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Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Title
Please provide a name for your action learning plan.
Understanding Informal Markets
Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
BIG BET
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Our challenge is that urban markets in Angola, are characterized by an informal work environment, in which market vendors are exposed to risk, not having access to decent working conditions or social protection.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
In Angola 80,8% of jobs are informal and 90,3% are women. This group of workers are the building blocks of the Angolan economy and this numbers show that the size and economic importance of the informal economy in Angola cannot be ignored.Our challenge focuses on the informal markets which are one of the biggest contributors of the country’s economy, but the vendors in this sector do not enjoy any social benefits or protection from the state, nor do they enjoy the recognition they deserve. It is estimated that many have low income and low literacy level and do not have bank accounts or access to credit. The current situation does not look good, as it has been aggravated by the COVID 19 pandemic, including lockdowns and restrictions. The situation jeopardizes the vendor’s daily income, threatens the wellbeing of the families, makes the vendors vulnerable to COVID 19 and it makes them work in undignified conditions.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Socioeconomic impact of Covid-19 in Angola – Publication UNDP and WB https://journals.openedition.org/ras/1094 https://www.economiaemercado.co.ao/artigo/covid-19-as-implicacoes-do-estado-de-emergencia-e-os-efeitos-imediatos-sobre-actividades-informais-em-angola http://osisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Informal-Economy2.pdf https://journals.openedition.org/ras/1121
https://cnef.minfin.gov.ao/PortalCNEF/#!/estudos-e-relatorios/sistema-financeiro/inquerito-de-inclusao-financeira#pergunta-588
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
The impact of COVID on these group of workers is significant, so it is urgent to act on this. Most recently, some of the Institutional and Government perspectives are starting to shift from a punitive approach to a formalization approach, we are now witnessing a public commitment to create better strategies to address the sector. Government has recently created Inter-Ministerial Task Forces to implement the Plan for the ‘Reconversion of the Informal Economy’ (PREI). This strategy will include many actions that go from an Observatory for the informal economy that aims to bring to the same table Government actors, civil society and the actors from the informal economy, the support for the inclusion of digital solutions, such as mobile money or others as well as activities that might contribute to ensuring social protection for workers and modalities for taxation and revenues. Informality is at the top of the list of the Angolan Government´s agenda, there are also mechanisms to boost national agricultural production namely PRODESI and PAPE, as well local government actions such as the ones recently deployed in the Municipalities of Lubango (Huíla Province) and Andulo (Bié Province) both targeting fruit vendors (known as kitandeiras or zungueiras), all represent crucial steps to improve informal vendors’ working conditions and recognition. As we are witnessing key actors moving towards this direction it is important that UNDP is well positioned and capacitated to add value to these strategies.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
AccLab Angola, is supporting the CO Governance Unit in partnership with the Ministry of Territory Administration to improve the infrastructure of 3 informal markets (as a pilot), conducting the digital registry of informal vendors in 24 Markets and mitigating the risk of COVID 19 mass infections by distributing biosecurity material to the informal vendors. The AccLab is also supporting Inclusive Growth Unit by targeting market vendors in their initiatives (inside PREI) including, digital and financial inclusion, access to credit and training/capacity building. We believe this challenge needs to be approached with many interconnected actions with a portfolio mindset, it needs to be taken by all CO units at different levels, this is why we are contributing with research, and innovative methods and approaches (systems thinking, sensemaking, micro narratives, online questionnaires etc..) for an integrated and harmonized UNDP Angola approach to informality, built on diverse data and activities. It is worth investing resources in this challenge because the result will make informal markets better organized and more functional improving value creation, enhancing the informal businesses, therefore allowing more families to have food security and reducing poverty and it will help control the spread of COVID 19 among this vulnerable but significant layer of the society.
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
Considering the potential identified in urban markets, we intend to help highlight the positive value they add and contribute to reducing some of the negative aspects that impact vendors and the general functioning of these spaces. Ultimately, we aim to achieve the following development effects: Informal markets as a recognized and legitimate network; Decent work and social protection for people in informal markets; Markets as adaptable and more efficient systems.
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
Ministry of Territory Administration (MAT) and local Government
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
For planning and coordination of activities in Markets, infrastructure improvements in Public Markets and digital registry of vendors
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
Strategic Innovation Unit
What sector does our partner belong to?
United Nations
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
We will try to keep interacting with SIU to expand on our systems thinking framework and the Portfolio of experiments we have designed with their support.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
Private Sector Companies
What sector does our partner belong to?
Private Sector
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
To mobilize resources for experiments in Markets
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
Vendors and Vendors Associations
What sector does our partner belong to?
Civil Society
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
For co-creation and data collection.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
Scholars and researchers
What sector does our partner belong to?
Academia
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
For knowledge and data, using collective intelligence
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
We want to learn more about vendors socio-economic conditions.
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Explore
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
These methods will contribute to have diversified quantitative and qualitative data at different scales, macro and micro.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
These methods will allow us to gather socio-economic data from market vendors. It will help inform planning.
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
What can be done to promote a decent and dignified work environment in markets, fostering recognition and increasing value creation by building on the potential that lies within networks?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Explore, Test
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
Tapping into the potential of existing networks of vendors and local government to co-design and test new ways of developing and improving infrastructure (physical and digital) in Markets.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
These will allow to understand the impact of new infrastructure development in markets.
Closing
Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?
The Market Administrators, vendors and vendors Associations might benefit from having more data on their activities, and identifying opportunities to improve their work environment. Government (Ministries and local Government) will benefit from this work to inform planning and ongoing strategies for the Reconversion of the informal economy. Other CO Units are also benefiting from this work and using it to inform initiatives. Private Sector working on digital and financial inclusion might also benefit as well as researchers and academia. Other UN Agencies such as FAO or WFP who also have work that connects to Markets.
END OF ACTION LEARNING PLAN: Thank you! The form saves automatically and your submission has been recorded. You may now exit this window.
1No poverty
8Decent work and economic growth
10Reduced innequalities
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