Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Sudan (Ratification: 1970)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its 2005 observation, which read as follows:

The Committee takes note of the Government’s very brief report received in November 2004.

1. Policies to promote employment and coordination with poverty reduction. The Government indicates that it has under consideration a programme for the period 2005-06 to combat unemployment with special reference to university graduates, and lists the main elements of this programme. The Government also indicates that it is in the process of preparing, with the assistance of the ILO, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the measures taken to ensure that employment, as a key element of poverty reduction, is central to macroeconomic and social policies. Furthermore, the Committee emphasizes the importance of establishing a system for compilation of labour market data and requests the Government to inform it of any progress made in this field and to provide in its next report disaggregated data on trends in the labour market, including information on the situation, level and trends of employment, underemployment and unemployment throughout the country and the extent to which they affect the most vulnerable categories of workers (such as women, young persons and rural workers). The Committee also asks the Government to inform it of the status of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper as well as any evaluation on the impact of its programme to combat unemployment focusing on university graduates (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention).

2. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Committee recalls that Article 3 of the Convention requires consultations with representatives of all persons affected, and particularly representatives of employers and workers, in the formulation and implementation of employment policies. It is the joint responsibility of the Government and the 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 trusts that the Government will provide detailed information in this respect in its next report.

3. Part V of the report form. Finally, it requests the Government to describe in its next report the actions it has taken to implement an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention following the technical assistance received from the ILO.

4. The Committee underlines that the preparation of a detailed report, including the information requested in this observation, will certainly provide the Government and the social partners with an opportunity to evaluate the achievements concerning the objective of full and productive employment laid down in the Convention.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.