Women, Informal Work & COVID-19: Data-based Policy Considerations
- October 21, 2020
- Online
2pm-3.30pm South African time
Presentations and recording now available (see below)
The current crisis has dealt the South African workforce more job losses and greater economic hardship. What are the realities facing informal workers in general, and women informal workers, in particular? What immediate and longer term interventions are needed? This online panel discussion brought together both first-hand accounts from worker leaders at the centre of the crisis and data analysis from national surveys and other research to distill policy priorities.
Participants joined UN Women and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) as we considered the South African case. Prominent workers leaders – Myrtle Witbooi and Rosheda Muller – reflected on what the impacts have been on domestic workers and informal traders; Susan Kimathi from UN Women on women in informal agriculture and Mike Rogan and Thuli Moyo on the latest research findings on this topic.
Date: October 21, 2020
Time: 2 – 3.30 pm (GMT+2) / 8 – 9.30 am (EST)
Panelists:
Myrtle Witbooi – President of the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) and General Secretary of the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU)
Rosheda Muller – President of the South African Informal Traders Alliance (SAITA)
Susan Kimathi – Head, Women Micro-entrepreneurs, UN Women
*presentation: Experience of Micro-Entrepreneuers in Rural and Peri-Urban Areas
Thuli Moyo – Legal Researcher at Asiye eTafuleni
*presentation: The impact of COVID-19 on informal workers: Findings from Durban survey
Michael Rogan – Interim Urban Policies Programme Director at WIEGO and Associate Professor at Rhodes University
*presentation: Women, Informal Work & COVID-19
