Publications on Social and Solidarity Economy

August 2019

  1. Waste pickers’ cooperatives and social and solidarity economy organizations

    20 August 2019

    Waste pickers make significant contributions to public health, sanitation, and the environment by promoting resource circulation and reducing the amount of landfill. However, they are often not legally recognized as workers and suffer from poor working conditions and lack of social protection. This brief highlights the role of waste pickers' cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy organizations (SSEOs) in integrating and formalizing the work of waste pickers in the recycling value chain and improving their working conditions.

July 2018

  1. Advancing cooperation among women workers in the informal economy: The SEWA way

    05 July 2018

    This report aims to provide an understanding of the challenges and opportunities for cooperatives and other SSE units in empowering women workers in the informal economy, with a specific focus on SEWA’s experience. It is based on individual interviews and focus group discussions with select cooperative leaders and members and also uses select studies presenting the forty-year experience of SEWA with cooperatives.