This report is a collective endeavour that reflects the dedicated work of many colleagues and partners. At the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Centre, the report’s preparation was led and managed by Alexandre Kolev, Head of the Social Cohesion Unit, with support and co‑ordination by Mariya Aleksynska, Economist, under the guidance of Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Director.
Data collection, analytical work, drafting, and fruitful collaboration between various authors across the OECD and from other organisations included Mariya Aleksynska (OECD/DEV), Laura Alfers (WIEGO), Bert Brys (OECD/CTP), Florian Juergen Grant (WIEGO), Alexandre Kolev (OECD/DEV), Thomas Manfredi (OECD/DEV), Mariona Mas Montserrat (OECD/CTP), Justina La (OECD/DEV), Michael Sicsic (OECD/CTP), and Yannic Rehm (OECD/CTP). Our special appreciation also goes to the ILO, and to Florence Bonnet in particular, for providing several graphs and analysis to Chapter 4.
Special thanks go to UNESCO partners, who provided inputs and advice on Chapters 4 and 5 of the Report, specifically Hiromichi Katayama, Danilo Leite Dalmon, Hervé Huot-Marchand, and Zafiris Tzannatos, under the oversight of Borhene Chakroune.
The report benefitted greatly from a series of consultations and presentations of early versions of various chapters, in particular during an Expert Meeting on Informality (March 2021), a Thematic Expert Meeting on Skills and Learning Needs of Informal Economy Workers (September 2021), a Workshop on Frontiers of Policy Analysis on Transitions out of Informality and Their Implications for Workers (December 2022), and a Thematic Expert Meeting on Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers (June 2023), organised by the team responsible for the report at the OECD Development Centre; as well as a UNESCO conference on Skills and Informality (Bonn, October 2022). We sincerely thank, without implicating, participants of these events, as well as attendees, for fruitful exchanges and feedback, which helped shape the final product and ensured its relevance for various audiences.
Referee feedback from the following experts helped to improve substantially the quality of the report and its background papers, and is therefore gratefully acknowledged: Christina Behrendt (ILO), Juan de Laiglesia (OECD/DEV), Anders Gerdin (Sida), Melis Guven (World Bank), Raphaela Hyee (OECD/ELS), Herwig Immervoll (OECD/ELS), Raphaela Karlen (World Bank), Alix Machiels (ILO), Glenda Quintini (OECD/ELS), Michal Rutkowski (World Bank), Marieke Vandeweyer (OECD/SKC), and Rosalia Vazquez-Alvarez (ILO).
We would like to thank the OECD Development Centre’s Publications and Communications team, Delphine Grandrieux, Elizabeth Nash, Irit Perry, Henri-Bernard Solignac-Lecomte and Felix Zimmermann, for their patience and tireless work on the production of this report and associated materials. The authors also sincerely appreciated editing by Brenda O’Hanlon and graphic design support by Aida Buendía. Antonella Leiva and Nathalie Lusenge provided valuable administration support throughout the preparation of this report.
Finally, the OECD Development Centre would like to express its sincere gratitude to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for its financial support in the production of this report.