Created in June 2010.
Vision: Improved working and living conditions of Nigeria Informal Workers through
increased voice and visibility.
Objectives
1) Promotion of the economic, social, cultural and political interests of informal workers in Nigeria.
2) Providing a common platform for all informal workers’ organization
3) To achieve social and health insurance, easier and fairer access to credit, improved occupational health and safety and other important services for informal workers.
4) Providing members with workers’ education, capacity building and human capital
development on a continuous basis
5) Engaging government, public, local and international development agencies for the purposes of realizing the Federations’ objectives.
Membership:
Membership is spread across 21 states in Nigeria, encompassing organizations of informal workers across 28 sectors ranging from Agriculture and food processing to street and
market vending, auto repair, petty manufacturing, carpentry & joinery and diverse services including repair of appliances and equipment.
Short history:
FIWON provides a common platform to articulate the needs and daunting problems of informal, self – employed workers in Nigeria, aggregate the aspirations for redress of theseneeds and advocate for the amelioration of these problems in a participatory way before
power holders at all levels. Whereas workers in the informal sectors of the Nigerian economy constitute over 80% on the non-agricultural employment, 60% of the urban employment and over 90% of new jobs in Nigeria according to recent statistics from the
Federal Ministry of Labour with an estimated population of over 65 million workingpeople, and subjected to arbitrary and excessive taxation, their basic needs for social protection, access to affordable credit, occupational health and safety, affordable an accessible training and retraining for them to be able to cope with new production processes and technologies, access to work-spaces with basic infrastructures are not reflected in development planning.
FIWON builds human and material capacities for representation of informal workers in decision making public institutions, more qualitative and effective participation in Nigeria’s democratic processes, and enactment of policies to address pervasive development problems in the Nigerian informal economy. FIWON is a common platform based on shared problems and aspirations of millions of working people, helping to blunt the edge of divisive polarizations which Nigerian political processes engender. FIWON provides an important democratic space on the basis of which private, public, social sector partnerships could be forged to address urgent developmental problems that bedevil millions of working Nigerians.
By working to strengthen the existing organizations of informal workers, building their capacity for representation and advocacy, vast numbers of excluded citizens are empowered to become active participants in the development of Nigerian democracy, deepening it and expanding the space for democratic participation. FIWON was inaugurated June 18, 2010 in Abuja in the course of its 1st National Conference in Abuja with over 34 self – employed workers’ organizations in attendance.
