Contact Recommend this newsletter News on "Learning and working in the informal economy" A service of the Toolkit-Team, provided by the TVET Sectoral Program Issue No. 3 November 2015 Dear reader, For the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), skills development for those living and working in the informal economy remains one of the focal areas of development cooperation in the education sector. This is once again emphasized in our newly developed education strategy (see here, in German). We also continue to promote gender equality in education and training, as well as in employment be it formal or informal. Call for contributions If you would like to contribute to the Toolkit, please contact us at toolkit@giz.de. Relevant publications Chen, M. A. (2012), The Informal Economy: Definitions, Theories and Policies, WIEGO: Cambridge. In most developing countries, informal employment is an important source of income for women. Improving women s skills plays a crucial role in increasing their earnings, productivity and employability either to support their transition into formal employment, or to improve working conditions and earnings in informal employment. In the context of its G7 presidency in 2015, Germany promotes women s empowerment in particular through education and training. Germany is committed to supporting its partner countries to overcome social, economic and legal barriers to women s economic participation. Possessing the relevant skills for decent work is a crucial factor for the economic empowerment of women and girls, since it improves their employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. As one of the G7 members, we commit to increasing the number of women and girls technically and vocationally educated and trained in developing countries through G7 measures by one third by 2030 (see here). This third edition of the Toolkit Informal Economy Newsletter focuses on women in the informal economy and highlights current development cooperation initiatives in this area. Janine Kreuz Desk officer TVET BMZ, Division 304: Education and Digital World Contents In Focus: Women in the Informal Economy Featured Article: Integrated Women s Empowerment Program Ethiopia GIZ Gender Toolbox Project Example: Technical and Vocational Training for Women in Ghana In Focus: Women in the Informal Economy By Martha Chen Chen, M. A. and Raveendran, G. (2011; updated 2014), Urban Employment in India: Recent Trends and Patterns, WIEGO: Cambridge. ILO and WIEGO (2013), Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture, ILO: Geneva. Raveendran, G. et al. (2013), Home-Based Workers in India: Statistics and Trends, WIEGO: Cambridge. Vanek, J. et al. (2014), Statistics on the Informal Economy: Definitions, Regional Estimates & Challenges, WIEGO: Cambridge. Previous issues Browse previous issues of the Toolkit Informal Economy Newsletter. Next issue The next issue will focus on the theme of youth in the informal economy. If you or anyone you know are interested in contributing to this edition of the Toolkit Informal Economy Newsletter,
Women and Men in Informal Employment Informal employment is a greater source of non-agricultural employment for women than for men in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, whereas in the Middle East and North Africa it is vice versa. No differences were found in East and Southeast Asia. However, it should be noted that, because in most countries more men than women are in the workforce, men generally comprise a greater share of informal employment than women (Vanek et al. 2014). Informal Economy Newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact us at toolkit@giz.de. There is gender segmentation within informal employment by status in employment. In general, women in informal employment are more likely to be self-employed than are men, the exception being Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In Latin America, both women and men working in informal employment are about equally split between wage employment and self-employment. The self-employed can be further disaggregated into employers, own account operators, and unpaid contributing family workers: The proportions of women in own account work relative to men tend to follow the same broad pattern as total self-employment. The exception is South Asia in which own account workers comprise a larger proportion of men s nonagricultural informal employment than women s. This is because contributing family workers account for a particularly sizeable share of women s informal employment in South Asia. Contributing family workers are the second largest category of the self-employed comprising from 5 per cent of informal employment in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to 12 per cent in South Asia. The percentage of women contributing family workers is at least twice that of men in all regions except Eastern Europe and Central Asia where it is roughly the same. In the sub-regions of Asia it is three times greater. Employers comprise only between 2 and 9 per cent of non-agricultural informal employment, with the proportion being higher for men than women. Very few women in informal employment are employers: 0 per cent in South Asia, 1 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 2 per cent in Latin America/Caribbean, and 9 per cent in East/Southeast Asia (Vanek et al. 2014). There is also gender segmentation within informal employment by branches of economic activity. Very few women work in informal construction and transportation activities, the one modest exception being female construction workers in South Asia. These two sectors are clearly male-dominated. Manufacturing accounts for an equal or greater share of women s informal employment than men s in all regions, except for Sub-Saharan Africa. A similar pattern holds for trading activities, with the exceptions in this case of the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia. Services other than trade and transportation (e.g. domestic work) account for a larger share of women s
