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Job details

Job Type
Contract
Remote
Indeed's salary guide
Not provided by employer
$61.8K - $78.3K a year is Indeed's estimated salary for this role in Remote.

Remote Home-Based Location (South Africa)

About WIEGO

Women in Informal Work: Globalization and Organizations (WIEGO) is a global network working to improve the livelihoods of the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy. We believe that all workers deserve equal economic opportunities and rights. WIEGO creates change by building the capacity of informal worker organizations, expanding the knowledge base of the informal economy and influencing local, national and international laws and policies. Legal Program


We are a dynamic team of lawyers who work to recognize, include and protect the rights and jobs of informal workers in international instruments, national and local laws and regulations; Engage informal workers and their organizations to use the law to fight for stable livelihoods and capacity for labor rights. As we expand the scope of our two streams of work - 

i) Administrative Justice and ILO Recommendation 204, and

 ii) the Legal Empowerment Project for Community Law Practitioners and Domestic Workers - we are looking to recruit an enterprising lawyer. Lawyers serve as agents of our legal programs in Africa. 

i) Administrative justice and R 204

Around the world, the working poor depend on public resources such as public space and waste to secure their livelihoods. All over the world, they face challenges that hamper their ability to work.

For example, in many countries, street vendors do not have access to commercial spaces or essential infrastructure such as toilets. Local authorities often move vendors from high-traffic natural markets to relatively uncrowded areas. Street vendors are regularly harassed by the police and local authorities: they risk being expelled from their places of business and their goods are often confiscated and destroyed, even if they have the necessary licenses or permits to trade.

Waste pickers are regularly excluded from tenders for waste collection and recycling contracts and are denied space to sort recyclables. They are also harassed: local authorities confiscate the recyclable materials they collect and keep them out of the garbage.

Many of these challenges stem from decisions by (main) local government authorities to control access to public spaces and waste. Known as administrative action, decisions to allocate commercial space and licenses, or even the lack of statutory decisions, have a profound impact on the livelihoods of informal workers.

The objectives of the project are:

To strengthen the legal capacity of workers' organizations to use administrative law to challenge the decisions and actions of local authorities.

Strengthen workers' organizations to use Recommendation 204 to demand recognition and protection of their capacity as workers and

establish a process of dialogue between workers' organizations and local authorities.

ii) Legal Empowerment Project for Community Lawyers and Domestic Workers

Domestic workers in Africa lack access to justice, which affects their ability to hold employers accountable for violations of their human rights and work. This deficit is the result of a number of factors-that vary from country to country, -including limited legal recognition and protection; employers' non-compliance with statutory obligations; feeble or non-existent law enforcement and monitoring; domestic workers' low / lack of rights awareness and legal knowledge; fear of retaliation from employers; and low capacity of domestic workers' trade unions to support domestic with legal issues.

The purpose of the project is to train domestic workers who are members of International Domestic Workers' Federation (IDF) affiliates in Africa as community paralegals. The ultimate goals of the project are the following:


Participating IDF affiliates' domestic workers members know, use and shape the law to address their employment-related legal issues;

Employers are aware of their statutory obligations and of their employee's human and labour rights and entitlements;

Participating IDWF affiliates conduct advocacy and movement-building activities based on legal data and evidence;

Participating IDFW affiliates create partnerships with relevant government authorities-including local authorities, the police, and the ministry of labour-to support the realization of domestic workers' rights.

The Position

The position involves supporting organizations of street vendors and waste pickers in Southern and East Africa, who are affiliates of StreetNet and the International Alliance of Waste Pickers, in their struggle for legal recognition, for rights to collective bargaining and for access to waste and to public space to trade and sort waste as part of our Administrative Justice project. It also involves supporting affiliates of the International Domestic Workers' Federation (IDWF) in Africa in their efforts to build a cadre of community paralegals. Responsibilities

The Law Programme Officer will report to the Law Programme Coordinator for Africa. Supporting trade unions of domestic workers, street vendors and waste pickers to know, use and shape the law for their legal recognition as workers and for access to labour rights (including collective bargaining and social protection) as well as access to space to work and access to waste through, the key responsibilities are as follows:

Researching the relevant laws and their implementation in the city / country;

Building relationships between legal organisations and worker organisations;

Organizing and facilitating capacity workshops and engagements between worker organisations, legal organisations, local authorities and other stakeholders;

Supporting worker organisations to develop and implement their strategies to achieve legal recognition, labour rights and access to space;

Documenting progress made by worker organisations in implementing their legal strategies;

Conducting research on the right to work and developing a strategy to support workers in informal employment to use it in their advocacy.

About You

To be successful for this position, you will need to be:

A highly motivated, resourceful individual who is passionate about legal change, and who can work independently and as part of a team.

Someone who enjoys legal analysis and strategy on the one hand, while on the other hand, enjoys working in partnership with worker organisations to understand and support their socio-economic, political and legal goals;

Fluent in English and at least one other African working language. Ndebele and/or Shona would be an advantage;

Based in Southern Africa and be willing to travel;

A self-starter who can follow through on assignments.

You will also need to have:

An LLB and a minimum of 3 years' work experience in supporting marginalized communities to address their legal problems;

Excellent research, legal analysis and writing skills;

Experience in litigation, legal activism and project-management will be an advantage.

What we offer


This function will run from 1 April 2023 to March 2024, with contract renewals thereafter by mutual agreement for up to two additional years, subject to satisfactory performance. This position offers an initial trial period of 3 months. This position is a home office and the successful candidate will be required to have their own office and office equipment.

Salary is in US dollars and is based on experience, location and job profile as defined by WIEGO's compensation policy - this will be discussed with the successful candidate. How to Apply

Next Steps


To be considered for this position, please submit your application to recruit@wiego.org and include:

A cover letter explaining how you meet the above requirements.

resumes plus 2-3 contract references;

university transcripts; and

unedited English writing samples. The deadline for submission

is Monday, February 13, 2023. Shortlisting will take place during the week beginning Monday, February 20, 2023.