NIHR Global Health Research Group on From surviving to thriving: Assessing and responding to occupational and public health risks in informal settlements and for informal workers and the effects of climate change on these risks: Building learning from India and Zimbabwe at the IIED

This project will build on the partners’ strategic objectives to fill key gaps in knowledge on the health of informal workers, with findings that can foster inclusive interventions and generate world-leading health research. It resonates with IIED, UHRC, and TARSC’s missions to build a fairer, more sustainable world using evidence, action and influence in close collaboration with LMIC partners. A focus on urban poverty, informal settlements, and well-being is fundamental to IIED’s extensive work on inclusive shelter and accountable local governance (Mitlin & Satterthwaite 2012). IIED’s strategies to promote inclusive urbanisation operate at multiple scales by partnering with grassroots organisations, researchers, local and national governments, and international agencies. For instance, during the programme Urban Africa: Risk Knowledge (Urban-ARK), IIED researchers have worked with the University of Ibadan, the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), and Kings College London to assess risks in informal settlements (Satterthwaite & Bartlett 2017). IIED also has longstanding relations with federations of slum/shack dwellers in LMICs to document their living conditions and key health risks (see Director’s track record). This proposal neatly aligns with IIED’s strategic focus areas of promoting inclusive urbanisation, climate change adaptation, and the well-being of low-income residents in LMICs. To achieve these aims, IIED engages in rigorous action-research, strategic communications, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). IIED’s Human Settlements Group has 10 staff, including 7 researchers with doctorates and 2 with professorial status (Satterthwaite at University College London, Mitlin at Manchester University). Along with experienced urban researchers, this project will benefit from input by IIED’s communications team and an M&E specialist. Communications staff will work closely with local partners to develop outputs, which can raise the profile of informal workers and share promising interventions to improve their health outcomes (see pathways to impact). IIED’s researchers and communications team have experience developing outputs to reach multiple audiences including blogs, journal articles, and policy briefs. The proposed research was developed to reflect the priorities, existing partnerships, and expertise of UHRC and TARSC in India and Zimbabwe, respectively. Although this is a new partnership, IIED has long recognised both organisations’ high-quality research, and the director of UHRC has already published with IIED (Agarwal 2011). Both TARSC and UHRC are committed to researching urban health equity and working closely with low-income residents to promote well-being (see team expertise below). These organisations are highly experienced with community-based and participatory action research methods, including with informal workers and residents of informal settlements (Loewensen et al. 2014, Agarwal 2016a). For instance, TARSC regularly conducts short courses on public health and participatory action research; conducts capacity-building activities for specific research programmes; and has in-house facilitators with expertise in public health, health systems, statistics, and related fields (Loewenson et al. 2016). UHRC’s director Siddharth Agarwal (co-PI) works full-time in a 100% non-remunerative role and is an internationally-recognised urban health researcher (see team expertise). UHRC has 10 other full-time staff and 5-6 part-time members. The project will benefit significantly from well-established links between TARSC and informal workers’ organisations in Zimbabwe. TARSC has previously worked with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Zimbabwe Chamber of the Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA). Formed in 1981 and registered under Zimbabwe’s Labour Act, ZCTU has had a vibrant occupational health and safety department since the early 1990s. It has train