Abstract

Micro entrepreneurs in the informal sector make up the vast majority of the economically active population in developing countries. This grant will finance the production of three concept papers to document factors that facilitate access to occupational health and safety measures and social protection (including the role of associations of small enterprises); discuss the extent of the need for supplementary measures, such as voluntary schemes and cooperative initiatives; and identify units within the International Labour Organization (ILO) that can provide examples of mutual health care insurance schemes that have been tried in various parts of the world. Since women are over-represented in the informal sector in most countries, special although not exclusive, attention will be given to them. The papers will inform a planning workshop that is to take place in Geneva in late 1999 and feed into a larger programme on social security for workers in the informal sector, which is being coordinated by Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), in collaboration with the ILO.

Recipient Institution(s)