INFORMAL ECONOMY AND GENDER>>Documents

Abramo, L. Desigualdades e discriminação de gênero e raça no mercado de trabalho brasileiro e suas implicações para a formulação de uma política de emprego. ILO, 2004.

The Brazilian labour market is marked by persistent and significant gender and race inequalities and this is an aspect that must be considered in the formulation, implementation and assessment of public policies in general, and in employment, social inclusion and poverty alleviation policies, in particular. This is what the text argues. It is divided in two parts: the first one analyses some indicators of gender and race inequalities in the labour market and the second one presents some indications regarding the need to include the gender and race dimensions in employment policies.

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Abramo, L. (Ed.). Trabajo decente y equidad de género en América Latina. (Decent work and gender equity in Latin America) Santiago, Chile: ILO. 2006.

This book intends to contribute to the efforts made to advance towards the definition of policies that may enable gender equity through the promotion of decent work. It gathers the main results of research and activities carried out by ILO experts within the framework of work priorities in Latin America between 1999 and 2005. It evidences the importance of considering the issue of gender equity in the Decent Work Agenda of Latin America. It presents the progress made in terms of the diagnosis of the issue and it indicates the areas into which research should go deeper.

Aguirre, R.; Batthyány, K. (Coord.) Labour, gender and citizenship in the countries of the Southern Cone. Montevideo: Cinterfor/ILO, 2001. (Tools for Change 15).

It seeks to contribute to the research that is being carried out now in the universities of the different countries of the Southern Cone and, at the same time, make the society aware of the exclusions generated by today's changes in the labour world. Female and male researchers of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay have participated in an enriching conceptual and methodological debate regarding the inclusion-exclusion of women in the labour world with a gender perspective; the connection between the concepts of citizenship and work were considered and different national experiences of equal labour opportunity policies were analysed. The views offered by a broad scope of social partners and politicians express the ease of access to dialogue and the compromises assumed into the search of gender policies in the labour world.

Chiappe, M.; García and Santos, R. Participation, productivity and training: The path of the Uruguayan Association of Rural Women - AMRU. Montevideo: Cinterfor/ILO, 2005. 91p.

In order to fight against poverty and promote sustainable and inclusive rural development, adopting a gender dimension and articulating with the local productive and social environment are widely acknowledged imperatives. This requires building up networks, mobilising multiple resources and actors and, above all, a global analysis and a variety of changes in which personal, family, productive and socio-political dimensions are indivisibly articulated. In this sense, and as an example, promoting a higher female participation and representation through strong organisations committed to these principles has proved to be a powerful and effective contribution.

Formujer Argentine.Occupational Project. A training methodology to improve employability. Manual. Buenos Aires: MTEySS, 2004

The objective of this material is to transfer the Occupational Project's strategy as a training and counselling methodology in order to reinforce the employability of individuals.

FORMUJER Programme. Gender and competency-based training: Conceptual contributions, tools and applications. Montevideo: CINTERFOR/ILO, 2006

The experience gathered is showing that this approach can be a frame of reference to work on the different components of any intervention in the vocational training area. The intention of this publication is to join these construction efforts, sharing reflections and experiences.

Fernández Pacheco, J. (Ed.) Gender and labour market: Honduras and Nicaragua. San José de Costa Rica, ILO, 2003. Gender, Poverty and Employment Project in Latin America

ICFTU. The informal economy: women on the frontline.Trade Union World Briefing, 2.

While women are many times discriminated and edged out of the labour world, they are strongly represented in the informal economy and, trade unions of women in the informal economy have been emphasized. Home-based textile workers in Argelia, Brazil and the United States, street vendors in India and Moldavia, free-lance hairdressers in Ghana, peasant farmers in Peru, home-based child carers in Croatia; fishmongers in Chad…all have their tale to tell as trade unionists. The fundamental trade union principle of solidarity is at stake, but so is the very survival of the trade union movement worldwide.

ILO. Gender Equality and Decent Work. Selected ILO Conventions and Recommendations Promoting Gender Equality. Geneva, October, 2006.

