Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2004, Publicación: 93ª reunión CIT (2005)

1. Coordination of employment policy with poverty reduction. In reply to its previous comments, the Government indicates that it is currently preparing the national employment conference which will provide an opportunity for overall reflection, in collaboration with the social partners and civil society, on an employment policy based on economic and social needs. It announces that the national conference was planned for November 2003, with the ILO’s material and technical support. The Committee also notes that a poverty reduction strategy, established in June 2001, envisages making technical and vocational training a principal component of the education system. Measures to promote micro-enterprises and micro-entrepreneurs are also envisaged to encourage the employment of the very poor. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the measures taken to ensure that employment, as a key element of poverty reduction, is central to macroeconomic and social policies. It would also like to have at its disposal information on the results achieved in improving the supply of vocational and technical training and promoting an enterprise culture (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention and the Job Creation in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Recommendation, 1998 (No. 189)).

2. The Committee emphasizes the importance of establishing a system for the compilation of labour market data and requests the Government to inform it of any progress made in this field and to provide information in its next report on the employment policy measures adopted following the establishment of such new information systems.

3. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Committee recalls that Article 3 of the Convention requires consultations with representatives of all the persons affected, particularly representatives of employers and workers, in the formulation and implementation of employment policies. It is the joint responsibility of the Government and the representative organizations of employers and workers to ensure that representatives of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups of the active population are associated as closely as possible with the formulation and implementation of measures of which they should be the prime beneficiaries (see paragraph 493 of the General Survey of 2004 on promoting employment). The Committee trusts that the Government will provide detailed information in this respect in its next report.

4. Finally, it requests the Government to describe in its next report the actions it has taken to implement an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention following the technical assistance received from the ILO.