Waste Pickers without Frontiers The first world conference of informal waste pickers, is due to take place in Bogota, Colombia from the 1-4 March 2008. Conference participants will come from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America to discuss the common challenges they face and begin to develop a common agenda. Representatives from waste picker organisations, worker organisations such as StreetNet, and supportive NGOs, agencies and researchers will participate. Conference aims
The main aim of the Conference is to strengthen the organisation and global connection of informal waste pickers - women and men- as a first step towards building an international network. It also aims to strengthen the Latin American Network of Waste Pickers, consisting of worker cooperatives and cooperative federations from different Latin American countries.
Informal waste pickers make a major contribution to the economy, health and environmental protection. However, in most countries, the general public and authorities fail to recognise this. The Conference hopes to make visible their contribution, and work towards effective voice and representation of waste pickers in all forums affecting their working lives and social position.
The Conference will start by celebrating the Colombian National Day of Waste Pickers on 1st March. Hundreds of waste pickers from around Bogota will be there to celebrate this day. On the second and third days, participants will share their experiences of organising, and discuss pressing issues such as the effect of privatisation and public policies on informal waste pickers. They will plan how to take forward regional and international networking. On day four they will visit worker cooperatives and recycling projects in Bogota to see for themselves, progress in Colombia.
WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Global-ising and Organising) initiated the global networking project. WIEGO built contacts with waste picker organisations, NGOs and researchers across the globe. It set up an international steering committee to jointly organise the Conference, resulting in shared ownership of the project and a collaborative effort across global frontiers.
Partners and Conference Organisers are:
Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising (WIEGO);
Latin America Network of Waste Pickers;
National Association of Waste Pickers of Colombia (host);
KKPKP (Waste picker union, India);
AVINA Foundation;
Collaborative Working Group on Solid Waste Management (CWG).
Conference website: www.recicladores.net
By Chris Bonner, WIEGO, Organisation and Representation
