The following countries have ratified the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (C189) and Recommendation (No. 201) through their national legislatures and completed the ratification process with the International Labour Office.
History was made on June 16, 2011 when governments, employers and workers from around the world adopted the Convention and accompanying Recommendation on Decent Work for Domestic Workers at the 100th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva. Read about this significant historical event.
A young woman reaches her towel-wrapped hand into the oven and pulls out a baking sheet. The baby strapped to her back twists to look around, his gaze falling on a nearby worker who sits in the shade of a tarp and cuts dough into strips.
Unfazed by powerful political opponents and a pervasive culture of violence, Nohra Padilla organized Colombia’s marginalized waste pickers into unions and made informal recyclers a legitimate part of Bogota's urban waste management.
by Sonia Dias, WIEGO’s Waste Specialist/Visiting Professor UFMG, Brazil
Brazil has been in the forefront of progressive legislation and public policies geared to the integration of its informal recyclers. In the last 12-15 years, Brazil has seen the enactment of laws supporting the social inclusion of these workers and the implementation of public policies designed for cooperatives and associations of informal collectors of recyclables, known as catadores.
Resources to help workers organize and advocate, and publications detailing successes and challenges, are proliferating. These resources from WIEGO can be downloaded and shared for free.
Latin American and Caribbean Waste Pickers Network (LAWPN)
The Red Latinoamericana de Recicladores (Red Lacre, or Latin American Waste Pickers Network) brings together democratic waste picker organizations – primarily national movements formed by cooperatives – from 15 countries in Latin America. The organizations work together to improve the working conditions of waste pickers and promote dialogue and exchanges between waste pickers in different countries.
Recent initiatives have aimed to build the capacity of informal worker organizers and leaders to build their democratic organizations and to run them effectively. For example, the Inclusive Cities Project partners are working on sustainability plans. As well, WIEGO has assisted by offering fund-raising training and working with the HomeNets in Asia to build democratic organizations and make the transition from NGO to MBO.
A young woman reaches her towel-wrapped hand into the oven and pulls out a baking sheet. The baby strapped to her back twists to look around, his gaze falling on a nearby worker who sits in the shade of a tarp and cuts dough into strips.
These resources from WIEGO can be downloaded and shared for free.
