Awareness and Capacity-Building for Women in the Informal Recycling Sector: Toolkit for Facilitators

The reports A Seat at the Table: The Role of the Informal Recycling Sector in Plastic Pollution Reduction, and Recommended Policy Changes (GRIDArendal 2022), Just Transition of Women in the Waste Management Sector (Tsakona et al. 2023), and Findings of the WOW! Global Survey II: Mapping the Status of Women in the Global Waste Management Sector (Godfrey et al. 2023) highlighted the need for a comprehensive and geographically tailored
capacity-building programme that will create opportunities to enhance informal recyclers’ experience, especially women, through inclusion in practical on-the-job training, working with mentors and working as part of teams.

The Toolkit is made up of guidance and materials that outline how to:

• Bring women of the IRS (Informal Recycling Sector) together in circles – teams or groups in which they get to know each other, work together and play together.
• Plan activity sessions for IRS women under eight flexible modules that can be adapted to different geographies, developmental capacity needs and interests.
• Use facilitation methods that keep women of the IRS safe, active, learning and engaged, and give them opportunities to take the lead.

The Toolkit is for anyone who works directly with women of the IRS, including waste pickers associations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities, initiatives and professional trainers.