Including the Excluded Supporting Informal Workers for More Equal & Productive Cities in the Global South MARTHA A. CHEN AND VICTORIA A.

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1 Including the Excluded Supporting Informal Workers for More Equal & Productive Cities in the Global South MARTHA A. CHEN AND VICTORIA A. BEARD

2 FOCUS ON STRUGGLING AND EMERGING CITIES

3 TOWARDS A MORE EQUAL CITY

RESEARCH ON MORE EQUAL CITIES Thematic Papers WRR Framing Housing Energy Informal Economy Urban Expansion Water Sanitation Transportation Urban Transformation Case

5 RESEARCH ON MORE EQUAL CITIES Thematic Papers WRR Framing Housing Energy Informal Economy Urban Expansion Water Sanitation Transportation Urban Transformation Case Studies Porto Alegre, Brazil Belo Horizonte, Brazil Pune, India Johannesburg, South Africa Kampala, Uganda Ahmedabad, India Surabaya, Indonesia Guadalajara, Mexico

6 CITIES REPRESENT THE WORLD S FUTURE Cities are home to more than half the world s population Cities produce half the world s GDP Cities produce 70 percent of world s CO 2 emissions Creativity and innovation or growing inequality and strife How can we achieve a more equal and productive city?

7 INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT IN SELECT CITIES, % Source: Chen and Beard, 2018

HOME-BASED WORKERS, STREET VENDORS & WASTE PICKERS 1. These groups represent a significant share of urban informal employment, and an even larger share of urban informal self-employment 2.

8 HOME-BASED WORKERS, STREET VENDORS & WASTE PICKERS 1. These groups represent a significant share of urban informal employment, and an even larger share of urban informal self-employment 2. The city and its policies directly impact these workers, and each group illustrates the need for specific public goods 3. The groups are emblematic of what informal workers need from cities to become more productive

9 SEEING LIKE A CITY A growing number of cities are taking a more inclusive approach to informal workers and their activities Offering security of tenure and equitable access to core services to home-based workers Promoting regulated but equitable access to public spaces for street vendors Integrating waste pickers into solid waste management systems

10 NEEDS AND DEMANDS OF INFORMAL WORKERS

11 WHAT CAN CITIES DO? Increase informal workers access to public services, public spaces, and public procurement Reform laws and regulations so they support informal workers Include informal work leaders in participatory policymaking Support coalitions for change Photo: (Iniciativa Regional para el Reciclaje Inclusivo (IRR)

12 CITIES & INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS: KEY MESSAGES Over half of all urban workers in the global South are informally employed But the policies and practices of city governments tend to be exclusionary of informal workers and their livelihood activities For cities to be fair and productive they must be more inclusionary of informal workers by protecting and enhancing their livelihoods this requires reducing exclusionary policies & practices which stigmatize & penalize informal workers increasing inclusionary policies & practices access to public services, public space & public procurement + representation in participatory policy-making & rule-setting processes + integration in city & local economic development plans There are promising examples of city support to urban informal workers largely the result of joint advocacy by organizations of informal workers and their allies (in civil society, academia, legal profession)

13 NEW GLOBAL ESTIMATES: ILO % of all workers globally are informally employed South Asia >80% in most countries (>90% in India) Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) - >80% in many countries 46% of urban workers globally are informally employed South Asia 78% Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) 76% Half of all workers globally are self-employed South Asia 60% or more in most countries Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) - 75% Most urban workers in the global South are informally employed: of which the majority are self-employed. The urban self-employed are directly impacted by the policies & practices of city governments.

14 INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT AS SHARE OF URBAN EMPLOYMENT, SELECT CITIES (46-86%)

15 PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF URBAN INFORMAL WORKFORCE IN INDIA

16 URBAN INFORMAL WORKFORCE: WHAT DO THEY WANT AND NEED? Legal Rights right to work/livelihood freedom from harassment - by local authorities property rights: to workplace and home Access to public services: basic infrastructure services at workplace (esp. home-based workers) transport services (all urban informal workers) public space (esp. street vendors) public procurement (esp. waste pickers) Social Protection Organization & Representation

17 URBAN INFORMAL WORKFORCE: WHAT THEY WANT MOST FUNDAMENTALLY They want legal recognition as legitimate economic actors They want to be valued for their contributions to the economy, society and environment: construction workers: build roads and buildings home-based workers: produce goods for domestic markets and global supply chains street vendors: sell goods at low-prices in convenient locations transport workers: provide affordable transport services waste pickers: clean streets & reclaim recyclable materials They want to be integrated into urban & local economic development plans

18 THREE ILLUSTRATIVE CASES home-based workers typify the need for public services 14% of urban workforce in India, 6% in South Africa, 3% in Argentina street vendors typify the need for public space 4% of urban workforce in India, 15% in South Africa waste pickers typify the need for public procurement around 1% of urban workforce in most countries 3 groups combined =19% of urban workforce in India Source: ILO-WIEGO 2002, Chen & Raveendran 2014

19 NEEDS & DEMANDS OF INFORMAL WORKERS

20 EXAMPLE # 1 HOME-BASED WORKERS Photo credit: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Reportage

21 HOME-BASED WORKERS: POLICY ADVOCACY Four regional networks of home-based workers South Asia + Southeast Asia + Eastern Europe + Latin America Organizations of home-based workers are engaged in policy advocacy and collective bargaining with city government for: secure tenure (de jure or de facto) of their homes, which double as their workplaces basic infrastructure services for homes=workplaces

