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1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Adoption and implementation of an employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in June 2007 containing elements of a reply to the observations that it has been formulating since 2004. The Committee had requested detailed information on the measures adopted to promote the implementation and achievement of the objectives of the Convention, particularly in a context of high and persistent unemployment (around 10 per cent according to the available official data). In its report, the Government indicates that a decrease in State participation is planned in the execution phase of the Fourth Five-Year Development Plan (2005–10). The Government indicates that it has formulated an employment strategy and is taking measures for its implementation. One of the central measures of the strategy consists of identifying new employment opportunities for the young persons arriving in massive numbers on the labour market. More particularly, the Government intends to promote self-employment through the allocation of funding for economic projects intended to develop entrepreneurship, telework and small enterprises. The diversification of economic activities, the increased use of information technologies and support for the creation of consultancy enterprises are mentioned as strategic means of promoting employment. The Five-Year Development Plan envisages a fall in the unemployment rate to 8.3 per cent by 2009. The Committee requests the Government to specify in its next report whether specific difficulties have been encountered in reducing unemployment and achieving the employment objectives set in the Five-Year Plan. It hopes that the Government will also provide detailed information on the principal objectives of general and sectoral economic policies and the measures adopted to ensure that employment, as a key element in poverty reduction, is the central focus of coordinated macroeconomic and social policies (Article 2(a) of the Convention).

2. Labour market policies. In its 2004 observation, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the progress achieved in the modernization of employment services and labour information. In its reply, the Government indicated that, in the context of the Fourth Five-Year Development Plan, financial incentives are planned to promote recruitment through employment offices. In addition, the Government indicated that measures had been taken with a view to: (i) encouraging the establishment of employment offices, including private agencies, in all provinces; (ii) facilitating the implementation of a national information network linking employment offices; (iii) encouraging the establishment of a specialized employment office for persons with university qualifications; (iv) updating databases of registered jobseekers; (v) undertaking surveys and compiling labour market data; and (vi) improving information systems for the various economic sectors and facilitating access to information by investors and employers. The Committee recalls that the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), and its accompanying Recommendation No. 188, recognize the role played by private employment agencies in the operation of the labour market. The Committee requests the Government to report on the measures adopted, in collaboration with the social partners, to ensure the effective operation of the employment services and to describe the observed impact of the measures taken by the employment services for specific categories of workers (women, young workers, migrant workers). In particular, the Committee requests detailed data on the impact of the measures adopted to ensure that progress is achieved in relation to the labour market participation rate of women.

3. Training policies. In its previous observation, the Committee requested the Government to describe the measures adopted to improve the coordination of education and training policies with the objective of full employment. In its reply, the Government indicates that, in view of the constant increase in the number of young persons entering working life and the increased presence of women with university qualifications on the labour market, special attention is given to training activities for these categories of workers. Emphasis is placed on training activities which promote entrepreneurship among young graduates, and particularly women, and on training for trainers in relation to vocational guidance in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information, disaggregated by gender, in its next report on the training provided to young persons entering the labour market, particularly those with university qualifications and on their impact in terms of the integration of the persons concerned into lasting employment.

4. Article 3. Participation of the social partners in policy design and implementation. With reference to its previous observation, the Government reports on the annual meeting of a National Labour Conference in the Islamic Republic of Iran, without specifying whether representatives of employers and workers, and of persons engaged in the rural sector and the informal economy, participate in the conference and are, in practice, consulted on employment policies in this context. In the comments that it has been making for several years, the Committee has recalled the importance of giving full effect to Article 3, which is an essential provision of the Convention and envisages that representatives of the persons affected by the measures to be taken, and in particular representatives of employers and workers, shall be consulted concerning employment policies. The Committee trusts that the Government will be in a position to indicate in its next report whether procedures have been introduced with a view to holding such consultations, either in the context of the National Labour Conference or any other competent body, and to specify the purpose and arrangements of such procedures.