Starting in May 2011, StreetNet International, in partnership with the CUT Brazil and the Gaspar Garcia Centre for Human Rights, has commissioned a research project to identify and record the main demands of the different street vendors` associations in the 12 World Cup host cities. The research will also seek to highlight the potential impact of the World Cup on the livelihoods of street vendors.
This project is being undertaken within the framework of the World Class Cities for All Campaign, launched by StreetNet International in association with other social movements prior to the World Cup in South Africa. In South Africa, despite promises of consultation and dialogue, in many host cities, street vendors found they were subject to harassment and evictions and they were banned from selling around the stadiums and fan parks. So instead of the World Cup offering opportunities for the urban poor, it resulted in a net decrease in their incomes.
"This World Cup is not for us poor people" is a series of interviews with street vendors from South Africa which highlights the extremely precarious livelihoods of the street vendors, the majority of whom are women seeking to earn an honest living in order to support their children. The issue of the rights of street vendors, and their exclusion during the World Cup, has been supported by many other organizations, including members of Nelson Mandela`s group of Elders.
Once this first phase of the research has been completed, StreetNet and the CUT will host a workshop in October to review the results, and discuss next steps with the street vendors` organizations and their allies. It is hoped to develop a set of demands to the local municipalities to ensure that mechanisms for consultation and dialogue are established, that were possible social solidarity economy organizations are given trading spaces in the stadiums and fan parks. Another possibility is to develop a code of conduct to present to FIFA and which would govern relations between street vendors and FIFA. For more information, contact stnet@iafrica.org
