention 204 on the transition  from the formal to the informal...

Defining and regulating the informal economy

Provides an introduction to the informal economy, including: labour law and its scope; the definition of informal economy; an overview of...

Call for Abstracts

Contested Urban Spaces: Urbanisation, Law, and Informal Work is a two-year edited book project by WIEGO and IRGLUS that explores this theme...

The “Right to the City” and Emerging Indian Jurisprudence: Implications for Informal Livelihoods