Informal Economy Podcast: Social Protection

In this episode, we conclude the building block of delivery and provision of social protection from our social protection solar system. After discussing the role of informal workers’ organizations in the delivery of childcare and healthcare, in this third and final episode of the series, we will talk about the role of informal workers organizations in the delivery of social security benefit for workers in the informal economy. In Costa Rica, an innovative approach to social security has been implemented over the years by the national government to include rural workers and, more recently, informal urban workers. In this policy, grassroots workers’ organizations play a key role not only in the last mile delivery, but in several stages of the delivery chain. To learn more how Collective Social Insurance Agreements work in Costa Rica, their challenges and potential for expansion and replication, I talked to Fabio Durán. Fabio is an economist and served as Head of the Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics Unit at ILO’s Social Protection Department in Geneva, and has just retired as the ILO’s senior specialist in Social Protection and Economic Development for Central America and Mexico, in their office in Costa Rica. Learn more: *ILO Social Protection in Action Brief (2022). “Costa Rica: Extending mandatory contributory coverage to self-employed workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/Media.action;jsessionid=f0DRZHXKIdUdf6eojX2c2lHKIAjQ_ly9Vx3-0XTMVPqdPICPNIgp!1393577045?id=19457#:~:text=These%20agreements%20are%20signed%20by,and%20medium%2D%20scale%20farmers%CA%BC%20organizations *ILO Report (2013) – “Innovations in extending social insurance coverage to independent workers” https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess/gess/RessourcePDF.action?ressource.ressourceId=42119

In this episode, we resume the building block of our social protection solar system on the topic of delivery and provision of social protection. In this second episode of the series, we will turn to India, to understand how informal workers organizations can play an important role to improve access to their members by facilitating the last mile delivery of services or benefits. The Self-Employed Women’s Association, SEWA, set up in India their so-called Shakti Kendras, or SSKs. I talked to Susan Thomas, the National Coordinator of Health and Childcare programmes at the Lok Swas-thya SEWA Trust (LSST), to learn more about this worker-led initiative. Susan explained how the Shakti Kendras operates, how they help informal workers to access social protection in India, how digital tools are being integrated in their work, as well as the next steps of the Shakti Kendras. *** Learn more: -BLOG: Bridges to Better Lives: SEWA’s Community Health Workers (October 05, 2019), by Annie Devenish, Laura Alfers https://www.wiego.org/blog/bridges-better-lives-sewas-community-health-workers/ -We are the bridge’: an implementation research study of SEWA Shakti Kendras to improve community engagement in publicly funded health insurance in Gujarat, India (2022), by Susan Thomas, Sharmada Sivaram, Zubin Shroff, Ajay Mahal, Sapna Desai https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/Suppl_6/e008888 -BLOG: In India, One-stop Shops Increase Access to Healthcare, Nutrition and Social Security Services for Working Poor (May 15, 2017), by Laura Alfers https://www.wiego.org/blog/india-one-stop-shops-increase-access-healthcare-nutrition-and-social-security-services-working/ *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons)

In this episode we take a pause from the discussion around delivery and provision of social protection benefits and take a fresh look at the challenges to finance social protection in a time of very deep transformations in the world of work. Among these changes, we have increasing automation, swift advances in artificial intelligence and the emergence of forms of capital-labour relations through the mediation of platforms. These multiple processes have triggered an intense discussion about how social protection systems should be or could be financed – and by whom. It was within this ongoing debate that Luca Pelerano and Florian Juergens-Grant have recently published an op-ed at Project Syndicate. In this article, they analysed some of these challenges and, most importantly, advanced some possible innovative alternatives to address them. Luca and Florian will be our guests in this special episode. Luca Pelerano is a social protection specialist and works at the Social Protection Department of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and he has more than 15 years of experience in policy reform. Florian is the Global Social Protection Advisor at WIEGO, and his work focuses mainly on the issues regarding the financing of social protection for informal workers, the impacts of social protection programmes on labour markets, workers and their families; as well as the design of inclusive social insurance systems. *** Learn more Future-Proofing Social Protection, by Luca Pelerano and Florian Juergens-Grant - https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/how-to-ensure-sustainable-financing-social-insurance-by-florian-juergens-grant-and-luca-pellerano-2025-03s

