Promoting the transition from informality to formal employment: Unleashing a huge potential for the UfM region in terms of economic growth and social cohesions

• During their 2022 Ministerial Meeting in Marrakech, the UfM Ministers of Employment and Labour stressed the need to promote the transition to formal employment for informal workers, especially women. The UfM Workshop acted upon this mandate and benefited from the expertise of multiple partners and stakeholders.

• Several success stories and best practices were shared by young and women entrepreneurs to inspire pathways of sustainable transition from informal economy, with a focus on trust-building, inclusivity and impact going forward.

16-17 September 2025, Istanbul – The UfM, in partnership with the German Development Cooperation and with the support of the European Commission (Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion), organised the UfM Informal Economy Workshop in Istanbul on 16-17 September 2025. The Workshop was also supported by Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Türkiye.

The Workshop brought together over 90 partners and stakeholders including government and private sector actors, social partners, social economy workers, entrepreneurs, Academia, as well as representatives of regional and internation organisations and entities (including the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Training Foundation (ETF), among others).

The Workshop focused on opportunities, challenges and best practices in addressing informality and promoting the transition from informality to formality in the region and showcased some inspiring initiatives in the field. It aimed to respond to a substantial demand from policymakers and employers’ and workers’ organizations at the country level for evidence-based, innovative approaches and good practices on effective policy and coordination frameworks for facilitating the transition to the formal economy including through emerging opportunities from new digital technologies which can provide effective tools to facilitate the transition to formality, prevent informalization and strengthen compliance systems against labour law violations, while respecting applicable data protection laws.

The floor was given during the Workshop to young and women “storytellers” to share inspiring practices and success stories that can inspire innovative and inclusive pathways for sustainable transition from informal to formal economy.

During their 2022 UfM Ministerial Meeting in Marrakech, the UfM Ministers of Employment and Labour stressed the need to “promote the transition to formal employment for informal workers, especially women, employed in the shadow economy , home-based work and in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as work in the agricultural sector and own-account and part-time work, by providing incentives for enterprises to ensure transition from informal to formal economy, promoting pilot projects to encourage and support the transition from informality to the formal market, extending social protection and ensuring fair wages that provide for a decent standard of living in accordance with diverse national wage setting systems.”

The Workshop acted upon this mandate, bringing together multiple stakeholders to exchange in dialogue under different formats and exchange best practices and success stories that can be replicated and scaled up as part of the collective efforts to tackle this structural problem that has multilayered implications to the region’s economies and social cohesion.