SOMALI WOMAN: FORMAL AND INFORMAL ECONOMIC SECTOR
Introduction
Formal sector: All those types of employment which offer regular
wages, that includes recognized income sources, employment rights, and on which income tax is
paid.
Characteristics of formal economy:
1. It has
an organized system of employment with clear
written rules of recruitment, agreement and job responsibilities.
2. It has a standardized relationship between the employer and the
employee is maintained through a formal contract.
3. The employee is expected to work for fixed hours and receives fixed salaries
in addition to incentives and perks. He\she works under a decent work environment and is
entitled to benefits such as leave, savings, loans etc. He\she has an
organized association or union where his\her official grievances are addressed.
Besides, he is covered under social protection benefits such as life
insurance, health insurance,
pension, and gratuity
Informal sector: refers to those
workers who are self-employed, or who work for those who are self-employed.
People who earn a living through self-employment in most cases are not on
payrolls, and thus are not taxed. Many informal workers do their businesses in
unprotected and unsecured places.
Characteristics of informal economy:
1. It does not have any written rules or
agreements.
2. It exists merely on verbal understanding.
3. It does not have fixed wages or fixed hours
of work and mostly relies on daily earnings.
4. In most cases, the work atmosphere is
congested and unhygienic.
5. The workers in this type of economy usually
fail to come together and address their problems through an association or a
group. They have poor awareness levels regarding social protection schemes, are
unable to make savings and do not see the necessity of insuring themselves.
SOMALI WOMAN: FORMAL
AND INFORMAL ECONOMIC SECTOR:
Globally, the participation level in the
formal economy has been the most important route to women’s empowerment which
increased gender equality in high income countries. The regular wages and salaries,
relative job security, prospects for promotion, supplementary benefits and
regulated working conditions that characterize formal employment offer a range
of potential benefits for the economy as a whole. According to the World Bank,
economic growth could promote women’s participation in the economy thoroughly
increased the access to employment opportunities and higher returns to market
work.
From street vendors and domestic
workers to subsistence farmers and seasonal agriculture workers, women make up
a disproportionate percentage of workers in the informal economic sector. As UN
reported, in south Asia over 80 percent of women in nonagricultural jobs are in
informal employment likewise Latin America and Caribbean rated 54 percent. According
to ILO 2016, in sub-Sahara Africa, for example, 74.2% of women in wage
employment engage in informality relative to men and the rest 25.8 were
formally employed across those regions.
As it recovers from two decades of
civil-war and recent famine, Somalia faces many economic challenges. External
investment is low, underemployment and unemployment are high, and the economy
is struggling to gain stability. The prevailing conflict affected women and men
differently.
Women’s
roles were traditionally tied down to caregivers at home. Men assumed the role
of breadwinners in their households, thus catering for domestic expenditures
and school fees for the children. Conversely, something changed during the
civil war when majority of men participated in the civil war; a considerable
number of women became breadwinners and took over what were patriarchal roles
before. As an effect of this role change, poverty and deprivation remained, and
continue to be the major challenges that women face – forcing them to economic
roles as street vendors or domestic workers for sustenance of their households.
Day after day, a great number of women are penetrating the informal
sector as vendors of small businesses like selling food stuffs, milk and
second-hand clothes making them an integral part of the informal sector and the
country’s overall economic development. Additionally, street-vending shunned as
a key part of the economy.
As workers, entrepreneurs and service providers Somali
women contribute to social and economic development of the country. More focus should be given to increasing the
number of women working in the formal economy. Yet their contributions and priorities
have been largely overlooked. Somali women face higher levels of unemployment
than men in the formal sectors of the economy and have lower levels of
productivity earning less than men for work of equal value. Economically,
Somali women face long-standing inequalities in the distribution of resources
placing them at a disadvantaged position relative to men in their capability to
participate in, contribute to and benefit from the broader processes of
development.
According
to UN data, Somalia population is
estimated at 16,325,079 people. Since the female rate of Somalia is 50 percent
there is 8,162,539.5 Women and girls across all regions of the country. Nearly
three quarters of the population is under 30 years old with 67 per cent of youth being out of work, the high youth
unemployment is one of the biggest problems in Somalia. And this rate may be
even higher for young women. Due to the inequality of education.
Low enrollment rates in schools are apparent throughout the country, and girls’ enrollment rates are significantly lower, indicating why these facts about girls’ education in Somalia are so important for the promotion of formal economic sector. Somalia has one of the world’s lowest enrollment rates for primary schools. Only 30 percent of children in Somalia are in school and only 40 percent of those children are girls.
Women
are unrepresented in social, economic and political arenas due to weaknesses
associated with Somalia or complete lack of non-gender sensitive policies, lack
of economic capacity, cultural limitations and domestic burdens and clan-based
representation system. Widespread ignorance among community and women and
girl-child in particular is a major challenge to any meaningful development in
Somalia at large. By equipping the women with the necessary skills and
knowledge to start and manage their own businesses. This will increase their
financial abilities to enable them purchase food for their families, educate
their children (girl child focus), afford better health, clothing and shelter for
their children and reduce poverty and attain improved standards of living.
Reference
https://mywage.com/labour-law/labourlawMalawi/informal-sector
https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Events/PDF/Slides/TransEconConf2019-Opoku-Kwadwo.pdf
https://www.so.undp.org/content/somalia/en/home/library/womens_empowerment/publication_2211.html
file:///C:/Users/ENG.%20Naciima/Downloads/Thematic%20briefing_youth_ENG.pdf
https://borgenproject.org/tag/literacy-in-somalia/
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/women-empowerment-and-rights-promotion-in-somalia/
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