On the road with Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans
It’s 8.40pm. A strong wind blows across the dark night sky, whistling through the large trees that protrude from the canopy formed by cocoa trees. […]
Informal economy
Caught between military occupation and unemployment, Palestinians continue to work in the Israeli economy without full labour rights
It is four in the morning and heavy rain washes the deserted alleys of the village of Al Midiah, west of Ramallah. A white minibus […]
Why Kenya’s urban poor are exploited by informal water markets
Informal urban water markets – as opposed to piped water – have long supported many of Kenya’s urban areas. Those that use them are either unserved, or […]
African nationals remain outsiders in SA
South Africa is said to have overcome the peak in covid-19 cases, while many African nationals will take much longer to recover from the lockdown.
Janhavi Dave: “We need to empower home-based workers by investing in more co-operatives. Unity builds strength and resilience”
South Asia is home to over 50 million home-based workers, most of whom are women. From agarbhatti incense stick rollers in India to piecework garment workers in Sri […]
Zimbabwe informal workers cry foul over new lockdown restrictions
Informal economy workers in Zimbabwe say the government imposed the lockdown without making sure they would have means to survive.
In Tunisia, Black Africans face “the harshest exploitation”
Jérémie*, an Ivorian in his early thirties who arrived in Tunisia in early 2016, is reluctant to speak out. He says he suffered reprisals after […]
South Africa’s spaza shops: how regulatory avoidance harms informal workers
Small informal retailers are a ubiquitous feature of any developing country’s urban landscape. Known as spaza shops in South Africa, they are an important, even […]
In Mexico, domestic workers are defending their labour and human rights
A 2013 study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that there were at least 52 million domestic workers in the world, the majority of them women. […]
Social and economic woes weigh heavily on Algeria’s future
The last eight months have seen the rise of a protest movement without precedent in the history of Algeria. Millions of citizens have taken to […]
Two decades of labour flexibilisation in Mexico has left workers facing “drastic” precarity
Artemis is now 60 years old and started working when she was a teenager. She has been in formal employment for 38 years, with a […]
South Africa’s clandestine miners defend their work (and want it to be legal)
Protected from the rain and the sun by plastic sheets tied to sticks, dozens of muscle-bound youngsters apply their strength to making heavy metal cylinders […]
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