The Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) has called on authorities and Bulawayo city fathers to craft policies that serve the interests of waste pickers.
MIHR coordinator Khumbulani Maphosa said waste collectors played a critical role in solid waste management.
“We don’t have national and local policies that promote the enterprise of waste pickers,” Maphosa said.
“Action must be taken to ensure that waste pickers are integrated into these policies.”
The institute has been criticising laws that give preference to recyclers, while overlooking waste pickers.
“But that does not make sense because these waste collectors are the input providers of waste,” he said.
“They must be integrated into these policies because they are important.”
Last year, MIHR launched a project called Bulawayo Women’s waste café project to develop a pilot gender responsive human rights-based approach to the protection and promotion of women and girl waste pickers in the country.
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