First International Conference on Informal Work

The First International Conference on Informal Work is an initiative led by Universidad del Valle, in collaboration with the Global Coalition on Informal Workers’ Health and Wellbeing (GCIW), the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA), and the ICOH SC OHSSEIS. It also brings together various national and international academic networks and organizations dedicated to the health, safety, and well-being of those working in the informal sector.

The event will be held in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, from November 9 to 11, 2026, in a hybrid format. It aims to establish itself as a collaborative space for academia, institutions, workers' organizations, and other stakeholders committed to understanding and transforming informal work.

Why talk about informal work?

The informal economy constitutes a structural reality that, according to current ILO estimates (2026), affects 57.9% of the global workforce. In Latin America, this situation impacts more than half of the active population, while in Colombia, the figure stands at 55.3%. In Cali, this phenomenon reaches 47.8% of the employed population (DANE, 2026), representing 533,000 individuals who, despite sustaining the daily economy, typically work under conditions of high precarity, instability, and lack of social protection.

This issue is not driven by a single cause; rather, it is a convergence of insufficient formal employment, the precaritization of productive chains, migratory flows, and gender gaps, compounded by new digital transformations. These factors directly impact the health, safety, and well-being of workers, posing an urgent challenge for current public policies and regulatory frameworks.

Sources: ILOSTAT, Statistics on the informal economy; DANE, informal employment statistics for Colombia and Cali, moving quarter November 2025–January 2026. Photo: Mayor's Office of Santiago de Cali.

Objectives

Conference themes

The conference will feature keynote lectures, thematic sessions, oral and poster presentations, as well as spaces for dialogue and academic exchange. The preliminary program is currently under development and will be progressively updated with further details.

Download Preliminary Program

A global event driven in partnership with international and regional networks:

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