Laura Alfers
International Coordinator
“Workers in informal employment are courageous and pragmatic. In challenging contexts, they organize, negotiate and innovate every day. These workers are not waiting to be rescued – they are shaping economies from the ground up. WIEGO’s role is to ensure their knowledge, leadership and collective power influence policies and systems. Being part of that work is a privilege.”
Expertise
Formalization; Social Protection; Workers Health; Feminist Labour History; Social Dialogue
Bio
Laura Alfers leads WIEGO and its global network of membership-based organizations of workers in informal employment.
Her focus is strengthening WIEGO’s engagement with economic policy and situating the informal economy within discussions on labour and the major economic, technological and climate transitions of the current moment. She is passionate about connecting the realities of the informal economy to structural economic debates and policy.
Laura joined WIEGO in 2010 and has worked across research, programme development and strategy. From 2017 to 2024 she served as Director of the Social Protection Programme, where she helped grow the team and expand WIEGO’s work on social protection, childcare and workers’ health. During this time, she worked closely with worker leaders and global partners to strengthen the case for inclusive social protection systems and more responsive public services. She also initiated the “Challenging Economic Orthodoxies” project, helping to reposition workers in informal employment within macroeconomic and fiscal policy discussions.
Throughout her time at WIEGO, Laura has worked to build bridges between grassroots worker organisations and global policy institutions, representing WIEGO in engagements with UN agencies, development banks and bilateral donors. She has also served as Senior Informal Economy Advisor to UNDP and as a consultant to bilateral donors during the COVID-19 crisis.
Laura holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an MA from Rhodes University. At the heart of her work is a belief that worker organising, knowledge and practical innovation offer essential insights into building more equitable and resilient economic systems.
Select Publications
- Book Social contracts and informal workers in the global South (edited with Marty Chen and Sophie Plagerson) Read More
- Book Social protection, the COVID-19 crisis and the informal economy: Lessons from relief for comprehensive social protection, Laura Alfers and Florian Juergens-Grant. In Covid-19 and the Informal Economy. Read More
- Chapter Alfers, L, Devenish, A & Sesan, T. 2023. “Social protection for workers in the informal economy: opportunities and constraints for informal worker-led schemes” in L. Patel, S. Plagerson and I. Chinyoka (Eds.), Handbook on Social Protection and Social Development in the Global South. London: Elgar. Read More
- Article Alfers, L & Moussié, R. 2020. “The World Social Protection Report 2017-2019: An Assessment.” Development and Change, 51 (2). Read More
- Report UNDP. 2021. “Informality and Social Protection in Africa: A Forward-looking Assessment of Contributory Schemes” United Nations Development Programme: New York Read More
Op-eds
- Article Beyond “informal” and “formal”: Bringing the majority economy into the G20’s vision of solidarity, equality and sustainability Read More
- Blog Post What the Digitalization of Formalization Efforts Means for Workers in Informal Employment Read More
- Blog Post Systems Change in Turbulent Times: Lessons from the Power-Shifts Framework Read More