Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Armenia (Ratification: 1994)

1. Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Declaration of an active employment policy. The Committee notes the Government’s first report since the ratification of the Convention which was received in September 2006. It also notes the information contained in a second report received in August 2007 which includes a list of legislative texts adopted in 2006. The Committee notes the general information provided by the Government indicating that the employment policy strategy is focused on labour and employment promotion, income growth, implementation of equitable mechanisms as well as development of special events based on the regional peculiarities of employment in order to involve the vulnerable groups in the labour market. The Government affirms that an efficient employment policy requires a quick development of the economy in all regions of the country and an effective macroeconomic policy at the national level. The Government considers that the economy will be able to develop at a regional and local level only through the decentralization of management. Furthermore, it considers that an effective implementation of programmes can be achieved by providing more management rights to these levels and increasing their responsibilities. Taking into account the central role that employment policy should play in economic and social policies, 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. It also requests 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.

2. Article 1, paragraph 1, and Article 2. Coordination of the employment policy with the poverty reduction strategy. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government indicating that the economically active population has declined from 1,462,400 in 1999 to 1,195,800 in 2005 and that, despite economic growth, the employment rate has demonstrated an annual decrease. It also notes that the unemployment rate was measured at 7.2 per cent in 2006, a decrease of 3.5 percentage points since 2000. Over 80 per cent of the unemployed population has been unemployed for over 12 months. The unemployment rate of women continues to be much higher than that of men standing at 70.8 per cent of the total unemployed. The Committee understands that in Armenia a deficiency of information about the labour market arising from labour force surveys and the low comparability of this information limits the opportunities for analysis in the area of unemployment and employment (paragraph 109 of the Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Progress Report, First Term, 2004–05). The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures taken to ensure that employment, as a key factor in poverty reduction, is at the heart of macroeconomic and social policy. It requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved, disaggregated by category, particularly for young persons and women jobseekers, by the measures adopted to improve the supply of vocational and technical training and to promote small and medium-sized enterprises. It also requests information on measures taken to reduce labour market differentials in the country and how the unemployment benefit has been expanded in order to cover a large rate of unemployed and promote the re-entry into employment of beneficiaries.

3. Education and training policies. The Committee notes that the Government acknowledges the need to raise the level of qualifications and continuous training to ensure job placement of unemployed persons. Between 1997 and 2005, 4,200 unemployed persons have received vocational training. New programmes were adopted targeting vulnerable groups in the labour market which include partial wage subsidies, compensation of expenses in cases of professional mobility, financial assistance to unemployed and persons with disabilities for state registration to start entrepreneurial activities as well as other programmes of social assistance. The Committee wishes to continue to receive information on the plans of the Government to establish vocational guidance centres for young people and a centre of rehabilitation, counselling and vocational training for people with disabilities. According to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), the Government considered that the main way to reduce the high rate of structural unemployment was to carry out reforms in the vocational and higher education system. The Committee would also appreciate receiving information regarding the advances in the elaboration and implementation of a comprehensive programme for rehabilitation and strengthening of the system of secondary vocational education and the links that have been established between the education system and the labour market so as to address the employment situation of young people.

4. Workers in the informal economy. The Government indicates that, as a result of structural reforms, employment in the public sector has decreased and has increased in the private sector. The Government considers the private sector as the main driver of economic growth needed for employment creation and poverty reduction. According to the PRSP, the informal economy accounts for 45 per cent of the total economy and, despite the economic growth, the economy is not creating sufficient formal sector jobs and the informal sector is not decreasing. The Committee asks the Government to include in its next report information concerning the measures taken to generate productive and lasting employment in conditions that are socially adequate for those working in the informal economy.

5. Article 3. Participation of social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Government indicates in the report received in September 2006 that local governments, NGOs, employers’ and workers’ organizations should play a more active and direct role in the elaboration of employment policy. The Committee recalls that Article 3 of the Convention calls for consultation with all the persons affected, in particular the representatives of employers and workers, in the formulation and implementation of employment policies. It is the joint responsibility of governments and 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 (see paragraph 493 of the General Survey of 2004 on promoting employment). The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide more detailed information on how the social partners are currently consulted on employment policies and the measures that are being discussed in order to increase their participation, ensure that their views are taken fully into account and secure their full cooperation in formulating and enlisting support for such policies.