Asia Pacific Waste Pickers Organise: Historic Meeting in Kathmandu Addresses Threats, Elects Leaders, and Prepares for Global Congress
The International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) is hosting its first-ever coordination meeting with waste picker organizations from across the Asia Pacific region, to address the many challenges they face.
The meeting is being held in Kathmandu, and brings together 50 participants, representing 22 waste picker organisations from across the Asia Pacific region, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Philippines, Fiji, and Cambodia.
During the meeting, the leaders are engaged in discussing the major threats to waste pickers, including the privatization of waste management, displacement by new entrants in waste management, closure of dumpsites, fires at dumpsites and places of residence, installation of incineration plants, and the persistent issues of class and caste-based discrimination.
During the first day of the ongoing meeting, the leaders elected five Executive Council members from the Asia Pacific region, Sushila Sable from India, Randy C. Irog from the Phillippines, Pris Polly from Indonesia, Shanti Tamang from Nepal, and Kulsum Begum from Nepal. They will be a part of the 22 members’ Executive Council of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers.
Shanti Tamang, President of Samyukta Safai Jagaran (SASAJA), a Nepali affiliate of the IAWP, said the meeting was a historic event.
“Waste picking is a centuries-old occupation of workers who have been marginalized and discriminated against based on their caste, class, and other minority identities,” she said.
“The Asia Pacific Regional Coordination meeting is bringing together waste pickers from 7 countries in the region and serving as the inaugural of many preparatory activities for the founding Congress of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from May 1st to May 5th, 2024,”
Tamang said as part of the Regional Coordination meeting on March 1st, 2024, waste picker representatives from the Asia Pacific region will march through the heart of Kathmandu city to commemorate International Waste Pickers Day.
This march will shed light on the invaluable contributions of waste pickers in reducing plastic pollution, keeping cities and the environment clean, reducing carbon emissions and highlighting the challenges they face in their daily lives.
Participants will also visit the Bancharedanda landfill site, a critical workplace for waste pickers from Kathmandu and surrounding areas, which receives waste from 23 municipalities.
The Asia Pacific Regional Coordination meeting underscores the commitment of waste picker organizations to foster solidarity, share best practices, and advocate for the rights and dignity of waste pickers across the region.
The meeting runs from February 28th to March 2nd, 2024, and is hosted at the Park Village Resort, Kathmandu, Nepal.
