The term "informal sector" first came up in 1972 in a research carried out by ILO about the situation of poor workers in Kenya. However, during 2002 International Labour Conference (ILC), a conceptual framework of employment in informal economy was presented: it related an enterprise-based concept of employment in the informal sector with a broader concept of employment in the informal economy, based on the job position.

Today, ILO suggests analysing the work in the informal economy based on decent work deficit. This perspective may be reflected in the new Recommendation 195 concerning Human Development: Education, Training and Lifelong learning, according to which: "Members should identify human resources development, education, training and lifelong learning policies which: d) address the challenge of transforming activities in the informal economy into decent work fully integrated into mainstream economic life; policies and programmes should be developed with the aim of creating decent jobs and opportunities for education and training, as well as validating prior learning and skills gained to assist workers and employers to move into the formal economy" (art. 3, d).

According to this, it is impossible to think of decent work without including the right to training; particularly, relevant, fair and quality training. In this way, Cinterfor/ILO adds to the achievement of goals and objectives promulgated and suggested by ILO. And this is done by encouraging and coordinating efforts, resources and knowledge accumulated by vocational training institutions and actors of the region and the world.

By providing a resource database, the site "Informal Economy" intends to aid in the analysis and better understanding of the situations encountered every day by an increasing number of Latin American women and men. It seeks to become a tool to present resources and reference frameworks about the policies that enable to approach the needs of the informal economy in the most suitable way, thus advancing towards equal opportunities. More>>

ILO Resource guide on the informal economy

Knowledge Fair on Decent Work and the Informal Economy
Through this Fair, ILO has sought to systematise and share ideas, action strategies and good practices developed around the whole world in order to advance in the reduction of poverty and face the most urgent employment and training-for-work problems of today.

Multimedia presentation of the "Model of change" for the informal economy

ILO's website about informal economy

- Resolution concerning decent work and the informal economy, ILC 90, 2002 pdf 57 KB

- ILO. General Report. Seventeenth International Conference of Labour Staticians. Geneva, November-December, 2003. Chapter on informal employment statistics, page 47.

Bulletin 155
Training in the informal economy

Castillo, G.; Orsatti, A. Comp.
Informal work and trade unions in Latin America and the Caribbean: good training and organisational practices

The Informal Economy. ILO Governing Body Session, 298th, 2007

Decent work in the Americas: An agenda for the Hemisphere, 2006-2015. The informal economy, page 56.

Daza, J.L. Labour inspection and the informal economy. Labour Education: The global challenges of labour inspection) Geneva,. ILO, n. 140-141, Jul.-Dec. 2005. p. 15-21.

Singh, M. (Coord.) Meeting basic learning needs in the informal sector: integrating education and training for decent work, empowerment and citizenship. Dordrecht: Springer/UNESCO UNEVOC, 2005. 250p. (Technical and vocational education and training series, 2)

Portes, A.; Haller, W. La economía informal. Santiago de chile: CEPAL, 2004. (Políticas Sociales, 100)