International Labour Standards (Conventions and Recommendations) are one of the ILO's primary means of action to improve working and living conditions of women and men, and promote equality in the workplace for all workers. ILO standards apply equally to women and men, with some exceptions, in particular those standards addressing issues relating to maternity and women's reproductive role. However, there continues to be a gap between the rights set out in national and international standards and the real situation of workers. These rights must be made effective in practice. A major obstacle preventing workers from exercising their rights is a lack of awareness of their existence. Dissemination of information about these rights is, therefore, a vital instrument for improving gender equality. This publication is one element in that dissemination process. It brings together in an easily accessible form a range of International Labour Standards of particular relevance to the promotion of gender equality in the w orld of work.

ILO. Identification of Economic Opportunities for Women's Groups and Communities. Series on Gender and Employment. Geneva: ILO.

This Guide was developed as part of the ILO Gender Promotion Programme (GENPROM) "tool kit" on gender and employment. The main target audience of the Guide is development and community organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, and workers' and employers' organizations working with local women's groups to identify and to realize opportunities for more and better jobs. It is also intended to assist ILO staff, in particular national project staff, who are responsible for supporting these organizations and groups in their efforts.

ILO. Main Achievements and Challenges in Follow-up and Implementation of the 12 Critical Areas of Concern of the Beijing Platform for Action. ILO Contribution 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women United Nations, New York, 2005.

ILO. Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical picture. ILO, Geneva. Employment sector. 2002.

The purpose of this report is to provide a statistical picture, using the available data, of the informal economy worldwide. The statistics and indicators presented in this book are designed to give a wide audience of users a better understanding of the size, components and characteristics of the informal economy. Such information is essential in formulating policies and programmes at national and international levels to promote decent conditions of work as well as contribute to poverty eradication.

ILO. Global employment trends for women 2004. August ILO, Geneva.

ILO. Time for Equality at Work. March 2003, ILO, Geneva.

Marco, F. Economics and gender. Selected bibliography. Santiago de Chile: ECLAC, 2001. (Women and Development, 37)

This selected bibliography on economics and gender is part of the activities of the ECLAC/GTZ project "Mainstreaming the gender perspective in ECLAC and sectoral ministries". The main objective of this project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean to formulate public policies and economic and social development proposals that specifically and effectively incorporate the principle of gender equity.
This document is intended to facilitate the exchange and dissemination of information on gender and economics. It is also meant to contribute to the research and analysis of phenomena associated with recent processes of globalization and economic liberalization, and with changes in the roles performed by women and men, and the development policies adopted.

Piras, C. Women at Work. Challenges for Latin America. IADB, 2005.

Women at Work presents a series of empirical studies that use household survey data from Latin America to analyze trends in female labor force participation rates, the impact of trade liberalization on women's work, tendencies in gender wage differentials and occupational segregation, and the gender implications of pension reform.

Silveira, S. Gender and employability: challenges and opportunities for vocational and technical training in the 21st century in Latin America. Bulletin N° 153 Vocational training, productivity and decent work. Montevideo: Cinterfor, set, 2002.

Silveira, S.; Matosas, A. Gender and the informal economy in Latin America. New challenges and possible answers through occupational training policies. Bulletin N° 155 Training in the informal economy. Montevideo: Cinterfor, 2003.

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. (Technical and vocational education and training series, 2)

This anthology brings together basic facts and features about basic learning needs and skills of people working and living in the informal economy and presents case studies from different countries examining educational and training strategies for meeting these learning needs. The aim of this volume is to provide accounts of learning and training programmes in the informal sector that range over the vast territory of educational activity and give young people and adults an opportunity to gain the knowledge and develop the values, attitudes and skills which will enable them to improve their capacities to work, participate fully in their societies, take control of their own lives and continue learning. The programmes are significant in that they attempt to integrate education and training. Special emphasis is placed on the participation of all stakeholders, especially civil society organisations and social movements.

Valenzuela, María Elena. Informality and Gender in Latin America. Working Paper No 60. Geneva: ILO, 2005.

Informality has been a topic of interest in Latin America for decades. Only more recently, however, has its important gender dimension been more deeply explored. This Working Paper makes a valuable contribution to the debate over informality, which is seen alternatively as an opportunity for promising business start-ups and a poverty trap. With the spotlight on microenterprises, the authors' insights reveal a more complex reality with important gender differences.This Working Paper forms part of the follow-up given by the International Labour Office to the conclusions on decent work and the informal economy, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2002 (International Labour Conference, 90th Session, Record of Proceedings, Provisional Record, No. 25, 2002).