DRAFT April 13, 2006

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DRAFT April 13, 2006

• WIEGO
• WHAT, WHO, WHY, AND HOW

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WHAT IS WIEGO?

• global research policy network that seeks to
  improve the status of the working poor,
  especially women, in the informal economy
  through
• improved statistics and research on the informal
  economy
• appropriate policies, regulations, laws,
  services, and programmes in support of the
  informal workforce
• increased organization and representation of
  informal workers
• ally of a growing international movement of
  informal workers worldwide, including
• member-based organizations (MBOs) of informal
  workers
• national, regional, and international networks of
  MBOs of informal workers
• trade unions
• national, regional, and global federations of
  trade unions

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WHO IS WIEGO?

• Members
• Institutional Members (15)
• delegates from member-based organizations of
  informal workers
• Individual Members (95)
• researchers, statisticians, and academics
• staff of development agencies (governmental,
  inter-governmental, and non-governmental)
• Steering and Advisory Committees
• Steering Committee members including 5-person
  Management Committee, 3 constituency members, 2
  other members, and 5 Programme Directors (ex
  officio)
• Advisory Committee members 20, in addition to
  members from the Steering Committee
• Staff NOTE - please shift left to reconcile with
  Leaders and Advisors above
• Programme Staff
• Coordinator 1
• Programme Directors 5
• Research Coordinators 2
• Administrative Staff 3

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WHO IS WIEGO CONCERNED ABOUT?WORKING POOR IN THE
INFORMAL ECONOMY

• On Streets or In Open Spaces
• street vendors
• push-cart vendors
• waste pickers
• roadside barbers
• construction workers
• In Fields, Pastures, and Forests
• small farmers
• agricultural labourers
• shepherds
• forest gatherers
• fisher folk
• In Small Shops and Workshops
• scrap metal recyclers
• shoe makers
• weavers
• garment makers and embroiderers

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WHY WIEGO?

• common concerns
• limited organization and bargaining power of the
  working poor in the informal economy, especially
  women
• limited knowledge and understanding of the
  informal economy
• limited policy attention to employment issues
• overall goals
• increased numbers, strength, and networks of
  member-based organizations of informal workers
• informed understanding of the informal economy in
  all areas of policy and in official statistics
• renewed focus on the quantity and quality of
  employment in economic policies and poverty
  reduction strategies

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HOW DOES WIEGO WORK?INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE
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WHAT DOES WIEGO DO? Social Protection

• understand the specific risks of the working
  poor, especially women, in the informal economy
• identify and document innovative approaches to
  providing social protection to informal workers
• help organizations of informal workers advocate
  for more and better social protection.

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WHAT DOES WIEGO DO? Global Markets

• understand how the working poor in the informal
  economy, especially women, are impacted by
  and/or inserted into the global economy, and with
  what consequences
• help organizations of informal workers seize new
  opportunities and address negative impacts
  associated with globalization.

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WHAT DOES WIEGO DO? Urban Policies

• understand how the working poor in the urban
  informal workforce, especially women, are
  impacted by and/or inserted into urban planning
  and policies
• help organizations of urban informal workers
  advocate for more supportive policies, laws, and
  regulations and more participatory planning
  processes.

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WHAT DOES WIEGO DO? Organization and
Representation

• identify existing organizations and alliances of
  informal workers, and document their strategies
• network and link existing organizations of
  informal workers
• provide capacity building support workers
  education, policy and legal analysis - to
  organizations of informal workers

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WHAT DOES WIEGO DO? Statistics

• promote improved statistics on informal
  employment as an essential component of
  mainstream statistics
• promote improved applied research relating to
  informal employment and its links to macro- and
  micro- economic issues
• ensure that policymakers, researchers, and
  advocates have access to improved statistics and
  data analysis on the informal economy for use in
  their work.

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WHAT ELSE DOES WIEGO DO?GENERAL ACTIVITIES

• dialogue with mainstream economists on informal
  employment, labour markets, and trade
  liberalization
• major research publications on the informal
  economy
• highlighting of employment/informal employment as
  a) a key intermediary pathway between
  globalization, growth, and poverty outcomes and
  b) a target for economic policies and poverty
  reduction
• promotion of improved conceptual understanding of
  the causes, characteristics, and consequences of
  informal employment

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HOW DOES WIEGO WORK?

• types of activities
• research and statistical analysis
• documentation and dissemination of good practice
• technical consultations
• policy dialogues
• consultation with and networking of - MBOs of
  informal workers
• ways of working
• joint action of three constituencies
• collaborations with different organizations
• participation in relevant issue networks and
  expert groups
• defining features
• focus on concrete reality of working poor in the
  informal economy
• engagement with and networking of -
  member-based organizations of informal workers
• expertise of - and alliances between - its three
  constituencies
• technical expertise and activities on range of
  issues relating to informal workers

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KEY FINDINGS OF WIEGO

• 1 SIZE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INFORMAL
  ECONOMY
• informal employment comprises 50 to 75 per cent
  of non-agricultural employment in developing
  countries
• the proportion of informal employment in total
  employment is higher still (over 90 in some
  countries)
• informal enterprises contribute 15 to 55 per cent
  of non-agriculture GDP in those developing
  countries where data are available
• the contribution of the informal economy as a
  whole to total GDP is higher still

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KEY FINDINGS OF WIEGO

• 2 HETEROGENEITY OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY
• by size of enterprise
• micro-enterprises with hired workers
• family enterprises with unpaid family workers
• single person operations
• by employment status
• self-employed
• employers
• own account operators, including
• heads of family enterprises
• single person operators
• unpaid contributing family workers
• wage workers
• informal employees of informal and formal
  enterprises
• casual workers
• industrial outworkers (?)

