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1. Declaration of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report of October 2005. The Government adds to its report the study undertaken in 2002 by the ILO and the report of the project for the institutional strengthening of the Secretariat of State for Labour carried out in 2005 with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank. In its 2004 direct request, the Committee referred to the study undertaken by the ILO on “problems and challenges for an employment and decent work policy” in the Dominican Republic. The Government refers to two poverty reduction programmes (“Food first” and “Solidarity”), under the responsibility of the President of the Republic. The Committee notes with concern that, according to ILO information in Panorama laboral 2005, the open urban unemployment rate reached 18.4 per cent in 2004, which is one of the highest unemployment rates in Latin America. The informal economy has become a last resort for the unemployed and those on low incomes, which has prevented an even greater increase in unemployment. It also notes the very broad gap between the income of the poorest and the richest households. Taking into account the central role that employment policy should play in economic and social policies, and of development policy in generating employment and reducing poverty, the Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the manner in which an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment has been formulated. The Committee would also be grateful to be provided with information on the results achieved in terms of the creation of lasting employment and the reduction of underemployment in the framework of a national employment policy. The Committee requests the Government to provide up to date statistical data on the size and distribution of the workforce, the nature and extent of underemployment, as an essential basic stage in the implementation of an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention).

2. In its previous direct request, the Committee requested the Government to include in its report a summary of the development plans and programmes which contain specific provisions establishing an active employment policy, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee once again expresses interest in examining information enabling it to ascertain whether particular difficulties have been encountered in attaining the employment objectives established in government plans and programmes and the extent to which such difficulties have been overcome.

3. Coordination of employment policy with economic and social policy. The Government indicates that all the Secretariats of State which are directly involved with employment policy have been associated in its implementation and the identification of direct sources of employment. The Committee would be grateful to be provided with further information on the coordination established between the Secretariat of State for Labour, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Office with a view to declaring and pursuing an active employment policy. In this respect, the Committee reiterates its interest in being informed of the manner in which employment objectives were taken into account when formulating the Government’s other economic and social objectives (Article 1, paragraph 3, and Article 2).

4. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Government indicates that two formal consultation procedures have been established through the COPARDOM and the National Council of Trade Union Unity. Furthermore, the employment policy is consolidated through the meetings of the Labour Advisory Council. The Committee requests the Government to provide fuller information on the consultations held in the Labour Advisory Council on the formulation and implementation of an active employment policy. Please also provide information on the consultations held with representatives “of the persons affected by the measures to be taken” in other sectors of the active population, such as rural workers and workers in the informal economy (Article 3).

5. Employment promotion for young persons and women. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the initiatives adopted to promote employment for young persons and women. The Committee reiterates its interest in being informed of quantitative evaluations of the creation of productive employment as a result of the measures taken by the Government. Please also include statistical data on the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment, with an indication of the manner in which they affect particular categories of workers in the Dominican Republic who experience difficulties in finding lasting employment, such as women and young persons.

6. Migrant workers. The Government indicates that foreign nationals have been found work in the construction, tourism and services sectors. It is reported that 1,302 Dominican nationals have benefited from the agreement concluded with Spain on the regulation and structuring of labour migrant flows. The Committee notes that almost 700,000 migrant workers from the Dominican Republic are in the United States. Remittances from migrant workers account for between 10 and 20 per cent of the country’s GDP. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted in the framework of an active employment policy to prevent abuses in the hiring of foreign workers and of those who leave the country to seek employment opportunities abroad.

7. The Government refers in its report to the implementation of training activities for young persons, in which an appropriate gender balance is sought. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the measures adopted to coordinate education and vocational training policies with prospective employment opportunities. Please indicate the results achieved in terms of the placement in employment of beneficiaries of the activities of the National Institute of Technical-Vocational Training (INFOTEP).

8. ILO technical cooperation. The Committee notes the Tripartite Declaration on the promotion of employment and decent work in Central America and the Dominican Republic, concluded by the Ministers of Labour and representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations in Tegucigalpa in June 2005. In the Tripartite Declaration, among other significant policies, it was agreed to place the objective of the creation of worthwhile, sustainable and high-quality jobs, in accordance with ILO parameters, at the centre of macroeconomic policy, with efforts being focused not only on controlling inflation and the fiscal deficit but also, and with equal priority, on the promotion of investment and equitable growth. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information in its next report on initiatives that have been taken with ILO support to promote, at both the national and subregional levels, the objective of the creation of productive employment as set out in the Convention (Part V of the report form).

9. The Committee requests the Government to prepare a report containing detailed replies to all the matters raised in this direct request. The Committee recalls that the preparation of a report provides the Government and the social partners with an opportunity to evaluate the manner in which the objective of full and productive employment established by the Convention is to be achieved. The Government may consider it useful to refer to the 2004 General Survey on promoting employment and to the provisions of the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195).