In this episode, we start a new building block of our social protection solar system with the first part of the topic on delivery and provision of social protection. We will be looking at the innovations in the delivery of services and cash grants, focusing on informal workers and on the role that informal workers organizations might have in improving access to these workers by facilitating the last mile delivery of services or benefits. To open this block, we will turn to Africa and look into three cases of provision of child care services. First, we go to South Africa, to talk to Richard Dobson about the pop-up child care facility in the Warwick Junction market, in Durban. Richard is an architect and co-founder of the NGO Asiye eTafuleni. Next, we move to Accra, in Ghana, to talk to Dorcas Ansah, WIEGO’s Accra Focal city coordinator. We discussed the guidelines for implementing child care facilities in the Ghanaian capital markets and the plans for expanding the initiative. We finish our tour in Rwanda, where the market vendors association SITRIECY is also implementing child care facilities in the Kigali markets. We talked to SITRIECY’s secretary-general and StreetNet International treasurer Jeanette Nyiramassengesho. She explained their approach to combine provision of child care for informal workers’ children in markets with the creation of a community savings group. *** Learn more - WIEGO: Child Care in Markets: An E-Book https://www.wiego.org/research-library-publications/child-care-in-markets/ - Working in Warwick: Including Street Traders in Urban Plans https://www.wiego.org/research-library-publications/working-warwick-including-street-traders-urban-plans/ - WIEGO - Child Care in Markets project: https://www.wiego.org/project/child-care-markets/ - Guidelines and Standards for Day-Care Centres in and around Markets in Ghana, by Susan Sabaa, Dela Quarshie-Twum https://www.wiego.org/advocacy-worker-education-resources/guidelines-and-standards-day-care-centres-and-around-markets-ghana/ - Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn9niHLL8vI - About Asiye eTafuleni https://aet.org.za/about-asiye-etafuleni/our-story/

In the fourth and last episode of the governance building block we dive into the discussion of social dialogue and social protection for informal workers. But what does social dialogue actually mean? How can in be used as a tool to improve social protection schemes to better include informal workers? What are the aspects we should look at when analysing these spaces and what are the main barriers workers in the informal employment face to access them? To help us understand these questions we invited two guests. First, we are going to talk to Jane Barrett, who will set the stage and introduce us to the main aspects of social dialogue, the power dynamics and how these spaces should work. Jane is the former Organization and Representation programme director at WIEGO. She has extensive experience in collective bargaining, membership recruitment and organizing, trade union membership and leadership education, research and policy advocacy. In the second part of the episode we talk to Aura Sevilla, who will talk about the concrete social dialogue experiences in Southeast Asia. Aura is the Southeast Asia focal point of the Social Protection programme at WIEGO. She has been working in a study report analysing six countries in the region: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References Informal workers and dialogue for social protection, Social Protection Responses to COVID-19 #3, by Annie Devenish and Cyrus Afshar https://www.wiego.org/social-protection-responses-covid-19/ Social Dialogue for the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy, by Global Deal https://www.wiego.org/research-library-publications/social-dialogue-transition-informal-formal-economy/

In the third episode of the governance building block we move on to the discussion of legal frameworks and social protection. How can legal provisions of participation, access to information, transparency and equality be leveraged to include those workers into social protection systems? What are the main legal frameworks? How does administrative justice work for this end and how it can be used a tool for informal workers in their advocacy efforts? To help us understand these questions we invited Pamhidzai Bamu. Pamhi holds a masters and a PhD in Labour Law from the University of Cape Town. She is currently the President of the African Labour Law Society. She has consulted for the International Labour Organisation and the Southern African Development Community on various projects. She is currently the Africa Coordinator of WIEGO’s Law Programme. *** References Social Protection for Self-Employed Informal Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa: A rights-based assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis https://www.wiego.org/publications/social-protection-self-employed-informal-workers-sub-saharan-africa-rights-based R202 - Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202) https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:3065524 C189 - Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C189 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights https://au.int/en/treaties/african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons)

