Search results

The growth of the informal economy over the last 30 years poses a major challenge for ILO's decent work agenda, and the development of skills and knowledge is seen as a solution to this problem. This paper is one of a series of papers on skill development in the informal economy prepared as part of the InFocus Programme on Skills, Knowledge and Employability. In 1989, the ILO Turin Workshop on Training for the Informal Sector had conducted a stocktaking exercise in relation to the situation of skills development of informal operators. This paper provides an overview of some of the major changes that have taken place since the Turin Workshop, in terms of the needs and demand for, and supply of, training. It reviews current policies, programs and projects pertaining to skills for informal sector operators and seeks to document cases of informal and non-formal training programs directed at informal micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and to identify any emerging needs and new trends and their possible consequences. It is structured as follows: Introduction; Informal micro and small enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa; Training for the informal micro and small enterprises in Kenya; Training for the informal micro and small enterprises in Tanzania; Training for the informal micro and small enterprises in Uganda; Summary and conclusions.