Resources
UN documents and publications
- General Assembly resolution: Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day (A/RES/71/279)
- 2022 Report of the UN Secretary-General: Entrepreneurship for sustainable development
- Entrepreneurship for sustainable development (A/RES/77/160)
- Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and their role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
- Reducing risk and building resilience to SMEs to disasters
- Focus on prevention: Increasing SME uptake of disaster risk reduction: recommendations for policymakers, financiers and the broader business community
- ARISE Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies
- Do small and medium enterprises lose when disasters strike? (in playlist)
- Resilience Maturity Assessment (ReMA) Tool
United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- Promoting International Investment by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
- Entrepreneurship Policy Framework and Implementation Guidance
- The Square for Global Goals
- Angola bets on small businesses to help transform its economy
- South Africa builds new roadmap to revitalize entrepreneurship
- Empretec - Entrepreneurship global network
- Empretec Women in Business: Building purpose-driven enterprises amid crises
- Empretec Women in Business Awards
- Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP)
- Riding the circular wave: Entrepreneurs tackle the waste crisis, redefine economies
- Advancing shared prosperity through biodiversity-friendly trade
International Trade Centre (ITC)
- SME Competitiveness Outlook 2023: Small Businesses in Fragility: From Survival to Growth
- SME Competitiveness Outlook 2022: Connected Services, Competitive Businesses
International Council for Small Businesses (ICSB)*
- ICSB Annual Global Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Report 2024
- ICSB Annual Global Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Report 2023
Academic Journals*
Journal of Small Business Management
Publishes international research on small business management and entrepreneurship, including small business finance, organization, strategy, and finance.
Journal of the International Council for Small Business
Publishes articles on the growth and sustainability of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and policy.
Reports
- MDPI - esg2go: A Method to Reduce Bias, Improve Coherence, and Increase Practicality of ESG Rating and Reporting
- Swiss International Entrepreneurship Survey
* The UN is not responsible for the content of external websites.
International Labour Organization (ILO)
- A double transition: formalization and the shift to environmental sustainability with decent work
- New frontier or the latest buzzword? Evidence and best practice in entrepreneurship ecosystem development
- Map of ILO interventions on Enterprise Formalization
- Greening SMEs
- 2021 Small goes digital report
- Building sustainable enterprises through productivity ecosystems for Decent Work in the BRICS countries
- How MSMEs can contribute to and benefit from a just transition
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
- Empowering SMEs through 4IR Technologies
- Due Diligence Legislation for Sustainability Standards Adoption
- Standards for Sustainability: UNIDO's Contribution to Voluntary Sustainability Standards
- Mainstreaming Gender in cluster development
World Trade Organization (WTO)
- Trade4MSMEs - Your gateway to trade information
- The Trade Game (a "choose your own adventure" export readiness assessment tool)
- MSME Group Compendia
- A joint compendium with the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender on Access to Finance for Women-led MSMEs (INF/MSME/W/46/Rev.1 & INF/TGE/W/7/Rev.1)
- A compendium of special provisions for MSMEs in Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Programmes (INF/MSME/W/47/Rev.1)
- Research notes
- Databases of MSME trade-related information compiled by the Group
- Database of MSME-related information in Regional Trade Agreements, launched in 2019
- Database of MSME references in Trade Policy Reviews, launched in 2021
Other websites
2025 Global MSMEs Report
This year’s report centers on the theme of “Navigating Permanent White Water” - a concept that describes the nonstop turbulence MSMEs now face, from market and tariff turbulations, geopolitical conflict, to rapid digital transformation and supply chain volatility. This theme sets the stage for urgent reflections on what it takes for micro and small businesses not just to survive, but to thrive: the capacity to adapt continuously, innovate with limited resources, build networks of support, and remain grounded in purpose in a world defined by uncertainty and acceleration.