In the second episode of the governance building block we continue to discuss the issues surrounding digitization and social protection. This time, we take a political economy perspective to understand the interests, ideas, actors and policy implications of digitization. To help us understand this complex issue, we invited again Ruth Castel-Branco, Ruth is a Senior Researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at the University of Witwatersrand. Her research is focused on the casualization of labour, worker organizing and the redistributive role of the state. She has studied the case of Mozambique, and shared some of her findings with us in this talk. References Improvising an E-state: The Struggle for Cash Transfer Digitalization in Mozambique, by Ruth Castel-Branco. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dech.12665

In this episode, we start a new building block of our social protection solar system with the first episode on the topic of governance. We have invited two guests to lay the groundwork for this block, to help us understand social protection governance, as well as the new concerns and potentials brought by digitization. We start with Tony Roberts. Tony is a researcher based at the Institute of Development Studies on the campus of the University of Sussex in the UK. He has worked on the use of digital technologies in social justice organisations since 1988. As a founder of the African Digital Rights Network his research focuses on the human rights implications of introducing digital technologies. He will share some of the findings of his report on digitization and social protection. On the second part, we talked to Gbenga Sesan. Gbenga is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, a non-profit organisation that works with digitization and data protection rights in Africa. He will bring some concrete cases of how digitization affects informal workers.

In the third episode of the registration block we travel to Latin America to take a regional overview of this issue regarding domestic workers. To learn the challenges these workers face to be registered, the positive experiences, as well as the opportunities and limitations digital technology tools offer in this task, among other issues revolving around registration for domestic workers in Latin America, we invited Adriana Paz. Adriana is currently Secretary General of the International Domestic Workers’ Federation (IDWF). Previously, she served as Latin America Coordinator for more than six years, also at IDWF. References IDWF and WIEGO. Imagining Social Security for Domestic Workers. Available at: https://www.wiego.org/publications/imagining-social-security-domestic-workers ILO, UNWomen and OISS. Acceso de las personas trabajadoras domésticas remuneradas a la seguridad social en Iberoamérica. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/americas/publicaciones/WCMS_861167/lang--es/index.htm

In episode five of the systems’ mapping, building blocks approach, we continue to explore the topic of registration. This time, we look closely at the Cambodian IDPoor programme, to understand to what extent a government-led effort to improve how beneficiaries of social assistance and social protection schemes are effectively accounted for – and what are the gaps, challenges and merits of this new registration drive. To understand the Cambodian case, we invited Bunly Than. Bunly is the lead of the Inclusive and shock-responsive social protection system project at Oxfam Cambodia. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References WIEGO Resource Document #30 (2023). Home-Based Workers’ Access to Social Protection: Lessons Learned from the IDPoor Programme in Cambodia. Available at: https://www.wiego.org/publications/home-based-workers-access-social-protection-lessons-learned-idpoor-programme-cambodia Government of Cambodia (2021). Performance Assessment of the Cash Transfer Program for Poor and Vulnerable Households during COVID-19. Available at: https://nspc.gov.kh/Images/GiZ_CT_Policy%20Brief_20210602_Design_Draft_2021_06_02_17_46_02.pdf

