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1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in November 2008. The Government indicates that it has been implementing the Kazakhstan Poverty Reduction Programme 2003–05, the Social Reform in the Republic of Kazakhstan 2005–07, the Employment Programme 2005–07, and is presently in the process of implementing the action plan to improve the employment system in Kazakhstan 2008–10. The action plan helps to coordinate measures to implement state policy on support for productive employment, social protection for the unemployed and reducing the unemployment rate by increasing active expressions of employment policy. The Government indicates that as a result of such efforts to implement the aforementioned programmes, the labour market has demonstrated an improvement. In this regard, the Committee notes that the level of employment increased from 91.9 per cent in 2005 to 93.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2008, while unemployment fell from 8.1 per cent to 6.6 per cent respectively. Between 2005 and 2007, over 240,000 new jobs were created a year, half of which were in the rural areas. The Committee asks the Government to provide further information on the measures implemented in the context of the action plan to improve the employment system in Kazakhstan 2008–10, and effectiveness of such measures in realizing the objectives of the Convention. Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to include information on the impact of the measures taken to ensure productive employment to vulnerable categories of workers, such as women, young persons, older workers, and workers with disabilities.

2. Role of employment services in employment promotion. The Committee notes that, among other things, the national employment policy is aimed at organizing labour intermediation through authorized bodies and private employment agencies. The Government indicates that one out of two jobseekers were placed through the employment services, and over half of the persons registered with the employment services participated in voluntary work. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the means by which employment services contribute towards the attainment of employment policy objectives.

3. Vocational training. The Committee notes that in 2007, 27,800 unemployed persons underwent training and retraining. The Government indicates that the labour market is currently suffering from a shortage of qualified middle management, and is accordingly seeking to promote training of highly qualified middle management as a matter of priority. In this regard, the Committee notes that an International Labour Forum was convened in Rudny, Kostanay Oblast which sought to review experience in the country of the organization of management training to discuss questions and problems of vocational training of specialists through public–private partnerships in the training of managers. As a result of this Forum, an agreement was concluded between the Ministries of Labour and Social Security, Education and Science and the National Chamber of Economics, and the Atameken Union on the training of competitive national managers 2008–10. The aim of the agreement is to secure the participation of businesses in the implementation of the state programme for the development of technical and vocational education in Kazakhstan 2008–12. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the results of its technical and vocational training programmes and the measures taken to ensure that the skills acquired through such training programmes meet the demands of the labour market.

4. Article 3. Participation of the social partners in employment policy design and implementation. The Government indicates that Chapter 28 of the Labour Code establishes the right of representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations to consultations and the conclusion of agreements on employment issues, vocational training and retraining of workers. The Committee asks the Government to provide more practical information on the manner in which representatives of the social partners (including representatives of the rural sector and the informal economy) are consulted concerning employment policies, and what steps are taken to ensure that their views are fully taken into account and how such cooperation is secured for the purposes of formulating and enlisting support for such policies.