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Shoe shiners in Mexico City have worked in Glorieta de Insurgentes Square for decades to earn their livelihoods. When they were unceremoniously evicted by the municipality under the guise of modernization, they decided to fight back.
Supermarkets have spread rapidly across the Global South, but what implications does this growth have on informal food retailers and the food security of low-income households? For over 10 years, the African Centre for Cities (ACC), at the University of Cape Town, has worked on urban food security...
The WIEGO Urban Policies Team analyzed news articles on street vendors from six continents over the past 18 months to gain a better understanding of how these informal workers are — or, more precisely, “aren’t” — being incorporated into 21st-century cities. A troubling portrait emerged of widespread...
A Q&A with Taylor Cass Talbott It’s hard to miss the shocking images of heaping plastic floating in the middle of the world’s oceans on the covers of magazines and on the evening news. The photos and reports have raised alarm bells with both citizens and policymakers alike. The ocean plastic waste...
The addition of a new category “dependent contractor” in the status in employment classification of labour statistics should lead to better data and thus better national policies to benefit homeworkers: that is, sub-contracted home-based workers who are neither fully independent self-employed nor...
By Jenna Harvey “I want to see an eviction-free city. I want to see them [street vendors] having a right to the city, where no government, no official, will harass them. But we have to do it under a regulation, even though we want access in the city — we want to operate in the city — we also believe...
As global inequality rises in many places around the world, creating more inclusive cities comes with increasing challenges. Informal workers know these challenges all too well as they struggle to earn livable incomes often without legal and social protections. Evidence shows that supporting...
Public space provides a window into the soul of a city. It is where collective urban life plays out — cycling to work, playing in a park, enjoying hot food from a street corner, performing music for a tip, coming together in celebration or resistance. This diversity of activity can make public...
Modernization in cities is meant to ease the commute for workers and offer convenience — to make lives easier. But too often, it’s the poorest urban workers who pay the price for change. Just after 4 a.m., Lima is asleep, streets nearly empty and sidewalks deserted except for a few women in...
This week, we sit down with WIEGO’s new Urban Policies Programme Director, Caroline Wanjiku Kihato, to learn more about her background and research interests, as well as where she sees opportunities to better involve informal workers in the future of cities. In addition to her role with WIEGO, she...
Videos / Slideshows / Audio
Millions of women work long hours, in dangerous conditions, for little pay. They are fighting for change, with the help of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Watch this video to learn how.
Workers Education/Organizing Materials
This manual helps street vendors learn more about the regulations that govern public space and how to defend the right to work in public space. It describes successful actions taken by street vendor organizations. And it offers information to help you organize and negotiate with local government.
WIEGO Working Papers
Mike Rogan reviews how informal workers are taxed, why there is growing interest in taxing them, and whether they should be included in the tax net.