IAWP brings International Waste Pickers’ Day event in Nairobi, Kenya

KENYA – The International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) convenes in Nairobi, bringing together leaders from 19 countries to commemorate International Waste Pickers’ Day.

Celebrated every 1^st March, the event commemorates waste pickers who lost their lives on this day in the Universidad Libre De Barranquilla Colombia in 1992, IAWP shares.

“Over 11 years ago, waste pickers were invited to the university under the pretext of receiving recyclable materials. Once inside the campus, they were beaten and shot to death and their bodies were to be used for research and organ trafficking,” notes IAWP.

IAWP and Kenyan National Waste Pickers Association are hosting a march to raise the visibility of thousands of waste picker families worldwide to commemorate the massacre.

The general objectives are to discuss the interim work toward a waste picker’s “Elective Congress” and to promote connection and trust-building among waste pickers from the different regions.

On their day, waste pickers demand from the national and local governments around the world that waste-pickers should be paid fair and better prices for recovering and reclaiming recyclable and reusable materials, among other demands.

The pickers also want governments to give waste management tenders to waste pickers, run enterprises and organizations, in addition to health and life insurance for all waste pickers and their families.

IAWP shares that more than 20 million people globally contribute to the economy as informal waste workers.

“Through the march, they highlight that International Waste Pickers’ Day is a day to memorialize the struggles of waste pickers for recognition and dignity across the planet,” the alliance asserts.

“It is the day to mark the achievements of waste pickers associations, organizations and unions and the IAWP.”

IAWP details that waste pickers represent the largest workforce in the recycling chain and recover a higher proportion of recyclable materials than formal waste management systems.

Through their work in recovering recyclable and reusable materials, waste pickers – who are often discriminated against and face stigma for belonging to poor and marginalized groups, ethnic, religious, and racial minorities, climate and war refugees, and survivors of violence and substance abuse – play a major role in reducing plastic pollution and carbon emissions.

Post the march, the Kenyan National Waste Pickers Association will hold a press conference with the participation of government officials, leaders of the IAWP and representatives of the media at Dandora Community Centre, followed by a tree plantation at Dandora Hip Hop City.

As part of the week’s activities, waste pickers also visited the Dandora dumpsite, which covers approximately 70 acres and is the destination of about 1,100 metric tons of solid waste generated daily by Nairobi’s population.

The dumpsite sustains the livelihoods of approximately 3,000 waste picker families. They recover plastic, food, clothes, paper and bottles to sell for much-needed income.

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