Photo credit: miriam.mollerus

 

 
Street vendors: Creating a way for integration, not rejection

Shaima Abulhajj, Cairo Community Manager

 

Cairo's street vendors are hoping to benefit from the turmoil of post-revolutionary Egypt, but government policies are not helping their cause. Policymakers should change their attitude and look for an inclusive approach towards street vending.

In 2013, the Cairo Chamber of Commerce turned down Cairo Governorate's resolution to provide venues for 2,000 unlicensed street sellers in Cairo (which represents only 10 percent of the city's 20,000 street vendors). In their initial plan proposed two years ago, the Governorate had promised to accommodate 50 percent of the existing street vendors. Now, after the revolution, the number of street vendors has increased dramatically and continues to rise, but providing venues for only 10 percent of today's street vendors is deemed insufficient by the chamber. The Governorate has also been accused of failing to improve security around the stores, leading the chamber to reject this offer and insist on the provision of safe shopping venues for half of Cairo's street vendors.

On 26 September 2012, street vendors in Cairo set up the Independent Street Vendors' Union to assert their rights. It is estimated that there are over 200,000 vendors in Cairo and the numbers are increasing rapidly. The enterprise is fraught with frustrations and uncertainties as the law is lopsided and requires vendors to pay significant taxes, which is challenging for them.

The Street Food Vendors Organization (SFVO) has stepped up its efforts to achieve legitimacy and more rights by spreading the seeds of the organization in various provinces of Egypt. This organization was formed by the Social Planning, Analysis and Administration Consultants (SPAAC), a Cairo-based consulting group. The SFVO aims to see the birth of a potent national federation within few years. Their mission is to convince the government and society of the street food vending sector's significance, rather than considering its workers as criminals or the untouchables of the society to be swept off the streets.

Some of the solutions proposed by the SFVO and social planners include passing a law preventing the functioning of heavy transport from 6 am until 12 pm on roads where vendors operate, to ease congestion. The Cairo Confederate has also proposed setting up police facilities that would regulate the street vendors throughout the day. A permanent market of street vendors in the governorate of Cairo would also enable a specific number of vendors to operate legitimately without worrying about police crackdowns. The government of Cairo should also tax vendors and charge rentals for providing specific spaces to them. This would further help to legalize street vendors in Cairo.

The Cairo government has proposed a one-day marketplace as the first step toward controlling street vendors, and then comes the creation of permanent marketplaces where the vendors can operate legally. The Social Planning, Analysis and Administration Consultants and the Ford Foundation launched the Social Research Center (SRC), which is also looking for solutions to tackle the problem of street vendors by establishing a model of empowerment. A Labour Union for street vendors has also been proposed by the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation to supervise and regulate the street vendors in Cairo.

In recent research conducted by the SRC, it has been proposed that Cairo street vendors should be categorized according to the goods they sell. Specific permanent stores should be given to those who want to develop their business. However, building a market space is of paramount importance to sustain the street vendors.

 

Photo credit: miriam.mollerus