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7.6 ILO Convention No. 142 and Recommendation No. 150
The International Labour Convention No.142 and Recommendation No. 150 concerning Human Resources Development, which deal with vocational guidance and vocational training in the development of human resources, are the key ILO policy statements on VET.

7.3.4 Labour market reform: Mainstreaming skills development for the poor
Training for the poor must also be part of a coherent set of active labour market policies. Without concerted government interventions to eliminate key impediments that prevent women, disabled persons and other discriminated groups from gaining equitable access to formal sector jobs, efforts to equalise training entitlements will ultimately fail.

7.3.2 Training as a basic social service: Mainstreaming skills development for the poor
Redressing inequities and under-provision in the formal education system is of vital importance, both for achieving a more equitable allocation of jobs in the formal sector for women and other disadvantaged groups and, more widely, for sustained poverty reduction.

7.2.1 A pro-poor training strategy: Room for manoeuvre
Recommendations concerning poverty reduction are frequently flawed because they fail to take adequate account of underlying political and social constraints and the ability of the state to fund and deliver effective programmes.

6.3 Participatory skill development: For-profit and NGO training activities
'Participatory skill development' is perhaps the best term to describe the underlying rationale of an altogether new approach to skill development among the poor that has been adopted by many NGOs.

6.2 Traditional interventions: For-profit and NGO training activities
The training programmes of traditional NGOs have been similar in many respects to those offered by public sector VET government institutions. In particular, long-term pre-employment training in traditional trades for school leavers and the disabled have predominated.
5.3.3 Women: Public sector training
common criticism of public sector training for the poor is that, at least up until fairly recently, it has been largely 'gender blind' which is part of a wider problem of mainly male policymakers simply 'not seeing' women.

5.2.1 Training outputs: Public sector training
Despite a chronic lack of supporting evidence, most training for the poor provided by public sector training institutions has been widely criticised for being inaccessible, irrelevant and of poor quality.

4.3 The impact of economic liberalisation
The potential impacts of economic liberalisation on VET are twofold: change in incentives to invest in training and the availability of public funding for VET.
4.1 The potential for training interventions: The demand for training
As is well known, the supply of training does not usually create its own demand. Clearly, therefore, training provision for the poor has been powerfully shaped by the nature of the demand for training among targeted groups, in particular in the informal sector. Lack of effective demand is a key reason for both the limited training provision for the poor (and hence outputs and impacts) in most countries as well as the overall failure of national training systems to reorient their activities in support of the poor.

3.1.4 Overall resource availability: Training priorities, resources and reorientation
The extent of public sector training for the poor is also strongly influenced by resource availability and the overall incidence of poverty.

3.1.3 Market-driven training reforms: Training priorities, resources and reorientation
During the 1990s, the World Bank has taken the lead in promoting the benefits of pro-market reforms for VET.
3.1.2 Training for the formal sector: Training priorities, resources and reorientation
Despite oft-repeated government pronouncements about the need for concerted efforts to improve the skills of the poor, responding to formal sector training needs has remained the top priority for most public sector training institutions during the 1990s.
2.2.4 National training systems: Contributory factors
While constant reference is made in the literature to 'vocational training systems', it is rarely made clear what exactly is meant by training system.

2.2.3 Training objectives: Contributory factors
Training policy objectives with respect to the poor are frequently poorly defined. Social exclusion is a complex theoretical concept referring to causal mechanisms producing poverty. Translating this concept into practical, poverty reduction policies has proved to be difficult in most countries (see Gore and Figueiredo, 1997).

2.1.3 The potential for change
Given the received wisdom that training for the poor has had limited impact and training systems have not reoriented to meeting the need of the poor, the key question is 'what is the scope for improvement with respect to both these dimensions of the training crisis?' Again, the prevailing mood among leading commentators is decidedly pessimistic. Broadly speaking, two types of pessimism can be discerned.

2.1.2 Lack of provision and system reorientation
It is widely argued that training systems in developing countries should meet the training needs of the poor in an effective and equitable manner. "The bulk of new jobs are being created in micro and small enterprises. Consequently, the training system should prepare people to be productively employed in these sectors" (ILO, 1998:57). The continuing lack of training opportunities for the poor and disadvantaged is, therefore, a constant refrain in the VET literature.

