Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1982)

1. With reference to its 2001 observation, the Government supplied a report in October 2002 in which it provided details on the modernization of the General Directorate of Employment for the establishment of a system of labour mediation and an observatory of employment and labour migration. This technological platform operates in Caracas and eight cities in the country. The labour mediation project is being undertaken with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The documents attached to the Government’s report show that the activity rate was 68.7 per cent in April 2002, with the employed population accounting for 84.1 per cent of the economically active population. A total of 1,816,289 persons were unemployed. The unemployment rate for women (17.3 per cent) remained above that for men (14.9 per cent). According to the data published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2001-2002, the unemployment rate rose to 16.4 per cent in January 2002, compared with 15.8 per cent the previous year. In contrast, the unemployment rate for the first seven months of 2002 was lower than for the same period in 2001. There was a significant rise in August 2002, but the figure fell for the rest of the year, ending up at 11.5 per cent in December.

2. In its report, the Government states that as part of its continued policy to generate productive employment it has implemented measures with the objectives of reactivating the productive system of the public sector and generating direct employment. The Committee notes with interest that Decree No. 1944 of 2 September 2002 established an Employment Promotion Plan, which refers explicitly to Convention No. 122 in its preamble and has the objective of promoting employment in the private sector through the creation of demand for employment for the placement of the unemployed. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to indicate in its next report the links established between employment policy objectives and other social and economic objectives, taking into account the requirement set out in the Convention that employment policy measures shall be decided on and kept under review "within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy" (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention). It would be grateful if the Government would indicate the manner in which the programmes mentioned in the report (and particularly the Employment Promotion Plan) have contributed to the creation of productive and lasting jobs.

3. In this connection, the Committee would also be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on the activities undertaken by the Presidential Commission for the Promotion of the Mass Employment Plan and the subcomissions on social cohesion and employment, established within the framework of the National Dialogue Round-Tables, with a view to the holding of the consultations required by Article 3 of the Convention. The Committee observes that to give effect to this important provision of the Convention, the consultations held with the persons affected (including representatives of the informal economy and the rural sector) must have the objective of taking fully into account their experiences and views and, in addition, of securing their full cooperation in formulating and implementing an active policy to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment.