Many people in low-income countries rely on informal food systems for food and livelihoods. But informality puts food systems outside — or partly outside — the governance of states and value chains.

Negotiations are a valuable and important tool for increasing the voice of workers in the informal economy. This paper provides empirical evidence from Africa, Asia and the Americas on negotiations and collective bargaining by workers in the informal economy.

This report provides an overview on the importance of the Informal Waste and Recovery Sector (IWRS) for ending plastic pollution. It outlines how the current negotiations towards a global instrument to end plastic pollution can leverage a just transition of the IWRS.

People in the urban informal sector have suffered disproportionately during the COVID-19 pandemic and face a highly uncertain future. While supporting the livelihoods of most of the developing world’s urban poor, the informal sector also deprives them of basic services and social protection.

One of the key questions posed in the research within the Rebuild project is to understand how COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities for women in the urban informal economy. The backdrop of the pandemic has exposed many layers of social disenfranchisement and vulnerabilities.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could reduce COVID-19-induced growth contraction, poverty and inequality trends and spur sustainable and inclusive growth on the continent if stronger support measures targeting women, young traders and small businesses are implemented, according to UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2

By this publication, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) offers a regional review of the employment status of persons with disabilities.

The informal economy in Africa is large and diverse, and it is the main source of employment in the region. It is projected to grow and create more jobs. The informal economy is well established in the region, but it also faces a host of development challenges.

Urbanization is happening differently today than in the past and occurring most rapidly in places with the fewest resources. Traditional approaches are not able to keep up, leaving billions of people with poor access to basic necessities, dragging down economies and damaging the environment.

The waste collection and material recycling activities in developing countries, including India, are majorly performed by the informal waste sector.

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