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1. Implementation of an active employment policy. In a report received in August 2003, the Government briefly describes a number of employment creation measures (support for the rural economy, creation of road maintenance micro-enterprises) and the new approaches that have been followed since September 2003 in basic education and training. Reference is also made to a project for services to help in finding jobs. The Committee notes that a number of these measures were already in the proposals made by the Social and Economic Council, with ILO assistance, to promote the employment-related aspects of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. The Committee requests the Government to include information in its next report on the measures adopted to implement an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention as a result of the technical assistance provided by the ILO.

2. The Committee notes that difficulties have been encountered in meeting the eligibility conditions of the debt reduction initiative for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). In this respect, the Committee trusts that the Government will endeavour to ensure that employment is given central importance in macroeconomic and social policies in the formulation and implementation of the national poverty reduction strategy. The Committee considers that it is essential from the outset for employment objectives to be included "as a major goal" in the formulation of economic and social policy if these objectives are truly to be an integral part of the policies that are adopted (paragraph 490 of the General Survey of 2004 on promoting employment). The Committee hopes that, as in the past, the Government will provide a detailed report enabling the Committee to examine the manner in which employment promotion has been considered as a central objective of all the available macroeconomic policy measures, and particularly of monetary, budgetary, trade and development policies (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention).

3. The Government states that the data from the National Statistical Institute, in September 2002, showed satisfactory trends with the reduction in open unemployment of 2.8 per cent. According to the data analysed by ECLAC, underemployment rose from 24 per cent in 2001 to 26.6 per cent in 2002, which tends to indicate that new entrants onto the labour market are mostly in the informal economy. Although the unemployment rate fell at the national level, it increased in the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. The Committee trusts that the Government’s next report will include up-to-date statistical data on the results of the measures adopted to create employment for young persons and women, improve the supply of vocational and technical training and promote new enterprises and trade opportunities.

4. The Committee recalls its interest to have at its disposal information on the employment impact resulting from the action taken by the National Institute of Vocational Training, the National Technical Vocational Education Centre and the measures adopted under the project for the productive integration of young persons who are poor and at risk of social exclusion.

5. The Committee notes that, according to the data from the Honduran Association of Maquila Enterprises contained in the Government’s report, it is planned that 237 maquila enterprises will be operating in 2004, providing employment for around 130,000 persons. The Committee asks the Government to provide data in its next report on employment trends in the maquila sector and the measures which have been adopted to provide labour market guidance for workers affected by the closure of maquila enterprises.

6. Social partners’ participation. The Committee recalls that Article 3 of the Convention requires consultations with representatives of all the persons affected, and in particular representatives of employers and workers, for the formulation and adoption of employment policies. The Committee considers that it is the joint responsibility of governments 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 (paragraph 493 of the General Survey, op. cit.). The Committee trusts that the Government will provide information in its next report on the consultations held on the subjects covered by the Convention with the representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations, as well as representatives of rural workers, the informal economy and the maquila sector.