And we start the year with the first episode of the second building block of our new season, in which we will discuss the issue of registration. How is digital technology helping to include informal workers into social protection schemes or how is it creating new barriers for these people to access protection? What are the risks and opportunities? What is the role of informal workers organisations in building more inclusive registration systems? These are some of the questions we will try to answer by looking at some cases of programmes and policies countries are implementing to expand their social protection systems to include informal workers. We start this new block with the case of the Social Relief of Distress Grant in South Africa. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, the government expanded the SRD to reduce the impact of income loss, targeting a much broader population than the ordinary social assistance programmes were covering. The second new aspect is that this policy was that it heavily relied on digital means to register new beneficiaries. To understand how the implementation of the SRD was rolled out, how digital forms of registration contributed or hindered access of informal workers to the grant, we talked to Hoodah Fayker. Hoodah holds a Law degree from the University of the Western Cape, and she is the National Advocacy Manager for the veteran human rights organisation Black Sash, which advocates for the right to social protection in South Africa. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References A Digital Bridge to Social Support https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/social-programs-for-informal-workers-must-bridge-digital-divide-by-laura-alfers-2021-06?barrier=accesspaylog R350 Covid grant is too little and excludes too many, research report finds https://www.groundup.org.za/article/r350-covid-grant-too-little-and-excludes-too-many-research-report-finds/ Social Protection in a Time of Covid: Lessons for Basic Income Support https://socialprotection.org/discover/publications/social-protection-time-covid-lessons-basic-income-support Black Sash report reveals extent of issues experienced by Social Relief of Distress grant recipients https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-05-17-black-sash-report-reveals-extent-of-issues-experienced-by-social-relief-of-distress-grant-recipients/ SOCIAL PROTECTION IN A TIME OF COVID: LESSON FOR BASIC INCOME SUPPORT https://www.blacksash.org.za/social-protection-in-a-time-of-covid-lesson-for-basic-income-support/ The Social Relief of Distress Grant: how it stimulated local economies https://www.econ3x3.org/article/social-relief-distress-grant-how-it-stimulated-local-economies COVID-19 Crisis and the Informal Economy: Informal Workers in Durban, South Africa https://www.wiego.org/publications/covid-19-crisis-and-informal-economy-informal-workers-durban-south-africa

This is the third and last episode of the financing building block. Previously, we discussed alternative ways to finance social protection extension for waste pickers in India and Argentina, and the struggle to finance gig workers in Rajasthan. Now we explore the challenges of financing social protection in a changing world of work. What are the possible paths, strategies and innovations countries are undertaking to include informal workers? What about digital platforms: is there room to improve social protection for these workers? To discuss these and other issues we invited two guests: Sarah Cook and Ruth Castel-Branco. Sarah is a Professor and Head of the School of Economics at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. She has held UN positions as Director of UNRISD and UNICEF’s Office of Research-Innocenti. Her research focuses on China’s economic and social development, covering issues of gender, labour and social policy. Ruth Castel-Branco is a Senior Researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at the University of the Wit-waters-rand. Her research is focused on the casualization of labour, worker organizing and the redistributive role of the state. She holds a PhD in Sociology also from the University of the Witwatersrand. They talked to us about some of the findings and debates arising from their research. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References Podcast: Financing Social Protection for Waste Pickers in India and Argentina. Informal Economy Podcast, episode 33 https://soundcloud.com/informaleconomypodcastsp/33-financing-social-protection-for-waste-pickers-in-india-and-argentina Pune Waste Pickers’ Innovative Efforts to Fund the Extension of Decent Work and Social Protection, WIEGO Resource Document 33. Available at: www.wiego.org%2Fpublications%2Fpune-waste-pickers-innovative-efforts-fund-extension-decent-work-and-social-protection&token=83d341-1-1701176313090 Efforts of Argentina’s Informal Waste Pickers to Finance Decent Work and Social Protection through Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation, WIEGO Resource Document 34. Available at: www.wiego.org%2Fpublications%2Fefforts-argentinas-informal-waste-pickers-finance-decent-work-and-social-protection&token=e9c485-1-1701176313090

The current episode is the second of this new season. We will continue to look at the issue of financing, which was the topic of the first episode of the system’s mapping series. We will talk about a very important theme: how to finance the inclusion of gig workers from digital platforms of service provisions in social protection system. We turn our attention to the Indian State of Rajasthan, where the local legislative has just passed a law creating the Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Board. In order to understand what the Welfare Board is, what is their role in financing informal workers’ social protection, how will it work and the challenges and potential ahead I invited Nikhil Dey. Nikhil is a social activist in India for the empowerment of peasants and workers, and is a founder member of the MKSS, a membership-based organization that fights for the right to information and to advocate for a national work guarantee law in India. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References: The Wire: "Gig Workers' First Major Victory in India: Rajasthan Leads the Way" https://thewire.in/labour/gig-workers-first-major-victory-in-india-rajasthan-leads-the-way WIEGO Resource Document No. 37: "I Will Not Auction My Back! Lessons from Maharashtra’s Welfare Boards in Financing Social Protection for Informal Workers" https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/wiego-resource-document-no.37.pdf

