WIEGO’s Work
WIEGO supports, strengthens and connects organizations of the working poor to enable them to amplify their collective voice in the policy making and rule-setting bodies that affect their work and lives.
WIEGO conducts and sponsors research and helps the development and improvement of official statistics on informal employment and the informal economy to increase the visibility of workers in this sector. Our publications and website offer a wealth of knowledge about the informal economy.
WIEGO promotes the validity of workers in the informal economy as legitimate economic agents who contribute to the overall economy and as legitimate beneficiaries of economic and social policies. We also advance their incorporation into policymaking and rule-setting processes.
Our work focuses predominantly on urban informal employment around the globe, which falls into these four occupational groups that employ large numbers of poorer working women: Domestic Workers, Home-Based Workers (including Garment Workers), Street Vendors and Waste Pickers.
WIEGO does this work across five Programmes and five Focal Cities, as well as through many Special Initiatives.
How we do it
WIEGO is distinct from other global research or advocacy organizations in the way that we mobilize credible research, statistics and policy analysis in support of the everyday struggle for rights and dignity of the working poor – especially women – in the informal economy.
Because of our direct engagement with organizations of workers in the informal economy, WIEGO’s analysis focuses on the concrete reality of the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy and our research and policy agenda reflects their needs and demands.
Alliances between our three constituencies – worker organizations, researchers and statisticians, and development practitioners – have created a grounded understanding of the informal economy, rigorous findings and informed analysis, and leverage and influence of informed policymakers.