HOME-BASED WORKERS IN THAILAND: POLICY GAINS & TRANSPORT SERVICES HomeNet Thailand has advocated successfully for Universal Health Coverage for informal workers Occupational Health & Safety Project

22 HOME-BASED WORKERS IN THAILAND: POLICY GAINS & TRANSPORT SERVICES HomeNet Thailand has advocated successfully for Universal Health Coverage for informal workers Occupational Health & Safety Project (with government) for homebased workers Home Workers Protection Act B.E.2553 based on ILO Convention 177 on Homework Transport Services for Home-Based Workers relocated to periphery of Bangkok Photo credits: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Reportage

23 EXAMPLE # 2 STREET VENDORS

24 STREET VENDORS: POLICY ADVOCACY Street Net International affiliates in 50 countries Organizations of street vendors are engaged in collective bargaining and policy advocacy for: secure vending sites reduction in harassment by city officials: bribes, confiscation of goods, evictions, relocations protection of their natural markets where street vendors have congregated for years, if not generations

STREET VENDORS: LEGAL VICTORIES IN DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA City policy and programme in support of informal workers, including street vendors in Warwick Junction (1999-2006) Change in city policy in

25 STREET VENDORS: LEGAL VICTORIES IN DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA City policy and programme in support of informal workers, including street vendors in Warwick Junction ( ) Change in city policy in run-up to World Cup Asiye etafuleni (AeT) founded by two ex-city employees to provide design, legal and other support to 8,000 street vendors in Warwick Junction (2006 to present) Legal Resources Center, at request of AeT and WIEGO, filed 2 successful cases against city plans to build a mall in the middle of Warwick Junction (2009) Legal Resources Center, again at request of AeT and WIEGO, filed successful case to challenge power of municipality to confiscate and impound street vendor goods ( ) case of John Makwicana

26 EXAMPLE # 3 WASTE PICKERS Photo credit: Juan Arredondo/Getty Images Reportage

27 WASTE PICKERS: POLICY ADVOCACY Global Alliance + Latin America Regional Network + National Networks of Waste Pickers Organizations of waste pickers are engaged in collective bargaining and policy advocacy for: access to waste space or warehouses to store, sort, bundle and process reclaimed waste for recycling municipal contracts to collect, sort and transport waste

CITY CONTRACTS FOR WASTE PICKERS: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA Asociacion Recicladores Bogota (ARB) (founded in 1990) co-founded by Nohra Padilla and Silvio Ruiz Legal Campaign (20 years) technical support from

committee Constitutional Court Victory (2011) right of waste pickers to bid for solid waste management contracts Successful Bid for Solid Waste Management Contract (2012) technical analysis of

28 CITY CONTRACTS FOR WASTE PICKERS: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA Asociacion Recicladores Bogota (ARB) (founded in 1990) co-founded by Nohra Padilla and Silvio Ruiz Legal Campaign (20 years) technical support from pro bono lawyers and NGOs led by Nohra Padilla who wrote many legal briefs First Global Waste Picker Conference, Bogota (2008) hosted by ARB, organized by WIEGO and an international planning committee Constitutional Court Victory (2011) right of waste pickers to bid for solid waste management contracts Successful Bid for Solid Waste Management Contract (2012) technical analysis of appropriate costs for waste services research on conditions and trends in the waste picking sector policy dialogues with mayor and city officials Waste Picker Integration Model Launched in Bogota (2013) Goldman Environmental Award to Nohra Padilla (2013) National Ruling to Replicate Bogota Model throughout Colombia (2014) 8 other cities in Colombia

29 WAY FORWARD Increase access to public services, public space & public procurement promote in situ upgradation of workplaces of informal workers in private homes & public spaces (evict and relocate workers from informal settlements and public space, only if absolutely necessary) provide basic infrastructure & transport services to informal workers at their workplaces extend right to bid for public procurement to informal workers Reform laws & regulations to support informal workers & their livelihood activities simply registration procedures make taxation progressive and transparent taking into account the variety of operating fees and taxes that informal workers already pay extend benefits to informal workers in return for paying taxes address biases in existing laws & regulations which disadvantage or penalize informal workers, their business and activities

30 WAY FORWARD Include informal workers in relevant policy-making and rule-setting processes promote participatory policy-making & rule-setting processes that include informal workers and other key stakeholders integrate informal workers and their livelihood activities into local economic development and urban planning

SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS OF INFORMAL WORKERS & THEIR COALITIONS FOR CHANGE Organizations of informal workers have been demanding more inclusive and equitable urban policies, regulations, and practices

31 SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS OF INFORMAL WORKERS & THEIR COALITIONS FOR CHANGE Organizations of informal workers have been demanding more inclusive and equitable urban policies, regulations, and practices for many years. These organizations have given collective voice to some of the world s most disadvantaged workers, such as home-based workers, street vendors, and waste pickers, and have achieved important victories. These legal and policy victories would not have been possible without the informed and sustained policy efforts of organizations of informal workers, with support from coalitions of allies. Photo: (Iniciativa Regional para el Reciclaje Inclusivo (IRR)

32 THANK YOU! Comments / Questions #citiesforall

INCLUSIVE CITIES FOR THE URBAN WORKING POOR: PROTECT AND ENABLE INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS MARTY CHEN WIEGO NETWORK HARVARD UNIVERSITY

INCLUSIVE CITIES FOR THE URBAN WORKING POOR: PROTECT AND ENABLE INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS MARTY CHEN WIEGO NETWORK HARVARD UNIVERSITY WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE FEB. 2, 2018 REMARKS: Summary of WRI Report with