Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Coordination of employment policy with poverty reduction. The Committee notes the document entitled “National Employment Strategy and Plan of Action 2008–12” sent by the Government in October 2008. The Government indicates that the objectives pursued by the National Employment Strategy are geared to those which were laid down by the Strategic Framework for Poverty Reduction 2006–10 (CSLP 2), namely reducing the unemployment rate to less than 25 per cent and increasing the rate of persons completing technical or vocational training to 55 per cent in 2010. According to UNDP and World Bank estimates, 46.7 per cent of the population are still affected by poverty, and this is below established targets, namely to reduce the proportion of the population living beneath the poverty threshold to 27 per cent by 2010 and 17 per cent by 2015. The National Employment Strategy has enabled the main gaps in employment policy to be identified, namely a very high unemployment rate, a national economy dominated by the informal sector and a mismatch between training and the needs of the national labour market. Issues and structures related to employment will now be grouped together within the Ministry of Employment, Integration and Vocational Training (MEIFP), which will have the role of directing, coordinating and following up on employment policy. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the importance of supplying detailed replies in order to examine the implementation of the Convention. It requests the Government to supply detailed information in its next report on the results achieved under the National Employment Strategy in terms of the creation of lasting jobs, reduction of underemployment and poverty reduction. In particular, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply information on the steps taken to improve the vocational and technical training available for young persons and women, to promote small and micro-enterprises, and to create productive and lasting employment in conditions which are socially satisfactory for workers in the informal economy.

2. Employment promotion and labour-intensive services. In its National Employment Strategy, the Government reiterates that its economic choices have been industrial and commercial projects and labour-intensive services. The labour-intensive approach aimed at integrating persons with few or no skills in working life has been tried out in numerous programmes, such as the stone masonry programme, the urban development programme and the integrated national programme to support small and micro-enterprises. The Committee requests the Government to supply information in its next report on the number of jobs created by the labour-intensive programmes and their impact on the creation of productive employment.

3. Compilation and use of employment data. The Committee notes that the sixth component of the employment strategy underlines the need to establish a national information system on the employment market and a mechanism for technical and vocational training. This system will cover three main areas: (a) creation and operation of the network of producers and users of employment and training data, with the joint involvement of the Ministry of Employment, the National Statistics Office, sectoral departments and the private sector; (b) monitoring of employment and the technical and vocational training mechanism; and (c) focusing on studies and analysis to improve the system and share information. Moreover, the Directorate of Studies, Programming and Statistics is responsible for statistics and the establishment of the information system on employment and technical and vocational training. The Directorate of Employment plans, coordinates and analyses developments in the job market. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the progress made in the compilation of data on employment, stating the employment policy measures adopted further to the establishment of a new national information system on employment.

4. Article 3. Participation of the social partners in policy formulation and implementation. The Committee notes that, in the context of the National Employment Strategy, two institutional mechanisms will be established: an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Employment and a Higher Council for Employment, Training and Labour (CSEFT), chaired by the Ministry of Employment, and that within these two bodies the social partners will be represented. The Committee requests the Government to supply additional information in its next report on the operation of these two bodies, and also on the participation of the social partners in the implementation of the National Employment Strategy. It also requests the Government to indicate the steps taken or contemplated to involve representatives of persons living in rural areas and those operating in the informal economy in the consultations provided for by the Convention.