Conference Agenda

Decent work is a cornerstone of sustainable development, yet in Namibia, the informal economy, which accounts for a big portion of employment, is inadequately regulated. This paper uses a systematic literature review to analyse the regulatory frameworks and policies put in place to achieve decent work in Namibia's informal economy. This paper identifies, synthesizes, and categorises the themes from academic literature, government reports, and international labour studies published between 2019 and 2024 using the PRISMA approach. Thematic analysis revealed three core challenges: (1) lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks which do not address specific vulnerabilities of informal workers; (2) weak mechanisms for enforcement and institutional capacity; and (3) gender disparities reinforcing inequity in working conditions. The specific barriers uncovered in this research within these themes include lack of social protection, occupational health and safety gaps, and wage insecurities that undermine the realisation of decent work.

Amongst others, the study also identifies innovative approaches in policy discourse: digital platforms for informal worker registration, micro-social security schemes, and localised enforcement models. All these innovations show promise of effectively filling the regulatory gaps in tandem with the socio-economic situation of Namibia. It adds to the literature with an overall analysis of the Namibian approach in regulating decent work within the informal economy. It highlights the need for context-sensitive regulatory strategies that balance international labour standards with the lived realities of informal workers. Additionally, the findings provide a set of policy-relevant insights for achieving sustainable and inclusive labour practices, emphasising collaboration between government, civil society, and international stakeholders. Methodologically, the SLR ensures analytical rigor by providing a transparent and replicable framework for exploring regulatory issues. Through thematically synthesising the challenges and opportunities in Namibia's labour market, this study provides a roadmap for future research and policymaking to achieve equitable growth and social justice. The study therefore underlines the importance of regulatory innovations in promoting decent work and places Namibia's informal economy as a case study with transferable lessons for other developing countries facing similar challenges.

Global supply chains underpin a multitude of labor violations, environmental disasters, and human rights abuses. The pursuit of justice is not just difficult—it is essential. The complexity of these chains, coupled with the discrepancies in legal systems, makes accountability a pressing issue that must be addressed. Access to remedies is critical but often challenging in developing countries like sub-Saharan Africa, where judicial systems are costly and slow, coupled with a highly informal workforce. Informal workers, essential to global supply chains in agriculture and mining, lack the legal protections necessary for decent working conditions. This puts them at risk of human rights violations, including unsafe environments and limited grievances. Human rights protections in global supply chains are severely compromised and require urgent attention.

Non-judicial grievance mechanisms (NJGMs), established by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011), offer a beacon of hope by enabling victims of human rights violations resulting from business activities, including informal workers, to address grievances and enhance their rights and working conditions within supply chains. Additionally, emerging due diligence laws, such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the German Due Diligence Act, provide further opportunities to improve the rights of informal workers in global supply chains. These frameworks can tackle issues like inadequate wages and unsafe working conditions by enforcing due diligence and ensuring access to remedies.

NJGMs can support informal workers in addressing rights violations and holding corporations accountable for labor abuses in their supply chains. By fostering dialogue and collaboration among worker organizations, trade unions, and businesses, they build trust and create sustainable solutions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where legal systems can be costly.

The success of the NJGMS relies on effective implementation, enforcement, and stakeholder collaboration. This article explores NJGMs' potential to address challenges informal workers face, such as limited literacy, fear of retaliation, and gender disparities while emphasizing accessibility, transparency, and worker participation. Human rights violations will only persist because of exclusions of the most vulnerable from protection. For example, informal workers are often excluded from human rights policies and agendas, further perpetuating their vulnerability. This exclusion can only be stopped by inclusive justice systems and offer remedies to violations, especially in regions where informal arrangements are the norm.

Research Question: What role can non-judicial grievance mechanisms play in promoting the rights of informal workers in Sub-Saharan Africa’s global supply chains?

Methodology

Qualitative approach.

This paper seeks to examine de minimis regulations. There are rules that govern the non-regulation of small packages moving across borders. Although originally intended to simplify parcel logistics, these regulations have been appropriated by e-commerce platforms such as Temu, Shein and Aliexpress to enable low-cost direct sales from Asia.

Digital platforms have been argued to be leading to significant labour challenges. This includes platforms selling goods, where labour challenges relate to the fragmented nature of platformized sellers, their intense competition and platform power. This is evident most notably in the online “faster fashion” sector.

As a consequence of employing parcel modes of logistics (exploiting deminimis rules), importing countries often have limited ability to regulate distant platforms and incoming goods, including related to labour conditions. Moreover, these challenges are intensifying – new segments of e-commerce are adopting such models, including Amazon's new ‘Haul’ platform and social e-commerce (e.g Tiktok & Instagram sellers).

Aligned with emerging challenges, policymakers have called for reform of de minimis, with labour issues being at the forefront of the debate. For example, the EU reform targets Temu and Shein who have been argued not to “play on a level playing field” in terms of labour. In the US, Republican-led groups argue that de minimis is facilitating illegal imports of goods linked to forced labour.

Although de minimis has been discussed within the technical trade literature, there has been very little systematic understanding of its link to platform labour conditions. To examine such debates, I will take a techno-political approach - examining the technical aspects of logistics in hand with the political economy of deminimis reform. The paper will track the emergence of de minimis regulations, its incorporation into “e-commerce and development” discourses and how deminimis reform links into a broad set of goals (labour, competition, trade wars). Overall, based on this analysis, I argue that de minimis rules are an important prong of building a labour regime that disciplines problematic platform labour. However, current policy suggestions may be symbolic with limited impact without deeper reforms.

This work aligns with the conference track by considering effective labour regulation. In the platform economy, there is an acknowledgement that where labour regulation are weak, finding a more holistic and pragmatic set of tools and effective implementation that discipline problematic forms of platform business model may be a more effective remedy.