Francie Lund

Francie Lund is a Senior Adviser to and former Director of the Social Protection Programme of the global research and advocacy network, WIEGO - Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing. Trained as a sociologist and social worker, she practised as a grassroots organiser in the fields of early childhood development, and in urban infrastructure, with a special interest in participatory research methods as an organising tool. A longstanding research interest has been the impact of South Africa’s pensions and grants in mitigating poverty and redressing inequality. This led to her involvement in a range of policy interventions, including chairing the Lund Committee on Child and Family Support, in 1995, that led to the introduction of the Child Support Grant. She has been involved in the global debates around cash transfers as a form of intervention in addressing poverty and inequality. She is engaged locally and globally in research and policy advocacy around informal workers, especially regarding local government intervention, and around the provision of social security, and occupational health and safety.