Worker Education Sparks Power In Informal Workers
Newz Daddy Educational Updates
IASEW and WIEGO partner together to host 5 5-day International Workshop on “Workers’ Education for Workers’ Power” Asia Training of Trainers in Ahmedabad to Empower Informal Economy Worker Leaders. This week IASEW office in Ahmedabad is hosting the Workers’ Education for Workers’ Power! Asia Training of Trainers, in partnership with WIEGO School. IASEW stands for the Indian Academy for Self-Employed Women. It began in 1991 and became its own group in 2005. It teaches women in the informal economy—like street vendors and home-based workers—to grow confidence and real skills. WIEGO, based in Manchester, is a global network that helps workers who don’t have formal jobs. It helps them organise, have a voice, and shape fair policies for their work and lives.
It is a space of solidarity, where 22 worker leaders from 8 countries and 4 sectors have come together, nominated by HomeNet International (HNI), StreetNet International (SNI), the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP), and the International Domestic Workers’ Federation (IDWF). Together, they are strengthening their confidence and skills as worker educators with a critical understanding of the informal economy.WIEGO School teaches informal economy sector leaders—like domestic workers, waste pickers, street vendors—to learn how to lead better, run training, and influence decision-makers. Informal economy workers are people like waste pickers, home-based workers, street vendors, domestic helpers, and gig workers. They often work without regular contracts or protections. Worldwide, nearly 2 billion workers are informal.
Over the five days, participants are engaged in an intensive curriculum designed to:
Share diverse experiences and challenges from across the informal economy. Sharing stories helps build unity and trust. Many WIEGO tools highlight member stories to show different workers’ struggles and solutions.
Analyse workers’ realities from multiple perspectives to build common ground. By looking at policy, law, social protection, and urban issues, workers learn how to talk with governments and big groups. Deepen their knowledge of worker education as a fundamental tool for building collective power. WIEGO School focuses on worker education so leaders can teach others, build membership, manage groups, and strengthen movements.
Practice democratic and participatory methods for facilitating learning within their own movements.
IASEW uses fun, hands-on methods—like folk music, role-play, drawings, songs—to help members learn and teach others.
Strategise and plan activities that align with their respective organisational mandates. WIEGO’s Organisation & Representation programme helps groups plan how to negotiate, organise, and push for policies like social protection and inclusion. For IASEW, hosting this training is a celebration of cross-border solidarity, workers’ resilience, and the shared belief that education is power. Through collective learning, we strengthen not only our organisations but also the broader global movement of informal workers.IASEW, as SEWA Academy, has trained over half a million women and is built on “head, heart and hands together.” Across India, they help women gain skills, leadership, and self-reliance.WIEGO also works through research, policy studies, and advocacy so informal workers can take part in global forums like the International Labour Conference.
