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1. The Committee notes the Government's report and its communication of June 1993. The Government states in the communication that the problem of developing countries such as Paraguay is principally related to external debt (to which a solution is being found in Paraguay, which is the Latin American country with the lowest rate of external debt per capita), the protectionist policies pursued by the industrialized countries and, above all, their traditions of authoritarianism. These unfavourable conditions, in the Government's opinion, have undoubtedly had a negative influence on the implementation of an employment policy, which is nevertheless imperative for the State under the terms of the new Constitution. The Committee notes in this connection that sections 85 and 86 of the new national Constitution, which was adopted in June 1992, provide that "all the inhabitants of the Republic are entitled to lawful and freely chosen work and to personal development in conditions of dignity and justice" and that "the State shall promote policies for full employment and the vocational training of human resources, giving preference to nationals". The Committee trusts that the Government will indicate in its next report the measures which have been adopted under these important provisions of the Constitution.

2. The information supplied by the Government indicates that the open unemployment rate at the national level reached 10.4 per cent in 1991, which was a marked increase in relation to 1989 (6.7 per cent). The rise in unemployment is linked to the fall in economic activity and exports, and to a general situation of recession. The open unemployment rate in the metropolitan area of Asuncion is 5.1 per cent of the active population, with women accounting for 41 per cent of the unemployed and men for 59 per cent; the underemployment rate, which bears witness to the rapid development of the informal sector and which is the principal problem on the labour market, is estimated at around 9.5 per cent (and affected around 50,000 precarious workers in 1991). The Government refers in its report to various programmes and measures such as: the loans granted by the National Development Bank for producers in the agricultural, industrial and artisanal sectors; the creation of new jobs in the public sector (as the State is one of the principal providers of jobs for the unemployed); the extension of the network for the provision of energy and the distribution of drinking-water; and rural development projects (in the Caazapa region and for rural establishments in the framework of the agrarian reform). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the extent to which these programmes contribute in practice to the promotion of employment objectives, in accordance with the national Constitution and the Convention. It hopes that the Government will supply information in its next report on the measures which have been taken, based on data concerning the nature and level of unemployment, to ensure that the principal measures of employment policy are decided on and kept under periodical review within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention).

3. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the programmes undertaken to coordinate education and training policies with prospective employment opportunities. It notes with interest in this respect the annual report of the activities of the National Vocational Training Board, which reports an increase in the number of participants and courses provided. It also notes the report of the General Directorate for Human Resources describing the results, up to 31 October 1992, of the programme to promote enterpreneurship among young persons, implemented on the basis of an ILO technical cooperation project. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information on the development of these programmes, with an indication of the measures which have been adopted or are envisaged so that the workers who benefit from these programmes manage to enter the labour market and find lasting employment. With regard to vocational guidance and training policies, in relation with employment policy, the Committee recalls the relevance of the instruments adopted in 1975 on the development of human resources (Convention No. 142 and Recommendation No. 150), as well as the 1991 General Survey on that subject.

4. For several years, the Committee has been raising the question of the application of Article 3 of the Convention, which requires consultation with the representatives of the persons affected by the measures to be taken, and in particular the representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, "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". The Committee notes that the Government has not supplied precise information on this subject in its report. It notes that the Government describes in its communication the prospects for establishing renewed dialogue following the arrival in power of the new authorities, on 15 August 1993, with a view to the formulation of policies and strategies constituting an employment policy. The Committee is bound to renew its hope that the Government's next report will contain the information called for in the report form concerning the consultations which have to be undertaken in the field of employment policy with the representatives of the persons concerned (including those working in the rural sector and the informal sector).