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1. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in February 2006 indicating that the employment rate rose from 90.7 to 92.2 per cent between 2002 and the third quarter of 2005, whereas the unemployment rate fell from 9.3 to 7.8 per cent over the same period. These figures represent the creation of more than 850,000 jobs, 50 per cent of which were in rural areas. The Committee notes that in 2005 the Government put in place a Public Employment Programme for 2005-07 to promote productive employment and reduce levels of unemployment by initiating active policies such as public works projects, vocational training and job placement. The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the implementation and effects of the Public Employment Programme on the creation of productive employment. Please also provide details on how the objectives of the Convention are incorporated into the following government initiatives:

–      Strategy for the Development of Kazakhstan (until 2030);

–      Strategy for Innovative Industrial Development (2003-15);

–      Governmental Programme for the Development of Rural Areas (2004-10);

–      Governmental Education Programme.

2. Coordination of employment policy and poverty reduction. The Committee notes that the Government adopted a new Programme to Reduce Poverty for 2003-05. The Government is asked to supply information in its next report on the measures taken within this new programme to ensure that the goals of full and productive employment and decent work for all, including for women and young people, are central to the Government’s poverty reduction strategy. Please also provide information on the specific employment creation outcomes of this poverty reduction strategy.

3. Employment services and vocational training. The Government indicates in its report that one out of every two people who resort to employment services is able to find work, with more than half of the people registered taking part in public works. The Committee notes in this context that training, retraining and upgrading services were offered to over 26,900 unemployed people completing vocational training programmes in 2004. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the number of individuals benefiting from its employment services and participating in vocational training, paying particular attention to the rates of successful job placement. The Government is further asked to include information on measures taken to match education and training policies to actual labour market demand. In this context, the Committee also refers to its 2006 comments on the application of the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88).

4. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the Social Partnership Act envisages the right of employers’ and workers’ organizations to carry out consultations and conclude agreements through their representatives in order to promote employment and the vocational training and retraining of workers. Similarly, one of the stated objectives of State policy is to ensure that the social partners and civil associations take part in the elaboration and implementation of employment policies. In this context, the Committee asks the Government to provide specific information on the consultations held and agreements reached in cooperation with the social partners pertaining to matters covered by the Convention, as well as information on how the social partners and other persons concerned are involved in the process of elaborating and implementing the Government’s employment policy (Article 3 of the Convention).

5. ILO technical assistance. The Committee recalls from the Government’s indication in its previous report that the ILO should play a key role in coordinating the activities of international organizations within the field of employment for countries in economic transition and in preventing unnecessary duplication of employment programmes. It asks the Government to report on the action taken as a result of the involvement of the ILO in providing technical assistance for the implementation of an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention, both at the national and subregional levels (Part V of the report form).