Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Nicaragua (Ratification: 1981)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Adoption and implementation of an active employment policy within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy. The Committee notes the information sent by the Government in the report received in September 2013. It also notes the observations made by the Trade Union Unification Confederation of Nicaragua (CUS) in a communication transmitted to the Government in September 2013 stating that there is no public employment policy or national employment plan to address the needs of the more than 1 million Nicaraguans who are unemployed and of the workers in the informal economy. The Government indicates that it has promoted programmes that have generated sustainable productive jobs (“Hambre Cero” – zero hunger) and improved possibilities for better income for small traders (“Usura Cero” – zero usury), more than 160,000 persons having benefited from each of the programmes implemented between 2007 and 2011. The Government further indicates that the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS) has encouraged the extension of social security benefits to undertakings with at least one employee. Thanks to the National Job Opportunities Programme, men and women have developed skills in areas such as entrepreneurship, self-employment and vocational training for employability. The main thrusts of the economic policy include macroeconomic stability and incentives to investment (local and foreign), laying the foundations for growth of the formal economy. The Committee notes that the Government’s main policies for the period from 2012 to 2016 include: the promotion of active employment policies, particularly those that seek to extend and improve the public employment service and vocational training, and job creation incentive programmes. The Government indicates that between 2007 and 2011, a total of 12,571 persons were placed in jobs, while in 2012, 2,858 persons gained access to the labour market, largely through the Public Employment Service (SEPEM). The Committee invites the Government in its next report to supply up-to-date information on the measures taken to devise an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment. It invites the Government to continue to provide information on the results obtained in creating jobs through the implementation of government programmes. It also invites the Government to include information on the measures taken to allow a gradual transfer of workers from the informal economy to the formal sector, including data on the impact of the programmes on micro-credit, training and micro- and small enterprise development. Please also include up to-date statistical data on the size and distribution of the workforce and on the nature and extent of unemployment, such information being essential for deciding on measures of an active employment policy(Article 2).

Youth employment. The Committee notes with interest the establishment of the National Youth Employment Committee, which reports to the National Labour Council, and the approval of the National Plan on Employment and Decent Work for the Youth of Nicaragua, 2012–16, which is aligned with the strategic priorities set in the National Human Development Plan 2012–16. The Government further indicates that, in the course of implementation of the Joint Programme on Youth, Employment and Migration, a total of 56 municipal youth employment boards were established to facilitate employment and self-employment for young persons in the target municipalities (70 boards of this kind are expected to be up and running by the end of 2013). The Committee also notes that the Ministry of the Economy of Families, Communities, Cooperatives and Associations is engaged in the promotion of undertakings by young people. The Committee invites the Government in its next report to provide information on the results obtained by these measures in improving access to decent work for young people who are socially vulnerable, both in urban and in rural areas.

Export processing zones. The Committee notes that employment trends in the enterprises operating in export processing zones have remained constant. In 2007 they accounted for 88,750 direct jobs, whereas by March 2013 there were an estimated 104,493 direct jobs. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on employment trends in the export processing zones and on how the tripartite agreements have affected these zones in terms of the provision of lasting and high-quality employment.

Development of small and medium-sized enterprises for employment creation. The Committee notes that the operational plan of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Programme (PROMIPYME) is being updated. The Government further indicates that work is under way to reactivate the National Council for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (CONAMIPYME). The Committee notes the activities undertaken for human resource training and the promotion of entrepreneurship, including the establishment of a vocational training centre in Masaya and the production of 100 diagnostic studies of the micro-, small and medium enterprises with the greatest export potential. The Committee invites the Government once again to include in its next report an assessment of the implementation of the PROMIPYME and CONAMIPYME operational plans, including information on their impact on the parts of the country with the highest concentration of persons living in extreme poverty.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Government indicates in its report that in other forums for discussion and consensus, members of the National Labour Council have embarked on the drafting of regulations to govern its operation. The Committee requests the Government to include in its next report specific information on the activities undertaken under the aegis of the National Labour Council to devise employment policies and programmes that generate decent work and which contribute to poverty reduction and to the country’s economic and social development.