The Global Alliance of Waste pickers is a networking process started after the 1st World Conference of Waste pickers held in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2008. Waste pickers organizations and allies from more than 30 countries participated in this first global event organized by the Bogota Waste Pickers’ Association, Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat waste pickers’ collective of Pune, India (KKPKP), the Latin American Waste pickers’ Network, Avina Foundation and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). Since then, an International Steering Committee has met once a year in Durban, Belo Horizonte, Bangkok and Pune to give direction to our strategic vision and work.

We’ve helped develop organizations in Africa, Latin America and Asia, and participated in several United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings since 2009, where thanks to the support provided by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) we advocated for alternative funding mechanisms to support fair and just solutions to climate change.

The Global Alliance is currently focusing on the sharing and exchange of information and solidarity among thousands of waste pickers’ organizations, with the support and coordination of WIEGO and contributions from waste picker leaders and allies across the world.