The Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

The chapter begins with a story about Mohammed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old Tunisian street trader who self-immolated in protest over his mistreatment and exploitation by local police and officials. This story opens a window into an overview of challenges and opportunities that characterise the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) informal economy, informal work, ways in which different populations experience these labour relations and practices and the opportunities that exist, or don’t, for engaging in LLL as a means to develop skills that might lead to less precarious forms of work. After reviewing how these issues have been analysed by various international development agencies, the chapter considers examples of skills development programmes for informal workers, to illustrate how participatory, place-based adult and lifelong learning approaches can assist workers in informal employment to develop the skills they need to improve their economic and social conditions. We suggest in our provocation that the skills needs of informal workers in MENA have to be understood in the context of the region’s political economy, and the ways that LLL approaches can assist them to adapt to the changing structure and opportunities associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well as ongoing conflicts such as between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.