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Sarah Fox, Reema Nanavaty, Rashad Shawa and Myrtle Witbooi Join the Global Fairness Initiative Board of Directors
Distinguished leaders at the forefront of worker rights, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability join community of international leaders on the GFI Board
Washington, DC – The Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) has announced that Sarah Fox of the United States, Reema Nanavaty of the Republic of India, Rashad Shawa of Kuwait and Myrtle Witbooi of South Africa will join the GFI Board of Directors. The four new members bring extensive experience in social and environmental activism to GFI’s diverse Board of Directors representing government, civil society, labor, and private industry from throughout the globe.
"It is our pleasure and great fortune to welcome these exceptional leaders to our Board of Directors,” said Dr. Danilo Türk, former President of Slovenia and GFI Board Chair. “These new colleagues represent an important cross section of our shared social and economic development and we are delighted and enriched to have them join this distinguished Board.”
Ms. Fox has spent his career working to secure workers’ rights through her leadership at the US Department of State and with the US Labor Federation AFL-CIO and the International Labor Organization (ILO). Ms. Nanavaty committed her career to uplifting the working poor through of leadership of the 2.1 million members Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), the single largest union of informal sector women workers in the world. Mr. Shawa is the Founder and Chairman of the International Water Bank and brings extensive experience in international banking and has applied his leadership to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Witbooi is a renowned advocate for the rights and protections of domestic workers globally and was a leading force in the passage of ILO Convention on Domestic Workers. Together, GFIs new class of Board Members bring deep experience and passion for creating just, equitable socio-economic development across the globe.
“GFI strives to break the barriers to access and opportunity for the working poor, and we are simply thrilled to welcome four leaders who have committed their lives to these principals.” said Global Fairness Initiative President and Founder Karen Tramontano. “This Board is a diverse, thoughtful and powerful voice for greater rights and opportunity for working people, and Sarah, Reema, Rashad and Myrtle will help us elevate that voice. We are thrilled to have them as part of the Global Fairness Initiative.”
The Global Fairness Initiative is an international NGO that works to create a more equitable, sustainable approach to economic development, and to make our global economy work for those who need it most − the world’s working poor. For nearly twenty year GFI has steadily built a track record of success through innovative programs to reduce poverty, enfranchise informal communities, and advance human rights and livelihoods in all parts of the world.
Sarah Fox
Sarah Fox is internationally recognized for her work on labor issues in the United States and throughout the world. As Special Representative for International Labor Affairs at the US Department of State 2015 Ms. Fox led the Department’s effort to promote workers’ rights and improve economic security and working conditions for workers abroad; liaise with the global labor movement, U.S. and multinational companies, and other stakeholders on these issues; and, support and strengthen the labor diplomacy function at American embassies worldwide. In this role she was critical in ensuring that American foreign policy and programs advance internationally recognized labor rights and improve living standards across the globe.
Prior to her appointment to the State Department, Ms. Fox served as legal counsel to the AFL-CIO and as the AFL-CIO’s representative to the International Labor Organization (ILO). From 2010 to 2015, she was a member of the ILO Governing Body and of its Committee on Freedom of Association. She previously served in government from 1990 to 2000, first as Chief Democratic Labor Counsel to the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, on the staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (1990-1996), then by appointment of President Clinton as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board (1996-2000). Prior to that, she was counsel to the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union and worked as a reporter at the Courier-Express in Buffalo, NY, where she grew up. She is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.
Reema Nanavaty
Reema Nanavaty has been working with the SEWA for over 35 years, expanding its membership to over 2.1 million members and making it the single largest union of informal sector women workers.
Ms. Nanavaty facilitated rebuilding lives and livelihoods of 6,0000 earthquake-affected rural women and 40,000 riot-affected members. She is leading the rehabilitation programs in Afghanistan, and helping train over 5,000 Afghani women on different livelihood skills and facilitating the creation of a local Association. Similarly, she has also led the rehabilitation program for war-affected widows in Sri Lanka, providing over 6,000 rural women with vocational training to secure their livelihoods.
Ms. Nanavaty oversees 4,813 self-help groups (SHG), 160 co-operatives, and 15 economic federations in 16 states in India and in 7 South-Asian countries. These collections focus on women’s economic empowerment by building women owned enterprises, building women led supply chains, introducing modern ICT-based tools to improve businesses, and facilitating Green-Energy initiatives and livelihoods. Ms. Nanavaty was honored by Padma Shri (the fourth-highest civilian award in the Republic of India) for her contribution in area of Social Services in 2013. She is currently the member of the Advisory Council on Gender of the World Bank Group.
Ms. Nanavaty was invited to the International Labour Organization’s High Level Global Commission on Future of Work as the only member representing the informal sector workers, women workers, self-employed workers, and the rural workers’ union in the entire commission. She was also invited as a member of the Working Group for the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy and as a Gender Lead in the working group for the UN's Food System Summit, both convened by UN General Secretary in the UNGA in September 2021. Ms. Nanavaty was also one of the only worker’s representative invited to speak alongside UN secretary General Antonio Gueteras in the Official Opening Ceremony of the UN’s Food Systems Summit 2021.
