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Abstract: Urbanisation trend in sub-Saharan Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, is characterised by rapid urban population growth stimulated by rural-urban migration and natural increase. Most of the poor urban migrants lack the education and skill requirements to fit into highly rigid...
Report on demolition of traditional open markets, as part of the State government programme to develop Lagos into a “mega city". This report also looks at the validity of the promise to accommodate displaced traders in new ‘ultra-modern’ shopping malls built in place of the destroyed traditional...
This special issue on urban livelihoods was developed in collaboration with WIEGO. Abstract: This paper synthesizes recent research and evidence on urban policies and local government practices as they relate to street vending, one of the most visible occupations in the informal economy. It presents...
Abstract: This article focuses on an action-research project which is attempting to extend occupational health and safety to a group of street traders in Durban, South Africa, using a variety of different (and sometimes unconventional) institutional actors. The article is written from the...
Abstract: South African low-income communities face many challenges (e.g., insufficient housing, poor service delivery, and abject poverty); additionally, a silent challenge of pest infestation plagues these areas resulting in disease risks, nuisances, and stigma. Consequently, an enterprising urban...
Low industrial growth, declining agricultural sector and limited expansion of formal sector employment in India have increasingly forced the poor to take recourse to informal sources of livelihoods. Street vending is one such thriving source of self-employment across cities. This book delves into...
Abstract : This qualitative study aims to understand how and why different groups of informal women entrepreneurs in Nepal engage with, or make the transition to the formal sector. Read a news article about the study.
Abstract: Street vendors in Mexico and day laborers in the United States, both groups of informal workers who labor in public space, face formidable structural obstacles to securing their rights as workers. Despite their apparent vulnerability, these informal workers have built perhaps the most...
This paper investigates ways in which linkages between the informal and formal segments of an economy yield benefits to, or impose costs upon, informal workers, based on self-reporting by market and street vendors in Accra regarding their relationships with the formal economy and its institutions...
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.