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1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment trends and active labour market measures. The Committee takes note of the detailed information provided in the Government’s report received in September 2009. The Government reports that, in 2008, it continued to enjoy near full employment in the labour market, its unemployment rate was 3.7 per cent of the labour force, and employment increased by 2 percentage points in 2008, mainly due to the high growth in service sectors of economic activity and an upswing in employment of foreign labour. The Government further reports that this employment increase was experienced in the tertiary sectors and in the construction sector. It also indicates that the global economic crisis has begun to affect the construction industry, trade and tourism, as of October 2008, and that the global forecast predicts that, in 2009, gross domestic product will slow significantly and unemployment will rise to 5.5 per cent. The Committee notes that, in this regard, the Human Resource Development Authority (HRDA) has put forward a Prevention-Action Plan in order to minimize the effects of the economic crisis on the national labour market. The HRDA’s Plan aims to promote in-company/on-the-job training programmes, training programmes for upgrading the skills of unemployed persons, accelerated initial training programmes for new entrants in the job market and other unemployed persons, and job placement and training of unemployed tertiary education graduates. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing in its next report evaluations on the impact of the economic crisis on its industries, trade and tourism, and its evaluations of HRDA’s measures to reform the national labour market. The Committee also invites the Government to keep it informed of measures to meet the needs of particular categories of workers, such as women, young persons, older workers, and workers with disabilities.

2. Education and training policies. The Government reports that it aims to respond to new occupational needs and future requirements by further developing a vocational qualifications system, and that it will ensure the attractiveness, openness and quality standards of education and training by, inter alia, introducing modern technology in education, ensuring that secondary education teachers will become digitally literate, and upgrading the apprenticeship scheme. The Committee notes that, in 2006, 58,360 participants engaged in training courses, and that this figure has decreased to 56,693 in 2007 and 52,829 in 2008. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken to promote participation in its training courses. The Government reports that it aims to satisfy the European Union benchmarks of 12.5 per cent lifelong learning in 2010 and early school-leaving ratio of 10 per cent in 2012. The Government additionally reports that its National Strategic Plan for 2007–13 aims to enhance the competitiveness of the economy, promote research and innovation, reinforce social cohesion, upgrade and protect the environment, upgrade the quality of life of its civil society, expand and improve basic infrastructure, develop human capital, and promote balanced regional and rural development. The Committee notes the Government’s aims to increase lifelong learning and improve the early school-leaving ratio, and asks the Government to keep it informed on measures and programmes taken to ensure these goals, as well as its goals set forth in the 2007–13 National Strategic Plan.

3. Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Government reports that the HRDA is governed by a 13-strong Board of Governors, five of whom are members of the Government, and the other eight members of employers’ and trade union organizations. This tripartite board aims to formulate and implement policies at national, sectoral and enterprise levels to promote training and human resources development. In 2008, the HRDA launched a procedure for selecting external consultants, with the designed task of creating a Comprehensive System for Evaluating HRDA’s Impact on the Cyprus Economy by October 2009. The Committee invites the Government to report on the progress achieved in ensuring the participation of the social partners in the matters covered by the Convention and the results of the system evaluation.