WIEGO inaugura una nueva etapa de su podcast. A partir de este episodio, vamos a comprender mejor las piezas del sistema de protección social, para poder mejor comprender los retos, oportunidades y dificultades que enfrentan los trabajadores informales. Todo eso ofreciendo la perspectiva de los trabajadores, desde una aproximación ascendente. En esta etapa, daremos atención especial al tema de la digitalización, aunque no será el único aspecto discutido aquí. Vamos a mirar como la tecnología está siendo utilizada para mejorar la inclusión de trabajadores informales, pero también comprender los riesgos y retos involucrados. En los próximos episodios, vamos a investigar las distintas partes del sistema de protección social, y mirarlo como un sistema solar, en la que en el centro están las políticas, legislación, governaza, financiación; luego afuera están los diseños de los programas, questiones sobre elegibilidad y cuestiones relacionadas; y por fin, asunto relativos a la implementación – como registro, entrega de beneficios etc. En el primer episodio de la cartografía de sistemas, usando el enfoque de bloques de construcción, nos sumergimos en el tema de la financiación de los regímenes de protección social para los trabajadores informales. La financiación es uno de los elementos clave del "sistema solar" de protección social, y supone un reto especial en el caso de los trabajadores informales, que en muchos casos no tienen un empleador que comparta la carga de los costes de salud, las pensiones, el cuidado infantil y otras prestaciones laborales. Vamos a conocer a un experimento de financiación alternativa de la protección social y el trabajo decente para los recicladores de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Para ello, hablé con Andrés Cappa. Andrés es docente de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora y de la Universidad de Buenos Aires y ha dirigido una investigación de WIEGO sobre cómo los movimientos de trabajadores utilizaron los marcos de responsabilidad extendida del productor para avanzar en la extensión de la protección social y la mejora de las condiciones laborales en Argentina. *Nuestro tema musical es Focus de AA Aalto (Creative Commons) Referencias Pune Waste Pickers’ Innovative Efforts to Fund the Extension of Decent Work and Social Protection, WIEGO Resource Document 33. Available at: https://www.wiego.org/publications/pune-waste-pickers-innovative-efforts-fund-extension-decent-work-and-social-protection Efforts of Argentina’s Informal Waste Pickers to Finance Decent Work and Social Protection through Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation, WIEGO Resource Document 34. Available at: https://www.wiego.org/publications/efforts-argentinas-informal-waste-pickers-finance-decent-work-and-social-protection

WIEGO starts a new phase of its podcast. From this episode onwards, we will gain a better understanding of the pieces of the social protection system, in order to better understand the challenges, opportunities and difficulties faced by informal workers. All this by offering the workers' perspective, from a bottom-up approach. At this stage, we will give special attention to the issue of digitalisation, although it will not be the only aspect discussed here. We will look at how technology is being used to improve the inclusion of informal workers, but also understand the risks and challenges involved. In the next episodes, we will investigate the different parts of the social protection system, and look at it as a solar system, in which at the centre are policy, legislation, governance, financing; then outside are programme designs, eligibility and related issues; and finally, implementation issues - such as registration, delivery of benefits etc. In the first episode of the systems’ mapping, building blocks approach, we dive into the topic of financing social protection schemes for informal workers. Finance is one of the key elements of the social protection “solar system”, and it is particularly challenging in the case of informal workers, who in many cases don’t have an employer to share the burden of the costs of healthcare, pensions, child care and other labour benefits. We will learn more about two experiments of alternative financing of social protection and decent work for waste pickers in Pune, India, and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. First, I talked to Lákshimi Narayan, the founder of the waste picker organization KKPKP. In the second part, you will listen to a conversation with Andrés Cappa. Andrés is a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics at the Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora and at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. They both will tell us more about how workers’ movements managed use extended producer responsibility frameworks to leverage advances towards the extension of social protection and better work conditions in their respective countries. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References Pune Waste Pickers’ Innovative Efforts to Fund the Extension of Decent Work and Social Protection, WIEGO Resource Document 33. Available at: https://www.wiego.org/publications/pune-waste-pickers-innovative-efforts-fund-extension-decent-work-and-social-protection Efforts of Argentina’s Informal Waste Pickers to Finance Decent Work and Social Protection through Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation, WIEGO Resource Document 34. Available at: https://www.wiego.org/publications/efforts-argentinas-informal-waste-pickers-finance-decent-work-and-social-protection

