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Way out of informality: Facilitating formalization of informal economy in South Asia - Final Evaluation

eval_number:

1895

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/1895

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Informal economy

category:

Employment

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comments:

ILO DWT, ILO CO (Dhaka, Kathmandu and New Delhi) and the other ILO offices in sub-region, region, and headquarters; Ministry of Labour and Employment; local governments; trade unions; and the workers in the informal economy.

challenges:

The short contractual arrangement implied less ownership in partner agencies for providing continuity to the planned activities and lack of internal resource mobilization mechanism along with approval process for work programme and budget on annual basis as well as for each activity meant that the transaction costs was high in addition to delays in the implementation of some of the planned activities.

success:

The strong commitment of project staff and persistent engagement with stakeholder groups; commitment of some of the implementation partners.

context:

The formalization of the informal economy was not a priority in the development programmes in the participating countries. There were no obvious partners with formalization experience on the ground to work with. The approach had to be tailor-made for each sector and country.

description:

The formalization of the informal economy requires a strong partnership with the private sector along with a genuine representation of workers in the informal economy. The tripartite mechanism is working well in all three countries but it does not adequately service the workers in the informal economy. The mechanism keeps the voice of these workers out of the discussion unless represented by the trade unions. The evaluation recognizes that it is not easy to clearly identify a genuine representation of informal workers because they tend to transitory (moving from one job to most in the absence of safe working conditions, less favourable terms of employment and virtually no social security. This calls for an innovative approach. Likewise, employers' representation needs to ensure that the businesses practice decent work standards. The role of private sector is critical, particularly in the current business environment. ILO can play a constructive role in ensuring representation of relevant stakeholders.

administrative_issues:

Complexities in implementation arrangements with multiple stakeholders and an additional layer of project work programme and financial management at the by the ILO Regional Office in Bangkok level; turnover of CTA and national project coordinator in Nepal and delayed realization of the need for a national project coordinator for India.

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/194791

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location:

country:

Asia and the Pacific - regional

region:

Asia and the Pacific

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eval_title:

Way out of informality: Facilitating formalization of informal economy in South Asia - Final Evaluation