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The Committee notes the Government’s detailed report received in August 2002 and the information provided in reply to its previous direct request. It notes in particular the indication that the national policy accords priority to employment measures in the context of the programme "Economic recovery - Rebirth of the country", covering the period 2001-05.

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. The Government describes in its report the principal measures of its active employment policy. It refers to a National Programme of Employment and Protection of the Unemployed for 2001-02, which includes active labour market and training measures. It describes the implementation of a government programme to support and develop small and medium-sized enterprises, which currently account for one-third of national employment and which should in coming years play a more important role in economic development and contribute more to reducing unemployment. Finally, the Government states that in September 2000 it approved measures to maintain and increase employment in rural areas and for persons in socially vulnerable groups (young persons, women and workers with disabilities) by means of subsidies to entrepreneurs.

2. The Committee also notes the detailed statistics provided by the Government in its report. These cover jobseekers registered with the State Employment Service, those who have been placed and those who have benefited from vocational training or have been employed in public works. The Government also provides statistics on the number of participants and the results of the "job fairs" organized during 2002 and the sessions of the Jobs Club, a programme of support, assistance and placement for the long-term unemployed. Finally, the Government provides data on the jobs created by means of recruitment quotas set for local public administrations for specific categories of persons, such as workers with disabilities and young persons. The Government reports an unemployment rate of 7.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2002. The Committee notes that this rate is very similar to that indicated by the quarterly labour force survey for the second quarter of 2000 (7.8 per cent).

3. The Committee notes with interest the efforts made by the Government to develop varied employment strategies and policies addressing global and sectoral development, the employment market and education and training. It requests that the Government provide detailed and disaggregated statistics on the results of the various programmes mentioned in its report. It also requests that the Government indicate the extent to which the employment objectives set out in the five-year programme 2001-05 referred to above have been or are being attained. In this respect, the Committee requests additional information on the public expenditure allocated to the various active measures referred to in the fields of the labour market and training. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the implementation of these active measures takes into account other economic and social objectives, and the conditions under which these measures are decided on and kept under review within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy.

4. Among the employment measures mentioned, the Government describes the progress achieved in relation to the Bill on employment and the social protection of jobseekers, which provides for the establishment of a National Employment Agency, instead of the state employment services, as well as financial incentives for the creation of enterprises and the geographical mobility of jobseekers. The Government recalls that in December 2001 it ratified the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), to ensure protection for persons using private employment agencies, and the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), with a view to the development of vocational guidance services. The Committee hopes that the information to be provided by the Government on the application of these two Conventions will take into account the questions relating to employment policy raised in this direct request. It also refers to the comments that it is making in a request addressed directly to the Government in 2002 on the application of the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88).

5. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government states that the rights of the population to education, vocational training, placement services, and the right to work are guaranteed by the provisions of the Constitution (articles 35, 43 and 44) and of the Labour Code (section 45(1)) of the Republic of Moldova. The Committee wishes to refer in this respect to the comments that it is making in its direct request of 2002 on the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), particularly with regard to the situation of women jobseekers and ethnic minorities. It hopes that the Government’s next report will indicate the measures taken to ensure equality for everyone in access to education, training, placement services and employment.

6. With reference to its previous comments, in which it noted that the ILO’s Bureau of Statistics was working with the Government to develop a system for the compilation and analysis of labour market information and that the ILO was implementing an enterprise flexibility survey in the Republic of Moldova, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the action taken as a result of this technical cooperation and to report on the manner in which the results of these projects have been or will be taken into account in the process of reviewing the national employment policy (Part V of the report form).

7. Article 3. The Committee notes the Government’s statements on the cooperation of representatives of employers and workers in the preparation of legal provisions relating to employment policy and in the activities of the state employment service. While the Committee welcomes these positive initiatives, it hopes that the Government will provide information in its next report on the full consultation and cooperation of representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations and of other categories of the active population, including those working in the rural sector and the informal sector, in the formulation of employment policies. In this respect, the Government is requested to indicate the manner in which the representatives of the persons affected are consulted concerning employment policies and to indicate any formal consultative procedures which have been established for this purpose.