This is a thoroughly researched volume, edited by key specialists in the field, along with an impressive team of contributors, that surveys the nature and extent of informal home work in Asia; examining and arguing for protection of the workers who are exploited.

As COVID-19 took hold across local and international borders in 2020 and 2021, over 1.6 billion informal workers were estimated to have been adversely impacted by mobility restrictions and other 'lockdown' measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis. In the Global South, the pandemic has severely affected the sprawling megacities in Southeast and South Asia that have been driving urbanisation, and where there is a very high concentration of informal workers. This volume examines how informal workers were affected by the responses to the pandemic in five Asian megacities: Dhaka (Bangladesh), Hyderabad (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Jakarta (Indonesia), and Manila (Philippines). Gathering voices and experiences from across these subregions, this book engages with issues surrounding state measures to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapters present the gaps and lessons learned in addressing the needs of informal workers. They also shed light on grassroots solidarity initiatives, civic practices, and social networks that have cushioned the devastating effects of the crisis. The book ends with a discussion on the implications of identified state measures and citizen-led responses for (post) pandemic planning and urban governance in Asian cities in an age of recovery.

An annotated bibliography which brings together about 240 recent titles on the urban informal sector in Asia, an area of high employment and rapid growth. Arranged thematically, it covers training, women, labour market, urban poverty, working conditions and economic growth.

Decent work is the ultimate goal but it has to start off with the existence of employment. There can be no work without employment; there can be no work without jobs. In the circle of things, sound industrial relations remains to be fundamental.

Key indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2011 is the flagship annual statistical data book of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It presents the latest available economic, financial, social, environmental, and Millennium Development Goals (MDG) indicators for regional members of ADB. Data are grouped under MDG and Regional Tables. Nontechnical explanations and brief analyses of the MDG achievements and economic, financial, social and environmental developments are included. The regional tables are largely based on a comprehensive set of country tables. The country tables are not available in printed form but are available in CD-ROM and through ADB's website. The special chapter, "Toward Higher Quality Employment in Asia", looks at the importance of growth of good quality (i.e., stable and well-paid) jobs. It identifies some of the major constraints and challenges that countries may face in improving and increasing the quality of employment and potential policies that can be used to resolve or mitigate some of these challenges. -- back cover.

On 28-30 September 2009, the Asian Development Bank, the governments of the People's Republic of China and Viet Nam, and the ASEAN Secretariat jointly organized a high-level Asia-wide conference in Ha Noi on the social and environmental impact of the global economic crisis on Asia and the Pacific, especially on the poor and vulnerable. The conference also served as the 3rd China-ASEAN Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction and as the 4th ASEAN+3 High-Level Seminar on Poverty Reduction. It was supported by various development partners. This book features selected papers from the Ha Noi conference. It is designed with the needs of policy makers in mind, utilizing field, country, and thematic background studies to cover a large number of countries and cases.

Presents an overview on ILO activities in Asia, Pacific and Arab countries, in each of the four dimensions of the decent work agenda : fundamental principles and rights at work, employment, social protection and social dialogue.

From vietnam to Indonesia, Singapore to Thailand, Southeast Asia's economies are growing at unprecedented rates. The metropolises are the heart of economically dynamic Southeast Asia. Singapore is bidding to be a global 'information city'; Bangkok is acquiring an international reputation as a business and transport centre; Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have rapidly expanding core business centres dominated by sleek, highrise office blocks; and Ho Chi Minh City is certain to play a key role in Vietnam's re-emergence into the world economy. Yet this high-profile image presents only one dimension of the Southeast Asian metropolis. This book penetrates the facade of contemporary growth, exploring the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial city. Asian Metropolis: Urbanisation and the Southeast Asian City describes the divergence of the urbanisation process and urban development under capitalist and socialist regimes, and the gradual convergence in the 1990s. It looks at the problems in the fast growing metropolis, from the exploitation of women in the labour force, to the over-stretched infrastructure and urban environmental crises. Southeast Asia's metropolises have played a key role in the region's growth. Unless greater attention is given to the sustainability of these large, complex settlements, they threaten to undermine the societies that created and continue to depend upon them.