International Alliance of Waste Pickers statement – October 24, 2025
At the Fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements, held at the Vatican from October 21–24, the voice of waste pickers from Nigeria and across the Global South reached one of the world’s most symbolic stages. Speaking before delegates and Pope Leo XIV, Comrade Friday Oku, President of the Association of Scraps and Waste Pickers of Lagos State (ASWOL), issued a powerful call for recognition, rights, and inclusion of waste pickers in national and global policies on waste management and climate action.
Representing thousands of waste pickers across Nigeria and the broader African continent, Oku highlighted the daily struggles of those who sustain recycling systems and reduce carbon emissions through their labour—often without protection or acknowledgment.
“Without waste pickers, there is no circular economy. We are the backbone of recycling, yet we are criminalised, displaced and forgotten.
We need dignified work, affordable housing and inclusion in national waste policies,” he said.
His words resonated deeply within the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, where grassroots leaders from every continent gathered under the banner “Land, Housing and Work” to strengthen global solidarity against exclusion and inequality.
Oku’s address shed light on the realities facing waste pickers across Africa: loss of livelihoods due to automation, displacement from dumpsites, police harassment, and lack of access to safe working conditions or social protection. He urged governments and institutions to integrate waste pickers into formal waste management systems through support for cooperatives, material recovery facilities (MRFs), and recognition of their environmental contributions.
Severino Lima Jr, President of the International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP), was also present at the Vatican, accompanying the delegation and standing alongside grassroots representatives to reaffirm the Alliance’s global mission: to ensure that the voices of waste pickers are heard in every space where decisions about their lives and work are made. His participation underscored the IAWP’s commitment to international solidarity and collective action among informal workers.
The IAWP, which unites over 100 organizations of waste pickers in more than 40 countries, commends Comrade Oku and ASWOL for bringing the voices of informal recyclers to the Vatican. Waste pickers worldwide continue to fight for their right to work with dignity, to be recognized as environmental workers, and to participate in decision-making processes that directly affect their lives.
Oku also expressed gratitude to the IAWP and the Vatican for providing the platform to amplify grassroots voices, pledging ASWOL’s continued solidarity with informal workers around the world.
Pope Leo XIV, addressing the delegates, reaffirmed that “Land, Housing and Work are sacred rights” and called for a renewed global effort to defend human dignity in the face of technological and economic exclusion.
The Pope hailed popular movements as “champions of humanity and poets of solidarity,” and pledged that the Church will remain “a poor Church for the poor — one that reaches out, runs risks, and walks courageously with the people.”
For the IAWP, the participation of waste pickers in this historic gathering marks another step toward global recognition of the essential role that informal workers play in advancing environmental justice and social equity.
“Without waste pickers, there is no circular economy,” Oku reminded the world. “We are not waste — we are workers.”
International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP)
Empowering waste pickers worldwide for recognition, inclusion, and climate justice.
Comms: Nicolas Martinez Gomez
nicolas@wastepickersinternational.org
