Latest News Global Economic Crisis | Waste Pickers | Street Vendors | Homebased Workers | Informal Economy Informal workers hit by global recession (29 Jan 2010) Dawn.com Amna Shakoor dreams of having a day off simply to have “a long, uninterrupted sleep.” But for the time being there is little chance of that for this 45-year-old mother of 12. Amna lives in a two-room rented home in Orangi, Karachi, with her children and husband. She supplements her husband’s erratic income by rolling biris all day, and sometimes well into the night. Still, the global recession is making it impossible for the Shakoor family to meet their needs. Financial crisis threatens to set back education worldwide, UN report warns (19 Jan 2010) UN News Centre. The global financial crisis threatens to deprive millions of childr in the world’s poorest countries of an education, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, with a knock-on effect on future economic growth, poverty reduction and progress in health and other areas, according to a United Nations report released today. In the Shadows, Day Laborers Left Homeless as Work Vanishes Jan. 1, 2010. With their isolation and day-to-day existence, the laborers are perhaps the most invisible and hardest-to-reach victims of the recession, advocates and New York city officials say. By Fernanda Santos, New York Times. Anbody Seen Pati? Dec. 26, 2009. The recession in the U.S. is felt at a grass-roots level in Honduras. By Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times. No end in sight to economic crisis for hard-hit developing world – UN report, UN Secretary General releases study on the impact of the global crisis on the world’s vulnerable and poor. A Scrap of Decency, New York Times (Aug 4, 2009)
“Waste Land” Takes Berlinale Panorama Honors IndieWire (20 Feb 2010) Waste Land follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz who travels to Jardim Gramacho, the world’s largest landfill, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. He collaborates with an eclectic band of catadores, or self-designated pickers of recyclable materials, and photographs these them as they recycle their lives and society’s garbage. TMA to compensate 394 scavengers to start waste management project Ghana News Agency (20 Jan 2010) The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) is to compensate and re-settle some 394 people engaged in stone quarrying at the Kpone landfill site. KKPKP puts forth the merits of recycling at Copenhagen Times of India (9 Dec 2009) Recycling is one of the easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This was one of the points driven home by Laxmi Narayan, general secretary of the Pune-based Kaagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), an organisation that works for the rights of ragpickers, at the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, on Monday. Wastepickers of the world unite at climate talks AFP (8 Dec 2009) Ignored, marginalised or despised in many countries, wastepickers from Asia, Latin America and Africa have come together in Copenhagen to lobby for recognition as unsung heroes in the fight against climate change. Waste Pickers Demand Recognition for Doing the Dirty Work IPS (8 Dec 2009) Members of the Global Network of Waste Pickers say recognising the work they do recycling rubbish can make a valuable contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Cambodia's rubbish dump scavengers (BBC online news, Aug 14, 2009) SOUTHERN AFRICA: Women Traders Demand Support IPS (19 Feb 2010) "This year we want them to recognise that cross border traders contribute to the GDP (gross domestic product) and put in place legal frameworks which protect us because there is a lot of harassment by government officials during transit," Charity Mombeshora, the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Association's secretary for gender and women's affairs told IPS. Chicago street vendors demand relief from high fines, police crackdown Medill Reports (18 Feb 2010) Chicago's street vendors battle the cold, high fines and even jail time to make a living. SEWA demands inclusion of street vendors in Bhadra development plan Indian Express (7 Feb 2010) Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) has welcomed restoration of around 350 vendors in the Bhadra area on Saturday after the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had barred them from doing business in the area since January 24. The premier trade union outfit has demanded the inclusion of vendors in the Bhadra Fort area development plan. Cubans Thank God and Communist Party for Small Favors ABC News (2 Feb 2010) Cuban Communist Party Makes it Easier to Acquire Food Vending License "For a long time when you picked fruit from your patio and went to sell it on the highway, the police would appear, jump all over you, and take it away, when really we were doing nothing wrong," he said. "You can imagine what it means to be able to bring our fruit here and not have that struggle. The fruit no longer rots on the trees, the animals no longer eat it, Cubans eat it." Students from Denmark write about their experiences with Kenasvit kenasvit.wordpress.com (2 Feb 2010) Through six weeks in Kenya, we learned how the members are facing a range of different challenges such as land and space issues, lack of water and sanitation at the work place, harassment, lack of security and lack of political influence and representation. In this respect, KENASVIT has done a lot to improve both the relation to the authorities and the general conditions of street vendors and informal traders. Zambia: We will rid Lusaka of street vendors – Muteteka Lusaka Times (29 Jan 2010) Government says it is working hard to ensure that all street vendors are accommodated in designated market places. Thousands of Street Vendors to be Developed with Special Location Berita Jakarta (29 Jan 2010) Jakarta Capital City Government is to relocate around 13 thousand street vendors to special locations designated to helping the vendors develop their businesses. However, only eligible street vendors can occupy the area. Leading academics and architects put their weight behind court action to prevent demolition of the Early Morning Market in Durban, South Africa. "Negotiations continue - Warwick traders legal action gets boost", Natal Mercury, by Tania Broughton, 14th September, 2009.
Rags to riches: Erin O'Connor's fairtrade fashion (24 Jan 2010) The Guardian Better Living Through Artistry Design Observer Group (18 Feb 2010) SEWA’s Trade Facilitation Centre, a cooperative textile manufacturing company in Ahmedebad, India, is no sweatshop, but part of a vast, productive network of self-employed women. CENTRAL AMERICA: Women Eke Out a Living in Informal Economy IPS (16 Feb 2010) According to the third regional report on the labour market in Central America and the Dominican Republic produced by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Central American Integration System (SICA), 64 percent of women in the labour force in the region work in the informal sector, compared to 50 percent of men in the workforce Hillary Clinton Meets With SEWA Members in Mumbai, India July 18, 2009 During her 3-day trip to India, Hillary Clinton meets with SEWA members at the Hansiba SEWA Trade Facilitation Center in Mumbai. Secretary Clinton expresses the Obama administration’s support for organizations like SEWA. Read Remarks by Hillary Clinton at SEWA Store for SEWA Hansiba Tour
photo credit: SEWA. Visit SEWA website to view more photos. Read news stories: July 19, 2009 - Clinton kicks off 3-day visit to India: Meets with rich, poor on education and healthcare. By Glenn Kessler, Washington Post. July 18, 2009 - Hillary meets SEWA volunteers. By the Press Trust of India, Hindustan Times. Inclusive Cities partner Mahila SEWA Trust awarded 2009 MacArthur Award for Creative & Effective Institutions.
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