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The Committee notes with interest the Government's report which contains useful information on the application of the Convention during the period ending September 1996. In particular, it notes that by virtue of the Law of 20 April 1991 on the Employment of the Population it is the responsibility of the State to conduct a policy of promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment in order to guarantee citizens' right to work. In order to allow it to ascertain the effect given in practice to each provision of the Convention, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply in its next report further information in reply to the questions of the report form and each of the following points.

1. The Committee notes the data relating to the registered level of unemployment which amounted to 4.6 per cent at the end of the period, as well as to employment applications and job offers registered by the employment services. Noting, however, that other sources indicate an unemployment level of almost 20 per cent of the active population, the Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to supply in its next report more detailed statistical data on the situation and evolution of the active population, of employment, underemployment and unemployment for the country as a whole and in the different regions, by sector of activity, sex and age. In this respect, the Committee notes that section 15 of the Law on Employment of the Population provides for the compilation of statistics on the labour market and employment problems. Please describe the measures taken or envisaged in application of this provision in order to collect and analyse data on the characteristics and trends in job offers and demands which are necessary to implement an active employment policy. Please continue to provide information on the activities of employment placement services.

2. The Committee notes that, among the principles which should guide the Government's action, the Law on Employment of the Population provides that the employment policy must be coordinated with other economic and social policies. Please indicate how, in application of this provision, the measures to be adopted with a view to promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment are determined and reviewed regularly "in the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy", in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. In particular, please indicate the manner in which the measures taken with the support of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other development banks for carrying out the structural reforms necessary for the transition to a market economy contribute to the promotion of employment.

3. The Committee notes with interest that particular attention is paid by the employment services to the categories of workers such as women, young persons, older workers and handicapped persons who are most affected by the transition process towards a market economy. Please continue to supply information on the specific training and placement measures for persons who have particular difficulty in finding and retaining employment. Please also describe the training and retraining measures for workers affected by structural reforms. Please supply any assessment of the contribution of public works programmes to lasting integration of their beneficiaries into employment. Please supply particulars on the nature and scope of measures for promoting small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as on the development of industry in rural areas in order to provide jobs for young persons.

4. Article 3. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that to date there has been no real cooperation between trade unions, employers and government bodies. It notes, however, that the Government refers to the agreement concluded each year between the Government and the Council of the Trade Union Federation on economic and social issues. The Committee recalls, furthermore, that whereas section 21 of the Law on the Employment of the Population gives trade unions the right to participate in formulating employment policy and legislation in this sphere, a similar right is not explicitly recognized for employers' organizations. In this connection, the Committee recalls that under this provision of the Convention the representatives of employers and workers must be consulted on an equal footing concerning employment policies "with a view to taking fully into account their experience and views and securing their full cooperation in formulating and enlisting support for such policies". In addition, in view of the proportion of the active population, it would seem appropriate to include workers in the rural sector and the informal sector also in these consultations. The Committee would be grateful if the Government develop these relationships and would describe in its next report the manner in which the consultation of all the "persons affected" is assured in practice, as required by this important provision of the Convention.