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1. Declaration and pursual of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending August 2005, which was received in January 2006 and is confined to enumerating the various programmes intended to promote direct employment, indirect employment, training and employment placement. The Government also referred to some of the matters raised in the 2004 direct request and provided data published by the National Statistical Institute. The information analysed shows that, during the first six months of 2005, the increase in employment was in line with the macroeconomic situation, with a change in trend in comparison with the same period the previous year. Both labour supply and demand are continuing to increase, although labour demand grew faster (1.1 in comparison with 0.8 per cent), resulting in a lower rate of unemployment of 8.3 per cent in the first half of 2005, compared with 8.9 per cent for the same period in 2004 (Panorama laboral 2005, advance version, first half-year), Lima, ILO, 2005, p. 35). As also indicated in another ILO publication, the various programmes implemented in Chile in recent years had their origins in the responses to various labour market situations and still do not constitute an integrated policy system (Chile: Superando la crisis: Mejorando el empleo: Políticas de mercado de trabajo, 2000-05, Santiago, ILO, 2006, p. 7). With reference to paragraph 3 of its 2004 direct request, the Committee once again recalls the relevance of the provisions of the Convention, which require the Government to declare and pursue, as a major goal, an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy, and in consultation with all the persons affected. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the manner in which an active policy has been formulated designed to promote full and productive employment within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention). The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the programmes which have been most effective and have had the most positive results in terms of employment generation for the most vulnerable categories of the population, such as women, young persons entering the labour market, workers in precarious forms of employment and workers affected by restructuring measures.

2. Coordination of education and training measures with employment policy. In its previous comment, the Committee recalled that the Government had set the objective of training 1 million workers annually as of 2005. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the activities of the National Training and Employment Service (SENCE) and the results achieved by the labour skills certification programme. The Committee once again expresses interest in being provided with information on the manner in which education, training and lifelong learning policies are coordinated with prospective employment opportunities.

3. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and implementation of policies. The Committee once again notes that the report does not contain information on the consultations required by this important provision of the Convention. In the ILO publication referred to above, it is proposed that it may be of interest to promote a private or public-private body (foundation or corporation) to provide support for the management of labour market policies at the local level which could implement programmes, provide technical assistance and coordinate public and private actors under the guidance of the central public authority (Chile: Superando la crisis: Mejorando el empleo: Políticas de mercado del trabajo, 2000-2005, Santiago, ILO, 2006, pp. 30-31). The Committee refers to its previous comments in which it indicated that the consultations required by this provision of the Convention should cover all aspects of economic and social policy which affect employment and that, in addition to representatives of employers and workers, they should include representatives of other sectors of the economically active population, such as those working in the rural sector and the informal economy. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the manner in which the experience and views of the social partners are taken fully into account, their full cooperation secured and their support enlisted for the formulation and implementation of the employment policy (Article 3). Please also indicate whether formal consultative procedures have been established for this purpose and the action taken as a result of the assistance or advice received from the ILO (Part V of the report form).