ILO shares its message for a parallel event at the 63rd CSW on empowering women in waste management

ILO has sent a video message for a parallel event to the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on cooperative ways to empower informal women workers in waste management chains.

News | 19 March 2019
On the occasion of the CSW63, Practical Action, an international development charity based in the UK, organized a parallel event on “Dignifying lives and empowering women in waste management” on 19th March 2019 at the Church Centre for the United Nations in New York.

Experts from Practical Action and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) reflected on the role that women waste pickers play in waste management chains and the key challenges they face in securing livelihoods and advancing their rights. They also discussed ways to overcome these challenges including through organizing women informal economy workers into cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy (SSE) units, ensuring their participation in decision making process of waste management, and strengthening social protection systems.

The ILO contributed to the event through a video message. In her message, ILO Cooperatives Unit Manager Ms Simel Esim noted emerging responses by cooperatives and other SSE units identified in joint research with WIEGO and Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). These response strategies include negotiation with government institutions and private market actors, integration in waste management operations, and provision of essential services such as childcare and training.

The full message is available here.