In 2021, WIEGO has launched the project “Challenging the global orthodoxies which undermine Universal Social Protection”. In a nutshell, the project aimed to examine some of the dominant ideas in the field of social protection that were hindering the concrete inclusion of informal workers in these schemes. Exactly one year ago, I invited the coordinator of this project, Florian Juergens-Grant, to talk about what this project was about and its research perspectives for that year. You can check our conversation on episode 26 of our podcast. Now that the project has just been finalized, I invited Florian again to discuss the main findings, to unpack how these dominant ideas operate and to bring some cases where alternatives have emerged to challenge the premises of these ideas. References Tight Tax Net, Loose Safety Net: Taxation and Social Protection in Accra’s Informal Sector. WIEGO Working Paper No. 45 https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/working-paper-45-taxation-socialprotection.pdf Did Mexico’s Seguro Popular Universal Health Coverage Programme Really Reduce Formal Jobs? WIEGO Working Paper No. 46. https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/wiego-working-paper-no46.pdf Financing Universal Social Protection: The Relevance and Labour Market Impacts of Social Security Contributions. WIEGO Working Paper No. 47. https://www.wiego.org/publications/financing-universal-social-protection-relevance-and-labour-market-impacts-social Efforts of Argentina’s Informal Waste Pickers to Finance Decent Work and Social Protection through Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation. WIEGO Resource Document No. 34. https://www.wiego.org/publications/efforts-argentinas-informal-waste-pickers-finance-decent-work-and-social-protection Pune Waste Pickers’ Innovative Efforts to Fund the Extension of Decent Work and Social Protection. WIEGO Resource Document No. 33. https://www.wiego.org/publications/pune-waste-pickers-innovative-efforts-fund-extension-decent-work-and-social-protection Webinar: Is social protection to blame for informality? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1OlNQkpc2c

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the world in many ways. People all around the globe had to adapt to this new reality, and it was no different for informal workers leaders that struggle to improve their organizational strength. Capacity building, one of the key aspects to increase the voice and visibility of workers, also had to be done differently. Traditional, in person events, such as exchanges, field visits or in person training sessions had to be pushed back to give room to this virtual learning environment. And new tools were created to enable better experiences, and bring people closer, despite of the social distancing. In this context, StreetNet International and WIEGO rolled-out, last year, a 7 week-pilot training on social protection with informal workers leaders from 11 anglophone and francophone African countries. The course enabled these workers to increase their grasp on social protection issues to keep improving their advocacy efforts on the ground, while there were still travel restrictions in place. To talk about the potential and challenges of online training for informal workers – and to tell us more about this online course on social protection for informal workers – we invited three guests. First, you will listen to our talk with Sandra van Niekerk. Sandra is an Independent Education Management Professional and she worked closely with StreetNet and WIEGO in the development of the online materials for both the English and French courses. In the second part, I talked to Maira Vannuchi. Maira is StreetNet organizer for the Americas and responsible for the workers education strategy of StreetNet. And finally, I have talked to Venance Majula. Venance is an informal worker and Media and Communication officer at TUICO, the Tanzania Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers, and he was one of the participants of the course. *** References Report: Enabling Social Protection within the Informal Economy: Lessons from Worker-led Schemes in Nigeria, Uganda and Togo – by StreetNet and WIEGO https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/resources/file/Enabling%20Social%20Protection%20within%20the%20Informal%20Economy%20for%20web_0.pdf VIDEO: Learning about State-sponsored social protection in Kenya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOpBIERW3Fg Blog: Worker’s Story: Sizakele Ncube’s new sewing machine brings both improved income and new worries, by Annie Devenish https://www.wiego.org/blog/worker%E2%80%99s-story-sizakele-ncube%E2%80%99s-new-sewing-machine-brings-both-improved-income-and-new-worries

