transportation

MSMEs in the Informal Sector: Formalization Ensure Sustainable Finance and Decent Jobs?

About 2 billion workers, or over 60 percent of the world’s adult labor force, operate in the informal  sector –at least part-time, according to the ILO. The COVID-19 pandemic hit informal workers  particularly hard, especially women. Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), both formal and  informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe and offer employment to one-third of 1.2  billion people in the world who work in the informal sector. They generate services for other sectors  like small and large industries, retail, tourism, transportation, construction, etc., and contribute to over  30% of GDP and more than 70% of all jobs created in developing countries. MSMEs were heavily  impacted by the pandemic and continue to face existential challenges on various fronts including but  not limited to business formalization.

MSMEs, both formal and informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe1 and contribute to more than half of the GDP in most countries irrespective of income2. As many countries struggle to cope with the growing debt burdens and limited fiscal space to finance the SDGs, the important role of MSMEs as catalytic forces for achieving the SDGs cannot be stressed enough. Despite formalization gathering pace, MSMEs and those in the informal sector also continue to struggle to access formal finance. Without the appropriate regulatory reforms, social protection measures, access to formal finance, and capacity building in tools such as financial literacy and numeracy tools to help manage finances effectively, inclusive growth and a decent work environment for those in the sector will remain a challenge. As part of the Development Cooperation Strategy 2020-25, the ILO is forging partnerships that advance policy objectives and coherence within the framework of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) that promote Financing Decent Work. In this panel, the speakers will share global and on-the-ground perspectives and explore steps countries are taking through regulatory reforms, access to finance, and capacity building to ensure sustainable finance and decent work for MSMEs in the informal sector.

Register here!

Speakers:  

  • H.E. Mr. Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the  UN (TBC) 
  • Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief, UNCTAD New York Office of the Secretary-General
  • Ms. Adriana Marina, Founder of Hecho por Nosotros & animaná, Argentina
  • Mr. Amar G. Prabhu, Principal of Don Bosco Industrial Training Institute Kurla, Mumbai, India
  • Ms. Sandie Ejang Elobu, CEO, Western Silk Road, Ltd., Uganda 
  • Ms. Nana Efua Brown-Orleans, Program Lead, Duapa Workspace, Ghana 
  • Ms. Estella Kabagaya Eldradaa, Founder, Mama Children Village, Uganda

Organizers: NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Virginia  Gildersleeve International Fund (DBA Women First International Fund), Salesian Missions Inc, Africa  Development Interchange Network, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of Charity Federation

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org.

MSMEs in the Informal Sector: Formalization Ensure Sustainable Finance and Decent Jobs?

About 2 billion workers, or over 60 percent of the world’s adult labor force, operate in the informal  sector –at least part-time, according to the ILO. The COVID-19 pandemic hit informal workers  particularly hard, especially women. Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), both formal and  informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe and offer employment to one-third of 1.2  billion people in the world who work in the informal sector. They generate services for other sectors  like small and large industries, retail, tourism, transportation, construction, etc., and contribute to over  30% of GDP and more than 70% of all jobs created in developing countries. MSMEs were heavily  impacted by the pandemic and continue to face existential challenges on various fronts including but  not limited to business formalization.

MSMEs, both formal and informal, make up over 90% of all firms around the globe1 and contribute to more than half of the GDP in most countries irrespective of income2. As many countries struggle to cope with the growing debt burdens and limited fiscal space to finance the SDGs, the important role of MSMEs as catalytic forces for achieving the SDGs cannot be stressed enough. Despite formalization gathering pace, MSMEs and those in the informal sector also continue to struggle to access formal finance. Without the appropriate regulatory reforms, social protection measures, access to formal finance, and capacity building in tools such as financial literacy and numeracy tools to help manage finances effectively, inclusive growth and a decent work environment for those in the sector will remain a challenge. As part of the Development Cooperation Strategy 2020-25, the ILO is forging partnerships that advance policy objectives and coherence within the framework of Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) that promote Financing Decent Work. In this panel, the speakers will share global and on-the-ground perspectives and explore steps countries are taking through regulatory reforms, access to finance, and capacity building to ensure sustainable finance and decent work for MSMEs in the informal sector.

Register here!

Speakers:  

  • H.E. Mr. Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the  UN (TBC) 
  • Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief, UNCTAD New York Office of the Secretary-General
  • Ms. Adriana Marina, Founder of Hecho por Nosotros & animaná, Argentina
  • Mr. Amar G. Prabhu, Principal of Don Bosco Industrial Training Institute Kurla, Mumbai, India
  • Ms. Sandie Ejang Elobu, CEO, Western Silk Road, Ltd., Uganda 
  • Ms. Nana Efua Brown-Orleans, Program Lead, Duapa Workspace, Ghana 
  • Ms. Estella Kabagaya Eldradaa, Founder, Mama Children Village, Uganda

Organizers: NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Virginia  Gildersleeve International Fund (DBA Women First International Fund), Salesian Missions Inc, Africa  Development Interchange Network, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sisters of Charity Federation

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development/Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org.

[Annual General Assembly] NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva

NGO Committee on Ageing, Geneva

The NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva invites you to attend its virtual meeting on April 20, 2021. If you are a member of the Committee you will have received the invitation to the meeting, including the virtual link to the meeting.