Rashad Shawa
Rashad Shawa is Founder and Chairman of the Board, and Chairman of the Founders Committee of the International Water Bank - IWB Holdings. Mr. Shawa also serves as Chairman of the Board of Mai Resources International (Switzerland) AG, and is a Member of the World Water Council in France, and of the Arab Water Council (Egypt). A Senior Executive and International Banker, Mr. Shawa has held a number of positions on the Executive Board and Head of the Middle East of several International Banks in the UK and Switzerland. He was also formerly the Chairman of The International Organization of Private Bank owners and was a Senior Advisor to Bank Privee Edmond de Rothschild. Mr. Shawa serves as a Member of the Board of a number of regional and international institutions and companies, including as past a Member of the International Advisory Board of Babson College in Boston, USA, the world’s number one university for business leaders and entrepreneurs. He also currently sits on the Board of Medurable in France, the International Organization focused on sustainable development goals, climate change and water resources management.Myrtle Witbooi
Myrtle Witbooi currently serves as the General Secretary of the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU), which is one of the oldest organizations defending domestic workers’ rights in Africa. She also serves the first president of the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), a global organization of household and domestic workers. Labor scholars have noted IDWF is the "first international labor federation run by women for work dominated by women." Myrtle began her career as a young domestic worker in apartheid South Africa in the early 1960s and in 1965 she helped convene the first ever organizational meeting of domestic workers in Cape Town. As General Secretary of SADSAWU, she has fought for a national minimum wage increase and compensation for on-the-job injuries for domestic workers. In 2011, Myrtle helped lead the international coalition of domestic workers that secured passage of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers (C. 189). The Convention (No. 189) on domestic workers has become the first international labor standard to ensure domestic workers the same basic rights as other workers. As part of SADSAWU, Myrtle played a central role in influencing the ILO Domestic Workers Convention C.189. The convention marked unprecedented involvement of informal women workers in the ILO standard-setting process.
Ms. Witbooi is a recipient of GFI, 2015 Fairness Award and a recipient, in 2013, of the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award.
The Tunisian Association for Management & Social Stability (TAMSS), in partnership with the Global Fairness Initiative, has released the "Guidebook to Formalization for Informal Workers". This Arabic document is used as a resource for Tunisian workers and entrepreneurs to aid in the process of formalizing.
TAMSS, along with Partners for Democratic Change, is an active partner of GFI's Tunisia Inclusive Labor Initiative (TILI), a three-year program to create more inclusive legal and economic framework for informal Tunisian workers, and to provide workers with access to decent work and government‐mandated protections.
Learn more about the TILI Program
| File | Description | File size |
|---|---|---|
 Guidebook to Formalization | 3387 kB |
Roadmap for Tunisian Leadership: Integrating the Informal Economy
"Informal workers, many of them youth and women, account for 48% of North Africa’s economically active population (EAP)1. In Tunisia, half of all employed workers lack access to social security, and 39.2% of production goes undeclared to tax and regulatory authorities2. This Roadmap addresses the economic exclusion of informal workers in Tunisia and presents strategies for incorporating them into the formal economy, with an emphasis on extending social safety nets to workers and expanding the government’s core revenue to increase and improve services."
"These recommendations, produced through a robust multi-stakeholder process, offer both initial steps and long-term opportunities to reduce informality and extend social services and protections to more Tunisians. Developed by Tunisians for Tunisia, the strategies in this Roadmap provide a tool for the Tunisian Government and CSOs, as well as donors and multilateral organizations, to generate targeted solutions to the problem of informality."
| File | Description | File size |
|---|---|---|
| TILI RoadMap April 2014.pdf | Roadmap for the Tunisian Leadership: Integrating the Informal Economy | 1087 kB |
The results from a survey of 1,200 informal workers in Tunisia are now available as part of GFI's Tunisian Inclusive Labor Initiative (TILI). The survey was administered by GFI along with local partners: the Tunisian Association for Management and Social Stability (TAMSS), Partners for Democratic Change (PDC) and Tunisian survey firm ISTIS. The survey was conducted in six regions throughout Tunisia: Tunis, El Kef, Kasserine, Gafsa, Sfax, and Mednine.
The full report, in its original French, can be found on the TAMSS website here.
Or, read the full report translated into English here.
Learn more about the TILI Project here.
Main Survey Findings
Demographics of Informal Workers:
- 66.2% are men, 33.8% are women
- 37.2% are less than 30 years old
- More than two-thirds (72.42%) of households of informal workers earn an average monthly income of 300DT. 25.67% of households are comprised of four individuals and 22.78% are comprised of five.
- 51.5% have at most a primary education, 11.3% have at most some University education, 32% (one third) have a qualifications diploma
Previous and Current Employment Situation:
- 51.3% were previously employed prior to starting their current informal work, 67.4% of those were previously employed in the informal sector
- Half of those who are between 20 and 29 are looking for another job
- Among those who are looking for another job, 76.5% want a job with social security
Attitudes and Experiences of Informal Workers:
- 95.77% of employees have no employment contract
- 98.2% say that overtime is not paid
- 16.17% have the right to day offs and rest
- 48.4% choose to working informally because of a need for money, 49.18% say working informally is a personal choice and they lack of access to better jobs.
- 61.12% think that their skill sets and training do not match their current work
- 19% of the surveyed population benefits from the state social programs
- 30% say they do not expect anything from the government
- 80% believe that the current situation in Tunisia is incomprehensible and questionable, 12% have confidence in the future
Procedures, Legislation and Administrative Services:
- 68.6% of informal workers have no information on government work programs
- 90% of informal workers do not know the steps to formalize their activities
- More than 90% of the surveyed population has no information on minimum wage, labor contracts and labor other rights
- Only 12% are aware of the procedures and steps to join social security
- 21% of independents say they are interested in formalizing but do not know procedures, 26% have never thought of the possibility
- 90% of independents that do not have a license have not tried to register because they feel that their activities do not require a license (59%) or because they do not want to pay taxes (16.7 %)
- The main factors encouraging formalization are: access to finance, lower tax costs and assistance for registration, while bureaucracy (36.2%) and nepotism (33.4%) are considered major barriers to formalization
| File | Description | File size |
|---|---|---|
| TILI Survey Final Report | June 2013 | 3380 kB |
