Sixty-one per cent of all workers –2 billion people– are informally employed. Many of those who work informally, live in slums and their homes also serve as places of work.
The existing inequalities and infrastructural deficits within the informal economy have been brought into stark focus by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Regrettably, measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have had devastating impacts on the livelihoods of informal workers across sectors. Notwithstanding, this pandemic provides a critical opportunity to reimagine cities and in ways that integrate and promote the inclusion of informal workers in the decision-making process.
On Wednesday, 14 July 2020, WIEGO hosted the Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC): Informal Workers & COVID-19: Impact and Vision for the Future. During this virtual event experts from WIEGO's Urban Policies Programme provided detailed insights on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on urban informal workers while exploring creative policy and planning responses.
The Urban Thinkers Campus is an initiative under the World Urban Campaign of UN-HABITAT. This virtual event attracted representatives of the UN-Habitat and the World Urban Campaign and partner organizations as well as representatives of government, worker organizations and key policymakers and influencers.
Chair
- Pilar Balbuena, Urban Advocacy and Communications Specialist, WIEGO l View Presentation
Presenters
- Caroline Skinner, Urban Research Director, WIEGO l View Presentation
- Michael Rogan, Urban Policies Programme Director, WIEGO l View Presentation
- Sonia M. Dias, Waste Picker Specialist, WIEGO l View Presentation
- Jenna Harvey, Global Focal Cities Coordinator, WIEGO l View Presentation