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KEY FINDINGS OF WIEGO

• 2 HETEROGENEITY OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY
  (cont.)
• by place of work
• homes
• streets
• workshops
• open spaces
• fields, forests, waterways
• by reason for being informal
• includes those who seek to
• pursue livelihoods or survival
• pursue traditional or hereditary occupations
• also includes those who seek to
• trade in illegal goods and services
• evade taxes and/or regulations

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KEY FINDINGS OF WIEGO

• 3 - SEGMENTATION AND POVERTY LINKAGES OF THE
  INFORMAL ECONOMY

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KEY FINDINGS OF WIEGO

• 4 ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THE INFORMAL ECONOMY
• substantial variation
• sharp economic downturns are associated with a
  rise in informal employment
• steady rates of economic growth are also
  associated with a rise in informal employment
• causal explanation
• certain forms of informal employment expand
  during downturns in the economy
• notably, survival activities
• sub-contracted or outsourced activities linked to
  firms that are coping with recession
• other forms of informal employment expand during
  upturns in the economy
• notably, more entrepreneurial firms
• sub-contracted or outsourced activities linked to
  global value chain production

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KEY FINDINGS OF WIEGO

• 5 - HIDDEN COSTS OF INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT
• direct out of pocket costs
• direct indirect taxes
• high costs of capital
• high costs of electricity transport
• periodic shocks
• indirect costs
• variability and volatility of work/income
• lack of social protection
• lack of training mobility prospects
• lack of capital other assets
• lack of legal status bargaining power

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KEY MESSAGES OF WIEGO

• 1 Given its size and heterogeneity, the
  informal economy requires an integrative theory
  of its causes, characteristics, and consequences
  that takes into account its various components.
• causes
• necessity
• tradition
• choice
• characteristics
• working poor
• entrepreneurs
• illegal operators
• consequences
• poverty and vulnerability
• flexibility and profit

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KEY MESSAGES OF WIEGO

• 2 Given its size, significance, and
  heterogeneity, the informal economy requires an
  appropriate and comprehensive policy response
  that takes into account the fact that
• addressing informality is not just a matter of
  regulation and taxation but also of economic
  promotion and development
• most economic and social policies affect the
  informal economy and workforce, directly or
  indirectly
• policies need to be informed about and balanced
  towards the informal economy
• policy-making and rule-setting processes need to
  include representatives of relevant categories of
  informal workers

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KEY MESSAGES OF WIEGO

• 3 An appropriate and comprehensive policy
  response to the informal economy should seek to
• expand formal employment opportunities
• formalize as many informal enterprises as
  possible increase returns to those who continue
  to operate informally through
• simplified registration procedures progressive
  fee structures
• progressive tax and targeted procurement systems
• tax-funded incentive packages
• appropriate legal frameworks
• supportive investment climate
• formalize as many informal jobs as possible
  improve working conditions of those who continue
  in informal jobs through a mix of
• labour legislation and regulations
• collective bargaining for workers rights
• corporate codes of conduct
• social protection coverage

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KEY MESSAGES OF WIEGO

• 4 The essential preconditions for an
  effective policy response to the informal economy
  are the organized voice and informed
  visibility of informal workers. This
  requires, more specifically
• building and strengthening member-based
  organizations of informal workers, including
  women, and helping these organizations gain
  effective representative voice in relevant
  policy-making processes and rule-setting and
  institutions
• increasing the visibility and informed
  understanding of informal workers, including
  women, in national labour force statistics and in
  national gender and poverty assessments
• promoting inclusive and participatory policy
  dialogues, policy processes, and rule-setting
  institutions involving all relevant stakeholders,
  including representatives of MBOs of informal
  workers, including women

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WIEGO GENERAL MEETINGS

• Year and Place
• 1999 Ottawa, Canada
• 2000 Cambridge, USA
• 2002 Ahmedabad, India
• 2006 Durban, South Africa
• Common Purposes
• share experiences and knowledge
• set priorities and frame issues
• review WIEGO past and future
• expand strengthen consolidate
  network
• Related Public Event rotating focus on policy
  (in Ottawa) research (in Cambridge)
  organizing (in Ahmedabad) policy
  (Durban)
• to reflect WIEGOs three constituencies

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SPECIAL THANKS

• to all of you for coming to Durban and taking
  part in this landmark event in the history of the
  WIEGO network
• to all those who worked so hard to plan and
  organize this General Assembly the members of
  various WIEGO committees
• Steering Committee
• Transition Committee
• Interim Nominating Committee
• General Assembly Planning Committee
• General Assembly Logistics Committee