employment than men s across all regions (Vanek et al. 2014). Finally, there is gender segmentation within informal employment by place of work. Although the regional estimates do not include analysis by place of work, other recent statistical analyses indicate that women are over-represented in two forms of employment that take place in private homes: home-based work (in the home of the worker) and domestic work (in the home of the employer) (Chen and Raveendran 2014; Raveendran et al. 2013). Recent statistical analyses also indicate that women are less likely than men to be engaged in workshops or factories outside the home; but are engaged alongside men in public spaces outside the home, including to varying degrees construction, street trade and waste picking depending on the country (Chen and Raveendran 2014; ILO and WIEGO 2013). To learn more about women in the informal economy, please read the Toolkit article by Martha Chen here. For further information on Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), please click here. Featured Article: Integrated Women s Empowerment Program Ethiopia The Integrated Women s Empowerment Programme (IWEP) provided training and education for women working in the informal economy. The IWEP integrated three components of education programs that are usually separate: functional adult literacy education, livelihood skills/non-formal vocational training and entrepreneurial support such as business skills training and business development support services coupled with savings and credit schemes and access to start-up capital. The program targeted illiterate, poor and low-skilled women in the lower tier of the informal economy most of whom were living in rural areas. These women were usually self-employed in agriculture or small businesses. Through the IWEP they received basic short technical skill training in market-relevant skill areas. The 30,000+ women reached by the program have acquired literacy skills sufficient for daily literacy tasks and business-related tasks such as bookkeeping as well as business skills enabling them to run their own businesses. Their own savings and credit schemes coupled with funds from the project provided start-up capital. Many women have successfully started businesses and even grew to bigger businesses during the programme's life time. Now almost 3 years after the programme phased out it is encouraging to note that many of the women groups are still active and continuing with their businesses. The savings and credit component binds them together and enables them to expand and engage in different business opportunities. The support from the group provides a social network in difficult times. As much as possible they access business support services rendered by government sector offices. Their literacy skills are still used in book-keeping and accessing information. Read the full Toolkit article by Sonja Belete here. You will find further information about the tool Community-based training here. GIZ Gender Toolbox "Promoting equal participation in sustainable economic development" Gender equality and women s empowerment have increasingly become central issues in international economic development discussions. Besides the humanitarian relevance of gender equality there is also a high economic potential of gender equality. Econometric studies have shown that countries lose a substantive part of their potential growth because of persisting gender inequalities in education, labour force participation and access to resources and
inequalities in education, labour force participation and access to resources and assets such as credit, technology and business services. In order to enhance the access to information on how to improve gender equality through measures in the field of sustainable economic development the GIZ division Economic development and Employment is happy to launch the publication Promoting equal participation in sustainable economic development. The publication comprises a collection of field-tested tools in three areas of economic development: TVET and labour markets, financial systems development, private sector development and economic policies as well as a selection of overarching tools. This reflects the integrated approach to employment promotion which German development cooperation applies focusing on the supply side of the labour market, the demand side as well as on instruments of active labour market policy matching the both sides. The toolbox comprises 25 tools of which each is briefly described outlining expected impacts, key steps for implementation as well as potential partners to work with. Most tools are illustrated with a good practice example drawn mainly from GIZ s worldwide portfolio. You will find the full GIZ Gender Toolbox here. Project Example: Technical and Vocational Training for Women in Northern Ghana As in many other countries around the world, women in Ghana find it difficult to secure employment in male-dominated technical trades because of persistent prejudices against female mechanics and technicians. The education system reinforces these prejudices because girls vocational training institutes in Ghana typically only offer education and training in female-dominated trades like, for example, catering, seamstress-ship, hair-dressing and cosmetics, or secretarial services. GIZ s Programme for Sustainable Economic Development, commissioned by BMZ, is supporting the Government of Ghana in its work to promote and strengthen the country s vocational training system, and non-formal vocational training, especially in the car mechanics sector, as one of its components. One of the programme s main goals is, therefore, to increase the number of female trainees in technical trades. To do this, it has identified two technical sectors or niche markets of strong relevance for women in the north of Ghana: the bicycle and motorcycle sector as well as photovoltaic appliances. It is assumed that, given both sectors attract many female end-users, they will generate significant employment opportunities for female professionals. As such, the programme introduced a modular non-formal training course for female cycle mechanics, following a curriculum that combines sales, servicing, maintenance and repair of bicycles and small, single-cylinder motorcycles. The training provided young women with the knowledge, technical capabilities and self-confidence required to compete in the market, set up their own workshops or find employment as mechanics or cycle salespersons and, in so doing, generate an income for themselves and their families. The training placed a special emphasis on entrepreneurial skills, customer orientation and communication, and also included a component for obtaining a motorcycle license. You will find further information about the Programme for Sustainable Economic Development here.
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