A Union like None Other on the Continent – Akosua K. Darkwah Speaks with Deborah Freeman Danquah, General Secretary of the Union Of Informal Workers’ Associations (Uniwa) of TUC Ghana

Globally, the African continent has the largest percentage of workers in informal employment. Based on data collected in 2016 by Bonnet et al. (2019: 10), 89% of workers in the sub-region work in informal employment.The figure is higher for women than it is for men, standing at 92% and 86% respectively.Workers in informal employment are less likely to enjoy decent work standards than those in formal employment. These decent work standards include, among others, the rights to social protection benefits such as paid health care and pensions, annual paid leave, parental leave, sick leave and written contracts, and the right to unionise. In Ghana, efforts have been underway to address the decent work deficits in informal employment. One such effort is the establishment in 2015 of the Union of Informal Workers’ Association (UNIWA). This association has the enviable record of being an associate member of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC). In this conversation piece, Akosua K. Darkwah speaks to Deborah Freeman Danquah, the General Secretary of UNIWA, about the origins, achievements, and challenges the association faces as well as her vision for the future

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