In India, the government has set a huge undertaking: to register 380 million informal workers on a new database, so that it could allow the delivery of social security payments. This database, called e-Shram, was launched in August 2021. But, of course, this initiative was followed by a range of doubts, problems and barriers that has been hindering the implementation of this social registry system. To help us better understand the e-Shram – the promises, shortcomings, challenges, and most importantly, the Indian context – we invited Avi Majithia. Avi is WIEGO’s Delhi Focal City coordinator and holds a master’s degree in Regulatory Governance from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (in Mumbai, India), and works closely with informal worker’s organizations in Delhi. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References e-Shram official website: https://eshram.gov.in/ Article 14: "The Incomplete Project Of E-Shram, India’s Database Of Unorganised Workers" https://www.article-14.com/post/the-incomplete-project-of-e-shram-india-s-database-of-unorganised-workers-620dc42806e13 Scroll.In: "e-Shram: All you need to know about India’s first centralised database for unorganised workers" https://scroll.in/article/1004199/e-shram-all-you-need-to-know-about-indias-first-centralised-database-for-unorganised-workers India Spend: "No Documents, No Benefits: How India’s Invisible Workforce Is Left To Fend For Itself" https://www.indiaspend.com/no-documents-no-benefits-how-indias-invisible-workforce-is-left-to-fend-for-itself/ The New Leam: "Lack of Documents and Registration Deprive India’s Migrant Class of State Offered Benefits & Welfare Schemes" https://www.thenewleam.com/2020/12/lack-of-documents-and-registration-deprive-indias-migrant-class-of-state-offered-benefits-welfare-schemes/ Hindustan Times: "Documenting the story of India’s migrant distress" https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/documenting-the-story-of-india-s-migrant-distress/story-sVC8sCHFetXYBPKLa1OhZM.html WIEGO Delhi Focal City webpage: https://www.wiego.org/delhi

Social and Solidarity Economy has got into a very high place in the international agenda. This year, SSE, as it is called, was the theme of the International Labour Conference, in which workers representatives, government officials and employers representatives have gathered to discuss this alternative form of organizing production, distribution and consumption. One of the main outcomes of the conference was that the a proposed definition of the social and solidarity economy was approved. To understand the importance of this landmark and to learn in which ways it can contribute to the discussion of expanding social protection for informal workers, we invited two guests: Jahnvi Dave and Santiago Fischer. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) References WIEGO page on the ILC 2022: https://www.wiego.org/events/ILO2022 Homenet and WIEGO Global position paper: https://www.wiego.org/resources/ilc-110th-session-global-position-paper Read the ILO’s definition of the Social and Solidarity Economy https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/cooperatives/sse/WCMS_849066/lang--en/index.htm

In the episode 20 of our podcast, we discussed the first round of the WIEGO longitudinal survey, conducted in 2020. In this special episode, we will discuss the report of the second round of this global survey. In this stage, 11 cities around the globe were part of the research that explored how the fallout of the pandemic affected informal workers’ income, working hours, access to healthcare, but also their coping strategies, demands and the government responses in the second year of the pandemic. To discuss some of the main findings of the research, we invited Ana Carolina Ogando and Mike Rogan. Ana Carolina is Wiego’s Research Associate and holds a PhD in Political Science. Mike is an Associate Professor in Economics and Economic History at Rhodes University in South Africa and he is a researcher at WIEGO. In this special episode, we also played some clips from workers testimonies taken from two webinars of the global survey project. *Our theme music is Focus from AA Aalto (Creative Commons) *** References COVID-19 Crisis and the Informal Economy Study – Round 2 report: COVID-19 Crisis and the Informal Economy Study page: https://www.wiego.org/covid-19-crisis-and-informal-economy-study-0 Webinar: There is No Recovery without Informal Workers: Towards a Better Deal for the Global Working Poor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g1EXHeAfjU Webinar: There is No Recovery Without Informal Workers: The View from 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIQqLBKYyjU&list=PLOdX1pDW0yXI3R0X-pTRdtK5_zeS0XcXF&index=11