Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing

Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) is a global network dedicated to improving the working conditions of the working poor — especially women — in the informal economy. WIEGO strives for equal economic opportunities, rights, protection, and voice for all workers. It connects membership-based organizations of workers in the informal economy with researchers, statisticians, and development practitioners to address the concerns of WIEGO’s grassroots worker base. It works to lower workers’ vulnerability to external shocks through the implementation of government policies and programs designed to reduce and prevent these risks. WIEGO promotes change by improving statistics and expanding knowledge on the informal economy, building networks and capacity among worker organizations, and offering support to workers as they fight to influence local, national, and international policies. (Strategy: International Women’s Economic Empowerment)

This grant will renew support to three city hubs in Mexico City, Mexico; Dakar, Senegal; and Accra, Ghana, as part of the Focal Cities program of Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). The objective of this program is to increase the capacity of informal workers’ membership-based organizations so that they can more effectively interact with city governments to promote policy changes that directly benefit women’s livelihoods. WIEGO has established a platform that allows groups to successfully advocate for policies that affect their work in markets or public squares, modeling grassroots-driven policy change. (Strategy: Inclusive Governance)

Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) is a global network focused on empowering the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy to secure their livelihoods. It promotes change by improving statistics and expanding knowledge on the informal economy, building networks and capacity among informal worker organizations and, jointly with those networks and organizations, influencing local, national, and international policies. WIEGO engages in a set of crosscutting activities such as developing training materials and carrying out workshops and training courses; supporting its networks and affiliates through convenings and exchanges; carrying out local, national, regional, and global advocacy campaigns; and undertaking and publishing research. (Strategy: International Women’s Economic Empowerment)