Return

Newsletter         French   Spanish

Asian Regional Workshop guides formation of StreetNet regional structures 
By Bidur Karki, Education Secretary of GEFONT

Street vendors’ organisations affiliated to StreetNet International in Asia, gathered in Kathmandu, Nepal for the StreetNet Asia Regional Workshop from October 10-14 2006, which was hosted by the Nepali national trade union federation GEFONT.

The objective of the workshop was the sharing of experiences of StreetNet’s affiliated organisations of street vendors, market vendors and hawkers in the region, to share organisational and collective bargaining strategies, and to discuss how to develop a regional StreetNet structure in Asia. The following StreetNet affiliates were represented: Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) India, the National Alliance of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), Korean Street Vendors’ Confederation (KOSC), Nepal Street Vendors’ Union (NEST), Self-Employed Workers Union (SEU), Bangladesh, and Public Services International (PSI), India.

On the first day, country reports on the situation of street vendors were presented by the organisations, and the particular problems faced by street vendors and the organisational responses and strategies that have been developed were discussed. 

Common issues

The organisations present identified the following common problems: 

· lack of clear government policy and lack of any policies related to vendors;
· harassment by government authorities, police,
municipalities, gangsters and punks;
· lack of social protection scheme for the street vendors;
· child labour;
· weak position of unions in collective bargaining for rights of vendors and hawkers;
· hazardous working environment with no facilities of social security and insurance;
· lack of unity among unions organising vendors and hawkers;
· no provision of licence, ID card and legal recognition;
· no access in policy making body;
· lack of recognition of informal economy and its contribution for national development;
· little public support; 
· displacement or eviction or vendors from their place of work;
· sexual abuse of women vendors.

On the second day, 12th October, a field visit was made to gain first-hand experience of the conditions faced by street vendors in Nepal. On the third day, 13th October, Lameck Kashiwa, StreetNet International Assistant Co-ordinator, based in Zambia, chaired discussion on the common problems of street vendors in the region.

In the discussion on organisational strategy, he said that nothing becomes tangible without the involvement of all informal economy workers and trade union unity. The participants agreed to pressurise governments for a concrete national policy on vending and for implementation of policies, as has been done by the government of India after pressure from NASVI.

The following outcomes were adopted by the workshop:

a. Policy Level

· Lobbying with the government for clear government policies related to vendors and formation of national body for the effective implementation of policy;
· Formulation of social protection schemes for street vendors by organisations;
· Lobbying with the government and other concerned agencies to progressively eliminate child labour;
· Lobbying government to recognise the informal economy and its contribution for national      development;
· Lobbying with the government for registration of vendors.

b. Pressure Focus

· Pressure for amendment of existing law to include the collective bargaining rights of vendors  and hawkers;
· Pressure for social security system to cover street vendors;
· Pressure for the provision of licence, ID/ family card and legal recognition of vendors and hawkers;
· Pressurise government to stop harassments by authorities, Police, municipalities and gangsters;
· Campaign for stable and permanent places for business;
· Campaign for access of unions in policy-making bodies.

c. Organising

· Campaign at mass scale to organise vendors by trade unions;
· Campaign for skills training for the workers in the streets;
· Awareness Campaign and trainings for trade union rights.

d. Regional co-ordination

· Developing a regional structure of StreetNet in Asia, run and managed by StreetNet affiliates themselves, with GEFONT as the focal-point organisation.

e. Other Activities

· Awareness Campaign for general public to gain public support to vendors and hawkers.

In closing the workshop, President of StreetNet International Kim Heung-Hyun, from Korea, concluded that the workshop had identified the common issues and problems faced by street vendors. He hoped that the recommendations of the workshop would be helpful to develop a strategy for StreetNet, to develop its regional structures.

Newsletter 

Return