Laura Alfers

Social policy and employment; Social protection for workers in the informal economy; Health policy; Occupational health & safety for informal workers

Bio

Laura Alfers joined WIEGO in 2009 to support the Social Protection Programme and became its Director in 2017. In this role, Laura has focused on bridging the grassroots realities of workers in informal employment with global research, advocacy, and policy narratives and directions. As Director, she has helped carve out WIEGO’s niche in social protection, workers’ health and child care, and ensuring that the concerns of workers in the informal economy are heard by the global development community and policy bodies at national, regional, and international levels.

She holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an MPhil in Development Studies from Cambridge University. Her scholarly work has been featured in prominent international journals such as the International Social Security Review, Global Social Policy, and Environment and Urbanization. She also co-edited Informal Workers and Social Contracts in the Global South (Elgar), alongside Marty Chen and Sophie Plagerson, showcasing critical insights into the nature of the process of social contract formation from the perspective of workers in the informal economy.

Laura’s career with WIEGO has taken her across the globe—from navigating the informal economies of Accra, Ghana, and Durban, South Africa, to driving projects in South and Southeast Asia. She lives in Makhanda, South Africa where she is also a Research Associate at the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit at Rhodes University.