WIEGO Blog

The recent proposal by the Delhi government to make public transportation free for women has been hailed as a way to improve women’s safety in the city. The idea is that group solidarity on buses and trains has the potential to reduce risks faced in individual rickshaws or by walking alone, especially at night in a city that has been seen as unsafe.

Los recicladores y recicladoras, a pesar de mantener limpias las ciudades se enfrentan a condiciones peligrosas y precarias que afectan a su salud. Su salud y bienestar se ven amenazados a diario. Mientras recolectan y seleccionan los residuos urbanos, quedan expuestos a materiales y condiciones nocivas en sus lugares de trabajo, entre otros problemas.

Without waste pickers, cities across Africa, Asia and Latin America would be buried in their own garbage. Informal recyclers have proven essential to keeping cities clean, but they’ve struggled to gain recognition by municipalities that often disregard their labour and the importance of their work.

That is why the achievements of waste pickers in Bogotá, led by the Association of Waste Pickers of Bogotá (ARB), have been so globally pioneering.

The global economic crisis that rocked the world in 2008 led to increased financial hardship for informal workers, most of whom already lived in precarious circumstances. Now, more than ten years on, informal workers continue to struggle for increased security to strengthen their every day working lives.

Without social security benefits, healthcare, childcare, or inclusive regulatory frameworks, they live constantly at risk of falling into deep poverty, even without another major economic disaster.