Around the world, street vendors are among the most vulnerable to the ongoing economic turmoil wrought by the coronavirus, and potentially to the disease itself.
Many are part of a two-billion-strong global workforce of the informally employed that is often poor, lacking in job security and health care, unable to “socially distance” by working from home, and unable to access government support.
A growing number of initiatives by street vendors and their advocates aim to help these workers recover some of their income while simultaneously bolstering the cities where they operate, Jennifer Hattam reports in CityMetric.