68 Technical and Vocational Skills Development in the dvv international Informal Sector Contributions to the 4th Bonn Conference on Adult Education and Development (BoCAED), October 2013 Karen Langer (ed.) Informal Sector International Perspectives in Adult Education Technical and Vocational Skills Development in the Sponsored by International Perspectives in Adult Education – IPE 68 The reports, studies and materials published in this series aim to further the develop- ment of theory and practice in the work of the Volkshochschulen (VHS) as it relates to international aspects of Adult Education – and vice versa. We hope that by provid- ing access to information and a channel for communication, the series will serve to increase knowledge, deepen insights and improve cooperation in Adult Education at an international level. Publisher: dvv international, Anton Markmiller Editor: Karen Langer Managing Editor: Ruth Sarrazin Production: Bonner Universitäts-Buchdruckerei Opinions expressed in papers published under the names of individual authors do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher and editors. This publication, or parts of it, may be reproduced provided the source is duly cited. The publisher asks to be furnished with copies of any such reproductions. Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at <http://dnb.ddb.de> ISBN Nummer: 978-3-942755-11-5 © 2013 dvv international dvv international Institut für Internationale Zusammenarbeit des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes Obere Wilhelmstraße 32 · 53225 Bonn Federal Republic of Germany Tel.: +49/228-97569-0 · Fax: +49/228-97569-55 [email protected] · www.dvv-international.de Our publications are printed on 100% chlorine-free bleached recycled paper. Contents Karen Langer Introduction . 3 | .Theoretical .and .Political .Frameworks .| Richard Walther Building .Skills .in .the .Informal .Sector . 19 Friedrich Georg Schneider The .Shadow .Economy .and .Work .in .the .Shadow: .An .Introduction . .29 Cecilia Soriano Orienting .Literacy .– .TVET .– .Life .Skills .Towards .Poverty .Eradication: . Learning .from .Nepal .and .the .Philippines . 59 | .Best .Practices: .Integrated .approaches .| Manoj Rai Transfer .of .Technical .Skills .among .Collectivised .Slum .Adults . strengthens .Community .Actions .for .Slum .Improvements . 77 Astrid von Kotze A .Pedagogy .of .contingency .for .precarious .work . 87 Emmie Wade Kunzwana .Women’s .Association: .Technical .and . vocational .skills .development .for .youth .in .Zimbabwe . .99 Contents | 1 | .Best .Practices: .Women .Empowerment .| Roxana Rosaria Roca Gonzales Fostering .Gender .Equality .and .Inclusion: .Skills .Training .and . Income .Generation .for .Lower-Class .Urban .Migrant .Aymara .Women . .111 Marta-Elena Jaramillo A .Women’s .Life .and .Work .Training .Programme . .121 | .Best .Practices: .Entrepreneurship .| Susanne Franke “On .your .own, .but .not .alone” .Self-employment .in .Manzini, .Swaziland . .135 Sonia Sapiencia de Zapata Training .Aymara .micro .entrepreneurs .– .migrants .in .the .city .of .El .Alto . 141 | .Best .Practices: .Cooperation .and .coordination .| Sonja Belete and Jesco Weickert Supporting .women .in .the .informal .sector– .experiences .from .Ethiopia . .157 Bart Denys and Alaa’ Abu Karaki Community .development .and .skills .for .the .informal .economy .in .Jordan . .169 Mana Chanthalanonh, Heribert Hinzen, Khanthong Inthachack, Dokkham Xomsihapanya Skills .Development .for .Work .and .Life .Initiatives .and .Support .by . the .Regional .Office .of .dvv international .in .Vientiane, .Lao .PDR . 179 List .of .Authors . 195 2 | Contents Introduction The informal sector provokes different images and stereotypes in different people. Some might visualise poor dirty slum environments with their male population waiting to be picked up for day jobs in construction. Some might see old women selling their hand-knitted dolls to tourists who will immediately throw them away after returning home. Or some may see young people full of creativity and motivation that never give up hope despite the poverty trap they are in, despite the violence they experience every single day, despite the huge responsibility of providing food for crowds of brothers and sisters. Others might think of tax-avoiding small and medium-sized enterprises that benefit from the freedom of lax regulations and increase their profits because they can employ low-priced workers engaged without any social benefit packages. And isn´t that informality kind of close to illegality? There might be a more optimistic outlook as well. We might imagine small craft workshops that provide high quality products at reasonable prices and that pre- serve traditional production techniques and take responsibility for passing them on to the younger generations. Flexible and innovative business startups might come to our minds: Those creative youngsters with an unfailing sixth sense for new market opportunities and the strong will and power to go after their ideas. Some pictures might not pop up immediately: Pictures of women working 18 hours a day in subsistence agriculture; young girls tending for even younger sib- lings or taking care of their elders; women selling their bodies in dark back alleys. It might not be a coincidence that these pictures only come up as second thoughts, since these women are hardly visible, often unrecognised and neglected by some parts of their social environment. Whatever comes to our minds, three things are certain: The informal sector is diverse, diverging and complex. Informality is not only influencing economic is- sues, it forms part of the daily life of most people on this planet, and: Whatever image we have, reality might be different. This publication presents a collection of articles on technical and vocational skills development in the informal sector (TVSD). It spotlights practical project examples from different countries, using different approaches. By doing this, the publication Introduction | 3 disseminates contributions to the 4th Bonn Conference on Adult Education and Development (BoCAED IV) that focuses on analysing the unique setting of Youth and Adult Education and non-formal learning in TVSD in the urban informal sec- tor, highlighting the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved and identifying best practices by fostering dialogue between practitioners, the scientific community, and political decision-makers. This introduction will present the most commonly used concepts and definitions of informality, focusing on those aspects that are relevant to TVSD and poverty reduction. It opens the door for the articles in this collection by highlighting the po- tential of TVSD, and especially non-formal Adult Education for poverty reduction. 1 .The .informal .sector: .Concepts, .definitions, .and .implications There are various terms and concepts behind informality. The ILO and OECD tend to use economic definitions, focusing on parameters like the status of employment, the level of formalisation of the business activities, and government registration. This kind of definition is helpful if macroeconomic development and the situation of specific groups in a society need to be described and compared. They do not shed much light on the circumstances of people working and living in informality and the challenges governmental bodies face while developing and implementing policies and regulations in informal settings. Therefore this introduction will briefly describe three key areas that are highly relevant for the context of TVSD in the informal sector: Firstly, economic concepts; secondly, living in informality and the repercussions on personal well-being; thirdly, cooperation and relations between the state and its citizens. Economic .concepts The International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) presents the most commonly used definition in the context of poverty reduction and development cooperation that also illustrates the wide range of employment statuses in the infor- mal sector. “Informal employment was defined by the 17th ICLS (2003) as encom- passing: (a) own-account workers and employers employed in their own informal enterprises; (b) members of informal producers’ cooperatives (not established as legal entities), if any; (c) own-account workers producing goods exclusively for own final use by their household (if considered employed given that the production comprises an important contribution to the total household consumption and is 4 | Introduction included in the national definition of employment); (d) contributing family work- ers in formal or informal enterprises; and (e) employees holding informal jobs in formal enterprises, informal enterprises, or as paid domestic workers employed by households. In line with the international definition, countries for which data are shown, define employees holding informal jobs as employees not covered by social security as employed persons, or as employees not entitled to other employ- ment benefits.”1 Depending on these subcategories listed above, the informal employment work- ing conditions and working relationships can diverge immensely. Managing a small company with its own employees in the informal sector can be very lucra- tive and informality can be a voluntary option for different reasons. In contrast to this, some people are excluded from the formal labour market,