Since the 2008-2009 Global Economic Crisis, WIEGO has periodically conducted multi-site studies to reflect grounded realities of domestic work, home-based work, street and market trade, and waste recycling. This action research aims to understand pathways of impact and sources of harm but also support and assess how these change over time. This work is conducted alongside worker organizations and aims to support advocacy efforts both in cities and globally.
Our research processes value knowledge co-production as a collaborative approach that generates robust data with and for membership-based organizations. The intention is to strengthen the capacity of worker organizations to identify and pursue advocacy pathways. Key principles of WIEGO’s approach include recognizing different forms of knowledge, building trust with membership-based organizations, maintaining continuous communication, feedback and validation with worker leaders, and scanning the policy terrain to disseminate research.
Ahmedabad, India: Neighbourhood women gather outside their homes to discuss the area upkeep and work issues. As organized home-based workers, the women associated with the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), a trade union that works to secure the rights of workers in the informal sector, and Mahila Housing Trust (MHT), a NGO that improves the housing conditions of poor, informally employed women, have led slum upgradation programmes in their area and also received training on working from home and how to market their products. Photo Credit: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Reportage
This Working Paper reflects the findings from the longitudinal study of nearly 2,000 informal workers in 11 cities around the world. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with domestic workers,...
Read MoreThe following themes represent areas of strategic focus for WIEGO.