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The Committee notes with regret that the Government has not provided any information on the application of the Convention since its last report received in June 2004. The Committee trusts that the Government will be able to provide a detailed report on the application of the Convention, including information in reply to the points raised in the Committee’s previous observations, which set forth the following matters:

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Coordination of employment policy with poverty reduction. The Committee recalls that the draft National Employment Policy was to be submitted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to Cabinet in July 2004 for consideration and adoption. 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 asks the Government to report on the status of the draft National Employment Policy and the Poverty Eradication Action Plan, as well as any evaluation on the impact of its programmes to combat unemployment focusing on university graduates. The Committee emphasizes the importance of establishing a system for compilation of labour market data and requests the Government to report on any progress made in this field. It asks the Government to provide in its next report disaggregated data on trends in the labour market, including information on the situation, level and trends of employment, underemployment and unemployment throughout the country and the extent to which they affect the most vulnerable categories of workers (such as women, young persons and rural workers).

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Government indicated that during the development of the draft National Employment Policy, the views of all affected persons were taken into account through the various workshops held. The Committee recalls that Article 3 of the Convention requires consultations with representatives of all persons affected, and 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. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on the involvement of the social partners in the matters covered by the Convention.