Describes the concept of the informal sector and the role of the ILO’s World Employment Programme in researching its possible contribution to employment creation in developing countries. Includes a list containing the work items on the informal sector in the ILO’s official Programme and Budget as approved by the International Labour Conference over the past three decades and the text of the resolution concerning statistics of employment in informal sector adopted by the 15th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 1993. Covers trends since 1970.