If you are not yet a member of the Committee and are interested in its work and meetings, please email the Chair of the Committee, Silvia Perel-Levin at ngoageing@gmail.com.

Join via Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81479132014

Please go to the link only at the time of the meeting, 13:30 – 15:30 Geneva time.

Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/ageinggeneva
and Twitter: @NgoAgeing

___________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-New York, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. 

[Annual General Assembly] NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva

NGO Committee on Ageing, Geneva

The NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva invites you to attend its virtual meeting on April 20, 2021. If you are a member of the Committee you will have received the invitation to the meeting, including the virtual link to the meeting.

If you are not yet a member of the Committee and are interested in its work and meetings, please email the Chair of the Committee, Silvia Perel-Levin at ngoageing@gmail.com.

Join via Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81479132014

Please go to the link only at the time of the meeting, 13:30 – 15:30 Geneva time.

Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/ageinggeneva
and Twitter: @NgoAgeing

___________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-New York, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. 

[Submission Deadline] Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors In Employment

Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors In Employment (DAISIE)
Final Conference – Call for papers
Organiser: Karlstad University, Sweden

Against the background of an ageing population, questions of extended working life have been
placed high on the global political agenda. At the same time, growing research indicates that
employment opportunities and working conditions for seniors are often at odds with these
political initiatives and that there are increasing inequalities associated with the normative
expectations associated with ageing at work. Unequal conditions in terms of health,
involvement in informal care and the age climate of different workplaces are examples of
factors that risk creating accumulated inequalities in an extended working life.

Based on analysis of the gendered impacts of policies aimed at extended working life and
comparisons of three contrasting occupations (health, transport, financial services) in the Czech
Republic, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, the NORFACE DIAL (Dynamics of
Inequality Across the Life Course: Structures and Processes) project Dynamics of Accumulated
Inequalities for Seniors in Employment (DAISIE) has focused on issues such as the current
working conditions of the 50+ group across countries and occupations, the combined effect of
employment histories, family life events and intergenerational care services on the dynamics of
inequality in later life.

This final conference is an opportunity for members of the DAISIE project and colleagues from
the broader international research community to present papers in relation to work in later life
and accumulated inequalities.
In particular, we invite paper proposals focusing on:
1. Extending working lives policies and organizational practices
2. Combining extending working lives with caring and other unpaid commitments
3. Older workers and ageism
4. Older workers and digitalization
5. Older workers and health
6. Older workers and working conditions
7. The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on older workers

We invite submissions of 250-300 words abstracts via the conference webpage: kau.se/en/daisie
Please note that abstract submissions shall include: chosen focus (see list above), names of all
co-authors, and name and contact details of the corresponding author. Deadline for submission is January 15th, 2021.

Key dates:
January 15th – submission of abstracts
February 15th – notification of acceptance
February 22nd – registration opens
April 16th – registration closes

The conference is free of charge. Practical information will be published on the conference webpage in due course.

___________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-New York, please visit http://www.ngocoa-ny.org/ . For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit http://ageingcommitteegeneva.org/. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com.

[Submission Deadline] Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors In Employment

Dynamics of Accumulated Inequalities for Seniors In Employment (DAISIE)
Final Conference – Call for papers
Organiser: Karlstad University, Sweden

Against the background of an ageing population, questions of extended working life have been
placed high on the global political agenda. At the same time, growing research indicates that
employment opportunities and working conditions for seniors are often at odds with these
political initiatives and that there are increasing inequalities associated with the normative
expectations associated with ageing at work. Unequal conditions in terms of health,
involvement in informal care and the age climate of different workplaces are examples of
factors that risk creating accumulated inequalities in an extended working life.

Based on analysis of the gendered impacts of policies aimed at extended working life and
comparisons of three contrasting occupations (health, transport, financial services) in the Czech
Republic, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, the NORFACE DIAL (Dynamics of
Inequality Across the Life Course: Structures and Processes) project Dynamics of Accumulated
Inequalities for Seniors in Employment (DAISIE) has focused on issues such as the current
working conditions of the 50+ group across countries and occupations, the combined effect of
employment histories, family life events and intergenerational care services on the dynamics of
inequality in later life.

This final conference is an opportunity for members of the DAISIE project and colleagues from
the broader international research community to present papers in relation to work in later life
and accumulated inequalities.
In particular, we invite paper proposals focusing on:
1. Extending working lives policies and organizational practices
2. Combining extending working lives with caring and other unpaid commitments
3. Older workers and ageism
4. Older workers and digitalization
5. Older workers and health
6. Older workers and working conditions
7. The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on older workers

We invite submissions of 250-300 words abstracts via the conference webpage: kau.se/en/daisie
Please note that abstract submissions shall include: chosen focus (see list above), names of all
co-authors, and name and contact details of the corresponding author. Deadline for submission is January 15th, 2021.

Key dates:
January 15th – submission of abstracts
February 15th – notification of acceptance
February 22nd – registration opens
April 16th – registration closes

The conference is free of charge. Practical information will be published on the conference webpage in due course.

___________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-New York, please visit http://www.ngocoa-ny.org/ . For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit http://ageingcommitteegeneva.org/. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com.