Technical and Vocational Skills Development in the Urban Informal Sector

The 4th Bonn Conference on Adult Education and Development (BoCAED IV) was held in Bonn from 16 to 17 October 2013. The Conference, attended by over 150 international participants, focused on technical and vocational skills development (TVSD), including adult and non-formal learning for the urban informal economy. The informal economy involves between 30 and 90 per cent of the workforce of developing countries and generates about half of their Gross National Product. There is now a consensus among policy makers to raise the level of knowledge and skills of informal workers and employers, particularly women workers.
In his keynote address on Day 1, Dr Richard Walther of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) set the stage for the ensuing discussions on the role of TVSD in the informal economy. On Day 2, the major thrust was on interactive workshop sessions designed to arrive at a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and the interaction between macro- and micro-level factors for successful TVSD in and for the informal sector.
The conference ended with a panel discussion on future directions for international cooperation. UIL was represented at the conference by Ms Madhu Singh, Senior Programme Specialist.