Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Uganda (Ratification: 1967)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Coordination of employment policy with poverty reduction. Following its previous observations, the Committee notes with interest that the National Employment Policy (NEP) for Uganda was completed, adopted by Cabinet and launched by the President in May 2011. The Government commended the ILO in providing technical support for the preparation of the NEP. The Committee observes that the NEP addresses the problems of unemployment, underemployment, labour productivity and poverty in the country. It also emphasizes that employment creation is central to the national socio-economic development process. Furthermore, the NEP stresses that despite Government poverty reduction efforts, the number of Ugandans living under poverty (7.5 million according to the data provided by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in 2009) is still high and that addressing unemployment and underemployment is one of the ways to further reduce poverty levels. The Committee expresses its appreciation with regard to the efforts made to implement an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention. It invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the results achieved and the difficulties encountered in attaining the employment policy objectives set out in the National Employment Policy, including results of the programmes established to stimulate growth and economic development, raise living standards, respond to labour force needs and resolve the problems of unemployment and underemployment.

Article 2. Collection and analysis of employment data. The NEP recognises that the twin challenge of poverty and unemployment is at the core of the transformation of Uganda from a poor agrarian economy to a modern, prosperous and skilled society. Accordingly, the NEP has laid a strategic framework to direct efforts towards employment intensive interventions within a stable macro-economic environment. In this respect, the NEP emphasizes that monitoring and evaluating the implementation and impact of policy measures at all levels shall be carried out on regular basis using appropriate indicators. This will involve full participation of the government ministries and departments, private sector, workers’ and employers’ organizations and civil society. The Government recognises that accurate and timely labour market information on jobs, jobseekers, labour mobility, employment levels, real wages, and hours worked and desired skills, among others, in the public and private sector, especially in the small-scale unregistered private sector, is essential to this policy. Labour market information enables the monitoring of the employment situation and trends, as well as the design of appropriate policies. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report up-to-date information on the current situation and trends regarding the active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment throughout the country and in the different regions, by sector of activity, gender, age and level of qualifications.

Labour market information system. The Government indicates in its report that to strengthen the labour market, it has created a unit for the collection of labour market information in the Directorate of Labour. The unit works very closely with the UBOS. It also indicates that the capacity of the unit to collect, analyse and disseminate information on the employment situation needs to be developed. Further steps have been taken to update the labour market database to cater to the new demands of information and statistics nationwide and in East African Community. The Committee invites the Government to indicate in its next report whether any particular difficulties have been encountered in improving the labour market information system.

Promotion of youth employment. The Committee notes that there are differences in employment levels by gender, education attainment, residence, whether urban or rural, and by age. The NEP indicates that the population is predominantly young with children and youth constituting 75 per cent of the total population. It further indicates that Uganda’s labour force is young, untrained, unskilled and rural-based. According to the UBOS, the youth population is estimated to increase from 5.4 million in 2002 to 8.5 million in 2015. The high total fertility rates (6.38 per cent) in Uganda are the proximate cause of the fast rate of growth of new young entrants to the labour force. The Committee notes that despite the introduction of Universal Primary Education, the majority of new entrants to the labour force over the period 2002–03 to 2009–10 had not completed primary education. Poor training, low productivity jobs and low wages trap the working poor and exclude young persons from participating in economic growth. The Committee notes that the NEP also emphasizes that youth requires to be instilled with, among others, a positive work culture, commitment and dedication to work, including discipline, career guidance and counselling and provision of skills to enable them to meet the current needs of the labour market. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the results of programmes concerning education and vocational training for young persons. Please also provide information on the efforts made to improve the employment situation for young persons and the results achieved in terms of designing targeted programmes and incentives for promotion of sustainable job creation for the youth.

Promotion of women’s employment. The Committee notes that women represent over 50 per cent of the labour force. A larger percentage of the female rather than the male labour force is illiterate. Unequal access to education restricts women to sectors with low productivity and low wages, and most of the young unemployed persons are women. The Government indicates that women in Uganda constitute the majority of farmers and unpaid workers as they are responsible for most of the care economy. Only 12 per cent of women are in wage employment compared to the 25 per cent of economically active men (the male participation rate in wage sectors is more than three times that of women). The Committee notes that there is a sharp segregation of women into low paying sectors such as agriculture; women in the lowing paying sectors receive at most half the average male wage. Recalling the Committee’s comments under the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) as to the occupation segregation of women and its contribution to the gender pay gap, the Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on Convention No. 122 on the efforts to improve job creation and increase labour market participation for women as a result of the measures adopted.

Informal economy. The Committee notes that, according to the NEP, the informal sector is growing and generates both wage and self-employment opportunities in unregistered small and micro-enterprises. Informal employment constitutes 67 per cent of the total employment outside agriculture. The 2009–10 Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) indicates that 1.2 million households operated off-farm informal businesses engaging 3.5 million persons. Out of these, 600,000 persons and one million persons respectively were engaged in trade and manufacturing. The Government indicates that the informal sector will continue to be a major employer for some time and that more information is required on the full range of its activities, as well as on its capacity to generate decent wage earning opportunities. It also indicates that despite the fact that the informal sector currently provides alternative employment to the majority of the labour force, it is insufficiently supported, hence the need for measures to develop it, enable it to grow and provide better job opportunities. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the efforts made to extend access to justice, property rights, labour rights and business rights to the informal economy workers and business (see 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments, paragraph 697). It also invites the Government to indicate how the initiatives relating to micro-enterprises have contributed to improving the working conditions in the informal economy.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Government indicates that the NEP was developed by a National Taskforce comprising ministry officials, representatives of the Federation of Uganda Employers and of the unions, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and others key stakeholders. Furthermore, the NEP emphasizes that the Government shall take overall responsibility for its implementation with the participation of other actors, including the private sector, employers’ and workers’ organizations, development partners, as well as other stakeholders. The Committee notes that the Ministry responsible for Labour shall spearhead the implementation of the policy in collaboration with other ministries, social partners and agencies that play a key role in employment creation. The Committee invites the Government to provide examples of the questions addressed or the decisions reached on employment policy through tripartite bodies. It would also appreciate continuing to receive information on the involvement of the social partners in the implementation of the National Employment Policy.