About 250 Waste Pickers and upcyclers representatives who convened in Bulawayo on the 24th of February 2023 for the inaugural waste pickers conference resolved that with effect from the 24th of February they are now organizing themselves under the banner of Zimbabwe WastePickers and Upcyclers Association. This will be a first in Zimbabwe to have an organized all waste pickers association as they have been operating loosely.
The wastepickers conference further resolved that the association will be nurtured and housed under Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) the organization that mobilized and organized the 2023 conference.
Furthermore, it was resolved that the waste pickers will go to their communities and mobilize themselves into Community Cooperatives with each having a minimum of 10 and maximum of 50 members. These cooperatives will be key for ensuring organized buying at the local level and will be the fulcrum of the association.
MIHR in partnership with the association leadership were further tasked with ensuring that the association reaches every corner of the country where there are waste pickers and upcyclers.
The conference had solidarity support statements from Gwanda waste pickers and from the African Reclaimers Organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Mayor of Bulawayo who was the Guest of Honor in the conference, also congratulated the waste pickers for organizing themselves and pledged that the local authority is open to dialogue with an organized group.
MATABELELAND INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 
Leave a Reply