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

Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 (No. 117) - Niger (Ratification: 1964)

Parts I and II of the Convention. Improvement of standards of living. In its observation of 2005, the Committee asked the Government to supply information on the manner in which the provisions of the Convention had been taken into account in the preparation and execution of measures taken under its economic programmes and poverty reduction strategy. In its report received in
October 2006, the Government states that the poverty reduction strategy which has been adopted is above all the expression of a political commitment and that it meets perfectly the concerns expressed by the various groups concerned throughout the preparation process, following a participatory approach involving all interested parties, which makes this strategy the product of a broad national consensus. The Government expresses its determination to reduce poverty levels by half by 2015, pursuing the objective of sustainable growth, which reduces poverty, in particular via durable and ongoing economic growth, the expansion of the productive sectors and the development of basic social services. The Government states that significant advances have been recorded, as indicated by the third report on the implementation of the strategy, in the version approved at the meeting of 10 February 2006, and adds that the process of revising the strategy is going ahead as planned. The Government also sent the text of Decree No. 2006-059/PRN/MFP/T of 8 March 2006 establishing minimum wages for occupational categories of workers governed by the interoccupational collective agreement. Moreover, the country is experiencing a phase of positive economic growth, the increase in GDP having been about 3.3 per cent on average for the 1994–2004 period and 7.1 per cent in 2005, according to estimates sent by the Government to international financial institutions. The Committee understands that, in the context of the poverty reduction strategy, a framework programme is planned with the aim of at facilitating access for young people to initial employment, to put in place a national policy for training and vocational and technical training, and to lay the foundations of a national employment policy. In this regard, the Committee recalls that, in the conclusions adopted at the 11th ILO African Regional Meeting (Addis Ababa – April 2007), the tripartite delegations reached a consensus for a mainstream assessment of the impact on the generation  and maintenance of decent work opportunities into poverty-reducing development strategies, and adopt national targets for the creation of sufficient decent jobs to absorb new labour market entrants and reduce by half the number of working poor. The Committee asks the Government to supply detailed information in its next report on the manner in which the provisions of Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention, which require that “all policies” to be “primarily directed to the well-being and development of the population”, have been taken into account in the preparation and implementation of an integrated national programme for the promotion of decent work and in the poverty reduction strategy.