"Although there is no universally accurate or accepted decription or definition, there is a broad understanding that the term 'informal economy' accommodates considerable diversity in terms of workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs with identifiable characteristics. ..... Workers in the informal economy include both wage workers and own-account workers. Most own-account workers are as insecure and vulnerable as wage workers and move from one situation to another. Because they lack protection, rights and representation, these workers often remain trapped in poverty."

• "governments to provide an enabling framework at national and local levels to support representational rights" (Clause 23) This presents a big challenge, particularly with respect to the newly-recognised category of own-account workers, who normally find themselves outside of the scope of national labour legislation due to the fact that they are not in an employer-employee relationship.
• "Public authorities should include such organisations in public policy debates, and provide them access to the services and infrastructure they need to operate effectively and efficiently and protect them from harrassment or unjustified or discriminatory eviction" (Clause 23) - a clear reference to the relationship between street vendors and local authorities, which has also not traditionally not been seen as a labour or work issue in the past.
• "Policies and programmes should focus on bringing marginalised workers and economic units into the economic and social mainstream ..... Statistical and other research should be focused and designed to give effective support to these policies and programmes" (Clause 24)
• "To increase job quantity and quality, emphasis should be placed on investing in people, especially the most vulnerable" (Clause 26)
• "Poverty reduction strategies ..... should specifically address the problems in the informal economy" (Clause 26)
• "Governments have a lead responsibility to extend the coverage of social security, in particular to groups in the informal economy which are currently excluded" (Clause 29)
• "An important objective for both employers' and workers' organisations is to extend representation throughout the informal economy. Workers and employers in informal activities may wish to join existing trade unions and employers' organisations, or they may wish to form their own. Employers' and workers' organisations play a critical role in either strategy: extending membership and services to employers and workers in the informal economy, and encouraging and supporting the creation and development of new membership-based, accessible, transparent, accountable and democratically managed representative organisations, including bringing them into social dialogue processes." (Clause 31)
• "The ILO approach should ..... be comprehensive involving the promotion of rights, decent employment, social protection and social dialogue .... (and) should focus on assisting member States in addressing governance, employment-generation and poverty-reduction issues" (Clause 35)
• The efforts of the ILO should "be reflected in the programme and regular budget and technical assistance priorities and supported by adequate regular budget and extra-budgetary resources" (Clause 36)