The PRELAB project (Precarious Labour in Asia: Exploring Challenges and Solution to Labour Insecurity through Case-Study-Based Evidence from 8 Asian Countries) funded by the European Community, managed by the University of Latvia and University College Dublin (Ireland) was implemented by 18 member organizations from a number of Asian and European countries over a period of 5 years.
According to the reports of ILO, around two billion workers were currently being employed in the informal sector worldwide, a figure that was set to rise as the impacts of climate change increasingly affect those living in vulnerable conditions, pushing more people into the informal sector. While informal economic activity was widespread in Europe and North America (accounting for around 20% of the national GDP), developing and emerging economies were more affected by the phenomenon. The ILO estimated that Africa, Asia and Latin America were home to 93% of the world’s informal employment, which was growing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Bank and ILO estimated that nearly one billion people had been involved in precarious work because of the pandemic, with women and young people being the most affected.
The growth of the informal sector had a number of serious negative impacts, including: (i) increasing insecurity by keeping workers in precarious positions; (ii) reducing the state’s spending power, leading to higher tax rates and/or budget deficits, driving more productive activities underground and ultimately undermining the economic and social basis for collective bargaining; and (iii) discouraging investment and credit in entire sectors, or even countries, leading to reduced and unpredictable FDI levels. A number of solutions and approaches were needed to limit the negative impacts of the informal sector and address the problems of informal workers, and gradually move informal actors into formality. However, when we looked at global trends and approaches to addressing informality, we could see a widespread inability to effectively address this challenge.
The PRELAB project focused primarily on the link between informality and development, and its main objectives included the followings:
(i) Training on methodology for measuring informality from a global perspective;
(ii) Conceptualizing the methods to apply qualitative and quantitative methodologies that had been successfully used in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to target countries in the Asia-Pacific region;
(iii) Providing a consistent understanding of how to measure and address informality in emerging economies; and
(iv) Collaborating with policy makers and business stakeholders, in addition to the scientific community, to identify ways to apply these approaches to development practice around the world.
At the outset of the project, Prof. Dr. Abel Polese, University College Dublin, visited and worked at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA). Through lectures and discussions, the Faculty of Social Sciences, VNUA, had made significant contributions to the formulation of the research proposal.
Prof. Dr. Abel Polese, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Dublin (Ireland) discussed with lecturers of the Faculty of Social Sciences, VNUA.
When the PRELAB project was officially approved by the European Council in September 2023, the Faculty of Social Sciences, VNUA developed a participation plan. The Faculty of Social Sciences, VNUA welcomed researchers and lecturers from its partners such as the Gender Research Center, University of Moldova (Moldova) and the School of Law and Policy, University College Dublin (Ireland) to visit and work at VNUA. The strong research group "Rural Social Structure" of the faculty participated in supporting graduate students and lecturers in conducting field research, academic exchanges, and seminar presentations.
A group of researchers from the Gender Research Center, University of Moldova (Moldova) visited and worked at VNUA.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Danny Marks, School of Law and Policy, University College Dublin (Ireland) gives a presentation at the Faculty of Social Sciences, VNUA
In May 2024, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Dien had a working visit to the Center for Eastern European Studies, University of Bremen (Federal Republic of Germany). During her time working in Germany, Dr. Nguyen Thi Dien participated in seminars for graduate students, lecturers and researchers of the University of Bremen, and participated in academic activities at the Center for Eastern European Studies. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Dien also presented a seminar on “Employment, food security and social protection for migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam” at the Center.
The presentation focused on analyzing the difficulties of formal and informal workers in industrial parks in Bac Ninh province and suburban districts of Hanoi when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred and the content related to social protection for these workers. The presentation brought very rich and new content and was highly appreciated by graduate students, postgraduates, lecturers and researchers at the Center for Eastern European Studies. During her time working at the University of Bremen, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Dien wrote the article entitled "Social Protection for Migrants in Vietnam: Lessons from the Pandemic". The article was published in Social Policy Worldwide in September 2024 (https://socialpolicyworldwide.org/post/social_protection_for_migrants_in_vietnam_33).
The PRELAB project was still in the process of implementation and helped to open up many opportunities for cooperation and exchange in research, teaching and international cooperation among the project's members. Many graduate students, researchers and lecturers from many countries had chosen the Faculty of Social Sciences, VNUA as the place to carry out their project's activities. Through participating in and implementing the PRELAB project as well as other international cooperation projects, the Faculty of Social Sciences, VNUA was affirming its position and role in international cooperation activities.