IV. Principle III: Reinforce Microfinance to Advance the African Private Sector
Key Principles for an African Model of Microfinance
3.1 Skills development for sustainable livelihoods: Working Out of Poverty
It is a commonplace in debates about how to reduce poverty to assert that poor people’s main or only asset is their labour. It seems obvious that training has a critical role to play in improving productivity, incomes and equitable access to employment opportunities. Yet a striking feature of most poverty reduction strategies in developing countries is that the vocational education and training component is largely absent.
Report from the Field: Incorporating Microfinance into Kenya's Economic Recovery Strategy
With a population of 30 million people and a per capita income of US$260, Kenya is categorized the 20th poorest country in the world.[1] Estimates indicate that about 47% of the rural population and 29% of the urban population live under conditions of absolute poverty, where malnutrition and seasonal famine are not just a consistent fear, but also a frequent reality in their lives. On the other hand, the unemployment rate, currently estimated at between 25% and 35%, threatens to get out of hand as roughly 0.5 million school dropouts continue to join the ranks of the unemployed every year.
Improving business conditions - Increasing SME Access to Finance: A Four Pronged Approach
Improving business conditions, boosting the capacity of SMEs, expanding the financial sector and strengthening links between firms will permanently increase SMEs’ access to finance.
3.1 Links Between the Operations of MFIs and Banks, Donors and NGOs: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
A. Developing Complementarities between MFIs and Banks
Ending poverty means abandoning charity and accepting reality
Benin Mwangi, who blogs about doing business in Africa, asked me recently: "should the discussion be about how to get the informal sector to become part of the formal sector or should it be how to cater to the informal sector?" This in an excursion into the morass of African poverty and development. The short answer is: neither; ending poverty has nothing to do with the informal sector.

Ending poverty means abandoning charity and accepting reality
Benin Mwangi, who blogs about doing business in Africa, asked me recently: "should the discussion be about how to get the informal sector to become part of the formal sector or should it be how to cater to the informal sector?" This in an excursion into the morass of African poverty and development. The short answer is: neither; ending poverty has nothing to do with the informal sector.

Other formal sector Related Articles

Ending poverty means abandoning charity and accepting reality
Benin Mwangi, who blogs about doing business in Africa, asked me recently: "should the discussion be about how to get the informal sector to become part of the formal sector or should it be how to cater to the informal sector?" This in an excursion into the morass of African poverty and development. The short answer is: neither; ending poverty has nothing to do with the informal sector.

2.2 Sectoral performance I: Economic Report on Africa 2007
African economies are experiencing a structural shift whereby the service sector is becoming an important driver of growth. In 2004, the service sector contributed 49 per cent of GDP growth compared to 36 per cent for industry (including mining and quarrying) and 15 per cent for agriculture. In 2004, all three sectors continued to grow, albeit at relatively low rates. The industrial sector had the highest growth rate at 9.05 per cent, although growth in the manufacturing sector fell by almost 3.8 per cent compared to 2003. Developments within each sector and for each subregion are discussed in more detail below.
6.0 The broader context: Gender Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Africa, 2007
Although the focus on formal sector entrepreneurs sheds light on a particular, if small, facet of entrepreneurial activity, it is important to bear in mind both the wider context in which such activity occurs in Africa and the limitations of available data in interpreting these results.
1.0 Introduction: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
Small enterprises and most of the poor population in sub-Saharan Africa have very limited access to deposit and credit facilities and other financial services provided by formal financial institutions. For example, in Ghana and Tanzania, only about 5–6 percent of the population has access to the banking sector. This lack of access to financial services from the formal financial system is quite striking, when one considers that in many African countries the poor represent the largest share of the population and that the informal sector is an important part of the economy.
2.1 The CommunityBased Approach in MFI Development: Microfinance in Africa - Experience and Lessons from Selected African Countries
An approach commonly followed in African countries has been to rely on local communities to support the development of MFIs, outside the formal banking sector.
3.1.2 Training for the formal sector: Training priorities, resources and reorientation
Despite oft-repeated government pronouncements about the need for concerted efforts to improve the skills of the poor, responding to formal sector training needs has remained the top priority for most public sector training institutions during the 1990s.
7.3.2 Training as a basic social service: Mainstreaming skills development for the poor
Redressing inequities and under-provision in the formal education system is of vital importance, both for achieving a more equitable allocation of jobs in the formal sector for women and other disadvantaged groups and, more widely, for sustained poverty reduction.

7.3.4 Labour market reform: Mainstreaming skills development for the poor
Training for the poor must also be part of a coherent set of active labour market policies. Without concerted government interventions to eliminate key impediments that prevent women, disabled persons and other discriminated groups from gaining equitable access to formal sector jobs, efforts to equalise training entitlements will ultimately fail.

About.com’s Martin Murray’s post “Non-Profit Organization Suing ERP Supplier” A Sign of the Times?
In a white paper that I had written in 2007 titled “SAP Procurement for Public Sector” I had highlighted how the challenges with failed ERP-centric initiatives extended beyond the public sector to include the private sector. The difference as one senior Colgate-Palmolive executive told me shortly after scrapping a failed program was that “unlike the public sector in which a failed initiative becomes front page news, private sector company ERP failures rarely make a blip on the media’s collective radar screen.” The lack of media awareness notwithstanding, the frequency of failures in the private sector is comparable to the number of setbacks that occur in the public sector.
12 Questions to ask when developing your consultancy business plan
With the number of jobs dwindling in the formal sector, and the emergence of outsourcing, many professionals are finding that using their expertise as a consultant is the way to go. Being a consultant offers several benefits: you are your own boss, you can set your hours as well as the clients you offer your services to.

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