Philippines, March 5 -- Women make up the majority of workers in the informal economy in Asia and the Pacific. Rather than trying to move these women into formal jobs, more should be done to protect and encourage their informal work.

Working and traveling in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, I am amazed at the number of women I see in the markets, buying or selling food and household products, or working in small businesses in their homes, or engaged in other informal work to earn a living for their family. And some are surprisingly successful.

With a minimum basic education and no high-level title to her name, one woman in Cambodia managed to buy a large house for her family, put two children through local universities and support her hu...