Formally challenged

Covid-19 put the informal economy back in the spotlight - in June 2020, the ILO estimated a partial or full lock down would impact 1.6 billion informal workers.

This brief aims to help development practitioners understand how an MSD approach can address some of the issues associated with informality and, in turn, support better work opportunities for the informally employed. 

It has three parts, covering:

• the concept of informality and understanding why it is important for decent work
• how MSD can be used to tackle informality
• practical lessons from three market systems projects to help projects identify key sectors, analyse them and implement initiatives which can help create better jobs for informal workers