African home-based workers are at the bottom of craft supply chains. Through an increased understanding of those supply chains they could overcome some of the challenges they are facing and improve their livelihoods.
Jenna Harvey, in collaboration with the Focal Cities Team
Although many informal workers are now considered to be “essential workers,” that was not always the case. Before the crisis, ongoing harassment by authorities, vilification in the media, and discrimination from the general public was commonplace. However, the economic and public health emergency caused by COVID-19 has created a shift – there is a growing recognition among policy-makers and the public alike that without these essential workers, entire urban systems could collapse.
Jenna Harvey, in collaboration with the Focal Cities Team
Actualmente, a muchas personas trabajadoras en empleo informal se las considera “esenciales”, pero ese no siempre ha sido el caso. Antes de la crisis, lo más común era que fuesen hostigadas continuamente por las autoridades, difamadas por los medios de comunicación y discriminadas por el público en general. Sin embargo, la emergencia económica y de salud pública provocada por la COVID-19 ha generado un cambio: hay un mayor reconocimiento, tanto por parte de formuladores de políticas como por el público general, de que sin estas trabajadoras y trabajadores esenciales todos los sistemas urbanos podrían colapsar.
Jenna Harvey, in collaboration with the Focal Cities Team
Même si plusieurs travailleuse·eur·s de l’informel sont aujourd'hui considéré·e·s comme des « travailleuse·eur·s essentiel·le·s », cela n'a pas toujours été le cas. Avant la crise, le harcèlement permanent infligé par les autorités, la diffamation dans les médias et la discrimination de la part du grand public étaient monnaie courante. Cependant, l'urgence économique et de santé publique de la COVID-19 a provoqué un changement : il y a une reconnaissance accrue, de la part des responsables des politiques et de l’ensemble de la population du fait que sans ces travailleuse·eur·s essentiel·le·s, les systèmes urbains pourraient complètement s'effondrer.
The double tsunami of the pandemic and lockdown in India will continue to have devastating impacts on the health and livelihoods of the poor, and the government relief package has gaps that informal worker organizations say must be filled.
Grim reports of overwhelmed health systems from here and other parts of Europe, as well as North America, have dominated COVID-19 coverage in much of the world’s influential news media. But the focus has begun to shift to an equally devastating story from the Global South. That story is one of longstanding structural deficits in a global economy that limit people’s ability to cope under crisis conditions.
