Enhancing localisation of the Papua New Guinea informal economy act

About the project

In Papua New Guinea, the informal economy is central to the livelihoods of approximately 80 to 85% of the population. The informal economy revolves around women’s food production, distribution and trade, and street trading. Since the early 2000s, the Papua New Guinea government has made efforts to develop laws and policies for the promotion and protection of the informal economy. The Informal Sector Development and Control Act 2004 opened the doors to legalise informal trade by facilitating and encouraging the development of informal businesses in urban and rural areas. However, challenges in implementing laws and policies at the provincial and local government level have resulted in vendors, who are mostly women, sometimes working in unsafe and unhealthy environments.

PPPA, alongside partner organisations, is using a comprehensive approach to improve conditions for informal vendors. They are strengthening the capacity of the vendors to better understand the relevant laws and policies and to be able to plan, organise and advocate with local governments, and strengthening the knowledge of provincial and local governments on relevant laws and policies, as well as facilitating gender sensitising and social inclusion training. Meetings are being facilitated between the vendors, their organisations, local government and key stakeholders on the collection, analysis and the use of data in support of enhanced planning. The scheme is also piloting a new model of participatory governance, in local informal economy development, through the development of a business case that can be scaled up for replication by provincial and national governments.

At the end of the project, it is expected that East Sepik and Jiwaka provinces will be more committed to effective local implementation of the relevant laws and policies, with informal vendors benefitting from a safer and more conducive working environment.

Photo Credit: HELP Resources