Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending June 1994, which contains information in reply to its previous request and transmits useful documentation. It notes in particular the study on the urban employment situation in Nicaragua, undertaken in collaboration with the ILO and the PREALC, which shows that the urban unemployment rate in Nicaragua is the highest in Central America and one of the highest in Latin America. A very high proportion of the active urban population is also employed in the informal sector, although the capacity which that sector has shown to absorb labour is now limited. The analysis emphasizes that the trend for employment to be concentrated in the informal and services sectors is a characteristic of an economy with a low productivity rate.

2. The Committee notes that, according to the above study, the policy dilemma of endeavouring to increase urban employment lies in the manner in which redistribution and investment policies are combined. In a context of high unemployment, the need to adopt emergency measures gives rise to pressure to implement special programmes requiring external financing or additional resources, which increase the fiscal burden. In this respect, the Committee recalls that, under the terms of Article 2 of the Convention, the measures to be adopted for attaining employment objectives have to be decided upon and kept under review, "within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy". The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the measures adopted to overcome the difficulties to which it refers, with an indication of the manner in which the measures adopted in fields such as investment policy, fiscal and monetary policies, trade policy, and prices, incomes and wages policies, as well as in the field of rural development, have contributed to the promotion of full, productive and freely chosen employment.

3. The Committee notes with interest the information provided in reply to its previous request on the implementation of the Vocational Redeployment Plan, and on the activities of the Emergency Social Investment Fund (FISE) and the Fund for Deprived Sectors (FASO). Please continue to provide information of this type and to indicate any other measures taken to assure lasting employment to the categories of the population which are most affected by unemployment and underemployment, such as young workers, women and workers affected by structural adjustment measures. The Government may consider it useful in this respect to refer to the relevant provisions of Part III of Recommendation No. 169. The Committee also requests the Government to continue supplying information on the outcome of the projects implemented by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources for rural workers, as well as any other measures to promote the productive employment of workers in the agricultural sector.

4. With reference to its last comment on the application of Convention No. 142, the Committee notes with interest the work plan of the National Technological Institute (INATEC) for 1994. It hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to indicate the extent to which the training received in the context of the INATEC's programmes has facilitated the vocational integration of the beneficiaries. In more general terms, please indicate the measures which have been taken to coordinate education and training policies with prospective employment opportunities.

5. The Government states that the Ministry of Labour and INATEC organize seminars to establish links with the various chambers of commerce and with the trade unions with a view to coordinating employment policies with labour supply and demand and vocational and technical training needs. The Committee requests the Government to describe the manner in which these seminars contribute to the holding of the consultations required by Article 3 of the Convention which, it recalls, should include representatives of the persons affected by employment policies including, in addition to representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, the representatives of persons working in the rural and informal sectors, with the objective of securing their cooperation in formulating and enlisting support for such policies. Please provide detailed information on any other procedure that has been established to give full effect to this important provision of the Convention.

6. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing any extracts of reports, studies and inquiries enabling it to assess the impact of economic and social policy measures on employment (Part VI of the report form). Please provide information on the action taken as a result of the technical cooperation or advice received from the ILO or the PREALC (Part V of the report form).