Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) is a global network dedicated to improving the working conditions of the working poor – especially women – in the informal economy. We strive for equal economic opportunities, rights, protection and voice for all workers.

Since 1997, WIEGO has connected membership-based organizations (MBOs) of workers in the informal economy – including trade unions, cooperatives and worker associations – with researchers, statisticians and development practitioners, to address the concerns of their grass-roots worker base. WIEGO works to secure fair incomes and safe working environments for workers, and to lower their vulnerability to illness, unemployment and external shocks – like a pandemic or economic crisis – through the implementation of government policies and programmes designed to reduce and prevent these risks.  WIEGO promotes such change by improving statistics and expanding knowledge on the informal economy, building networks and capacity among worker organizations and offering support to workers as they fight to influence local, national and international policies.

The WIEGO Network consists of individuals and institutions from three broad constituencies: membership-based organizations (MBOs) of informal workers such as trade unions, cooperatives, and worker associations researchers and statisticians who carry out research, data collection, or data analysis on the informal economy practitioners from development agencies (inter-governmental, governmental, and non-governmental) who provide services to or shape policies towards the informal workforce. WIEGO's founders decided that the WIEGO network should build alliances and draw on the expertise of individuals and institutions from each of these constituencies around the globe.