WIEGO’s Social Protection Programme is committed to supporting workers to access these rights, through research, policy advocacy and capacity building.
We take a systems approach to understanding protection in the informal economy, integrating income security measures, and access to public care and workplace services. Without these two policy areas reinforcing one another, the incomes of workers in informal employment, particularly women, continue to be at risk.
The extension of social protection to workers in informal employment has been a major global policy concern highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our work focuses on supporting worker organizations to more effectively engage in global, regional and national level policy spaces, through research, advocacy and workers’ education.
Read MoreThrough our work on workers’ health, we provide a central point for information, research, activities and network building relating to the promotion of better health and better access to health services for workers in informal employment.
Read MoreA major focus of WIEGO’s Child-Care Initiative is how high-quality and state-supported child-care provision can improve economic outcomes for working women in the informal economy.
Read MoreOur work on income security for older workers aims to understand more about the challenges older workers in informal employment face in accessing social protection and public care services, as well as their current needs.
Read MoreThe Social Protection Programme aims to produce policy-relevant research that can be taken up by workers and policymakers alike, highlighting positive examples of what can be done to secure incomes in the informal economy. We also aim to challenge unhelpful assumptions about the informal economy and the workers who operate within it.
We work to develop linkages and dialogue spaces among policymakers, social protection experts, and membership-based organizations of workers in informal employment.
We strive to build the capacity of workers to advocate for improved social protection and public care and workplace services for themselves and their families.
We are running a mapping initiative to better understand how social protection systems exist in the real world, and where workers in informal employment are finding opportunities for inclusion or are being excluded. Through podcasts and briefing notes, we aim to build a repository of practices and experiences.
Read MoreThe Child Care in Markets project, which operates in three African cities – Accra, Durban and Kigali – aims to develop child-care models and solutions for urban informal marketplaces, enabling more secure incomes for the women who work in the markets, and safe and nurturing environments for their children.
Read MoreUnderstanding the economics of social protection – economic theory, financing and budgeting – is key to building better advocacy to advance Universal Social Protection. This project produces research that fills key research gaps and translates this knowledge into capacity-building tools for worker organizations.
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Several influential international organizations, academic studies and reports claim that social protection is an important driver of informality....
Read MoreThe Statistics Programme works with statisticians and data users (including workers in informal employment) to improve statistical methods that will make visible the size and significance of the informal economy and the situation of those working in it, and shares the data in accessible formats.
Statistics ProgrammeThe Urban Policies Programme works to improve workers’ incomes and the security of their workplaces and homes, and supports workers in negotiating gains in urban policies and practices.
Urban Policies ProgrammeThe Organization and Representation Programme helps organizations of workers in informal employment build organizational and leadership capacity, and connect to each other and with allies as they fight to improve the working conditions of their members.
Organization and Representation ProgrammeThe Law Programme strives for the recognition, inclusion and protection of all workers’ rights in laws and regulations. We also train workers to use the law in their fight for labour rights and protections.
Law Programme
