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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which reads as follows:

1.  The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending June 1998. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide, with its next report, copies of reports, studies and inquiries, statistical data, to enable the Committee to evaluate the nature, extent and trends in unemployment and underemployment, as well as the impact of the Government’s economic and social policies on employment (Part VI of the report form). Please also indicate whether the objectives fixed by the Action Plan for Social Development 1996-2000 have been attained and specify the employment policy measures which have been formulated and the future plans and programmes to be pursued (Article 1 of the Convention). In particular, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the measures to promote economic development or other economic and social objectives have been evaluated to determine the impact of these measures on the employment market (Article 2).

2.  The Committee notes with interest that a National Programme for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises has recently been implemented to reduce underemployment by encouraging the underemployed to become self-employed. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information in respect of sustainable employment created within the framework of the above Programme. The Government may consider is useful to consult the provisions of the Job Creation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Recommendation, 1998 (No. 189).

3.  Please provide information (including statistical data and the categories of works concerned) in respect of the manner in which the social funds, referred to in the Government’s report, have contributed to creating sustainable employment within communities.

4.  Please also continue to provide information in respect of the measures adopted by the Social Assistance to Workers Unit of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to generate productive employment. Please also specify whether measures have been adopted to promote the long-term integration into the employment market of women and young people who are seeking a first employment.

5.  Please also provide statistical data concerning the results obtained in matters of employment as a consequence of employment integration programmes for demobilized and migrant workers.

6.  The Committee had noted with interest the 1996 Employment Reports published by the Technical Institute for Training and Productivity (INTECAP). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide this type of information and, in particular, to indicate to what extent it has achieved the objectives of the education and vocational training policies in respect of employment opportunities.

7.  Article 3.  The Committee would like to recall that the consultations required under this provision of the Convention should include all aspects of the economic and social policy which have an impact on employment and, moreover, the representatives of employers and workers as well as representatives of other sectors of the economically active population, such as those working in the rural or informal sectors should be consulted. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in respect of the effect given to this essential provision of the Convention. Please also specify whether the Advisory Council of the National Employment Department, referred to in the Government’s previous reports, is now operational.