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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its reports received in October 2005 and September 2006, as well as the replies in response to its 2004 direct request.

1. Coordination of employment policy and poverty reduction. As in previous years, the Government refers to the Second Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2001-05) that outlines the main directions of the Government’s socio-economic policy. The Government indicates that the plan provides for 896,000 additional job opportunities resulting from economic growth in different sectors and it aims to decrease the unemployment rate from its current level of 11.9 per cent to 9.5 per cent. The Government indicates that the number of employed persons who earn monetary wages represents 88.2 per cent of all employed persons with wages, but only 6.9 per cent of those are women. The Government further states that it carried out a number of employment programmes and measures aimed at creating job opportunities for poor people and the unemployed, and increasing job opportunities for poor women in rural areas. These also include providing training and rehabilitation opportunities for these vulnerable groups. These objectives are being achieved through four main programmes, namely the Project on Public Works, the Social Fund for Development, the Unit on Small Enterprise Development and the National Programme for Productive Families. The Committee notes this information and hopes that the Government will supply 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. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide detailed information on the results and the progress achieved with the implementation of the measures envisaged by the Second Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development and, in particular, indications on the results of the measures aimed at increasing the participation rate of women in the formal economy, as well as creating job opportunities for poor women in the rural sector. The Committee also asks the Government to inform it of the status of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, as well as any evaluation of the impact of its programmes to combat unemployment focusing on the most vulnerable groups (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention).

2. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Government indicates that with respect to the role of the Labour Council and the coordination of policies with the social partners, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour submitted a project on activating the role of the Labour Council and on the creation and composition of a technical secretariat. It was submitted to the Minister of Social Affairs and Labour for examination, and to the Council of Ministers for promulgation. The Government indicates that, in due course, the Labour Council will coordinate employment policies in consultation with the social partners, in addition to involving other parties, such as the agricultural cooperative union. The Committee notes this information and hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide, in its next report, information concerning the consultations actually held with the representatives of all the persons affected by employment policies (Article 3). The Committee recalls in this regard that 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).