Analysis of the WIEGO Organization and Representation Data-base (WORD)

Organizations that organize informal workers are growing in number and scope, particularly in developing countries, but also increasingly in the industrialized countries of the north. These organizations take many different forms such as unions, associations, cooperatives, self-help groups, networks, and operate locally, nationally and internationally.  Information on these organizations tends to be scattered. This was particularly so when in 2004 WIEGO embarked on a project to identify membership-based organizations (MBO) of informal workers and to collect and systematize information on them. This resulted in the WIEGO Organization and Representation Data-base known as WORD, which is housed on the WIEGO web site at wiego.org/wiegodatabase.