Access to decent work acts as an antidote to social exclusion right across our global economy. SEED seeks to unlock the potential for creating more and better jobs in the small enterprise sector. Since this is where most women and men earn their living - in micro- and small enterprises, in self-employment, in the informal economy - this is where policies, regulations, business training, market development and organization building matter most.

The International Labour Conference validated this idea in 1998 by adopting Recommendation No. 189 on "Job Creation in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises". This offers a vision of a vibrant, job-creating, poverty-fighting small enterprise sector. Now SEED is working with governments, social partners and communities, to craft new policy tools, invigorate entrepreneurship and management training, and involve small business in new markets. The Programme conducts research on what works where and why, so that employment can be boosted through small enterprise development.

SEED builds on the ILO's 35 years of experience in supporting small enterprise development. Its mission is to strengthen understanding of how development of this economic sector can better serve employment goals. Most importantly, this knowledge is being put to work through policy guidance, technical assistance and international advocacy. ILO concerns and values drive the work that SEED carries out in improving job quality in small enterprises, increasing economic opportunities for women, promoting association building of employers and workers in the sector, and upgrading the informal economy.

The main areas of work are:

	•		Promotion of an enabling business environment: balancing the need to reduce compliance and efficiency costs with the need to safeguard and, where appropriate, improve protection for workers, including their right to social protection
	•		Building representative associations
	•		Access to business development services
	•		Value chains and cluster upgrading
	•		Informal economy upgrading
	•		Promotion of an entrepreneurial culture
	•		Job quality in micro- and small enterprises
	•		Youth entrepreneurship
	•		Women's entrepreneurship

The Small Enterprise Development Team is part of the Job Creation and Enterprise Development Department within the Employment Sector of the ILO, and works with the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin (www.itcilo.org) in developing training and capacity building programmes for promoting sustainable small enterprises.

Featured documents:
The promotion of sustainable enterprises - International Labour Conference, 96th Session, 2007 (Report VI) Conclusions concerning the promotion of sustainable enterprises - International Labour Conference, June 2007