Accra, Ghana: Creating Livelihood and Environmentalism in Accra Now (CLEAN)

About

In 2022, the City of Accra, Ghana, was selected as a grantee of the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees (GCF), the MMC’s instrument to channel international funding directly to cities to implement inclusive projects of their own design. 

With support from the GCF, the City of Accra is integrating more than 450 migrant waste workers into the formal economy and facilitating their access to financial inclusion services, childcare, and healthcare. 

Context

Accra is a primary destination for internal migrants within Ghana and from West Africa. Upon arrival, many migrants struggle to access livelihoods, healthcare, childcare, among other basic social services, due to language barriers, discrimination, and lack of documentation. As a result, many migrants resort to employment in the city’s informal waste management sector where they are underemployed, work in hazardous conditions, and risk criminalization. They are also disproportionately exposed to the impacts of climate change, including heat-related stress, disease, and food insecurity. Poor data collection and a lack of community engagement with the informal waste economy has hindered the Accra’s efforts to promote economic, financial, and social inclusion for migrant and non-migrant waste workers alike.

Action

Accra used the GCF grant to help migrant and non-migrant informal waste workers overcome barriers to financial inclusion, healthcare, and childcare and build resilience to climate change. 

The City of Accra surveyed informal waste workers to collect disaggregated data on their economic status and access to national identification and health insurance. This data helped Accra more effectively plan and support informal waste sector actors. To formalize and deepen engagements between city authorities and the waste sector, Accra convened multi-stakeholder platforms composed of migrant and non-migrant waste workers and community leaders. 

To promote financial inclusion and sustainable waste management practices, Accra helped 469 informal migrant waste workers to both register for national healthcare and enroll in formal waste cooperatives. This dual approach provided migrant waste workers with access to public and private hospitals and employment protection while helping fill gaps in the city’s waste management value chain, including sorting and recycling waste. The project has also constructed a childcare center to provide safe spaces for waste workers’ children away from the hazardous sites where their parents work. 

These efforts will improve quality of life and inclusion for hundreds of informal waste workers and their families while promoting inclusive city planning, climate resilience, and effective waste management across Accra. 

Impact

Accra’s CLEAN project has had a transformational impact on the lives of informal waste workers, making strides toward their socioeconomic inclusion while also advancing the city’s climate goals. 

Over the course of their GCF project, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly engaged 972 waste workers, all of them IDPs, migrants, or refugees. Through a wide range of project activities and in partnership with the grassroots organization, People’s Dialogue, Accra made it easier and safer for these essential workers to do their jobs. The CLEAN project brought over 400 informal waste workers into the formal economy by registering them into formal waste management cooperatives overseen by the city government, ensuring the protection of their labor rights and the stability of their livelihoods. The project also enrolled these migrant waste workers in Ghana’s national health insurance, providing healthcare access for a segment of the population disproportionately exposed to occupational health hazards. The project also delivered skills training to waste workers that led to a 15% increase in job security during the project. As a result of these activities, the city ensured that migrant waste workers have economic stability and access to basic services essential to their long-term inclusion in Accra, while promoting safe and sustainable waste management practices. 

The project’s daycare center created a safe space for the children of waste workers, particularly women waste workers, to stay during their caregivers’ workday. Funded by the city’s own budget, the daycare center is educating over 20 children who are now learning rather than spending their days in scrap yards. 

Finally, the CLEAN project strengthened the relationship between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the city’s migrant community. Through its baseline survey and multi-stakeholder platforms, the city created new channels for communication with migrants and improved its ability to quickly and effectively respond to their needs.