Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Central African Republic (Ratification: 2006)

Article 1(1) to (4) of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government refers to significant progress in the progressive search for technical and financial partners, on the one hand, for the establishment of the National Labour Market Observatory and the National Employment Promotion and Vocational Training Fund and, on the other, for the implementation of the Operational Plan of Action (OPA) of the National Employment and Vocational Training Policy (PNEFP). The Government also refers to the proactive action taken within the framework of the first, second and third pillars of the National Plan for Recovery and Peacebuilding in the Central African Republic (RCPCA) for the implementation of the education and training policies envisaged in the Convention. It reiterates that the OPA and the PNEFP, in components 1 and 2, place special emphasis on the promotion of human resources and employment with a view to reducing economic and social vulnerability as a means of facilitating the socio-economic integration of social groups. The Government indicates that, in relation to human resources development, an urgent national programme for the creation of immediate and sustainable decent employment and the consolidation of peace and resilience was developed in collaboration with the ILO for the period 2017–21. While recognizing the complexity of the situation in the country, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide more detailed information in its next report, including statistics disaggregated by sex and age, on the impact of the measures implemented within the framework of the education and training programmes referred to above, including apprenticeship. It also once again requests the Government to indicate the manner in which close links are ensured between, on the one hand, the training programmes of the Central African Agency for Vocational Training and Employment (ACFPE) and the measures taken in the context of the National Plan for Recovery and Peacebuilding in the Central African Republic (RCPCA) and, on the other, employment and employment services, as envisaged in Article 1(1) of the Convention.

Article 2. Vocational education and training systems. The Government indicates that, within the context of the implementation of the RCPCA, the Government and technical and financial partners, such as the European Union and the BÊKOU Fund, signed an indicative cooperation programme in July 2017, the priorities of which focus on education and vocational and technical training. It adds that, in the context of the second pillar of the RCPCA, a framework document on the national strategy for technical education and vocational training was prepared in 2018 with the technical and financial support of the French Development Agency (AFD), setting out the strategic objectives and fundamental components of technical education and vocational training. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and updated information on the implementation of the programme and framework document referred to above on the formulation of open, flexible and complementary systems of general, technical and vocational education, school and vocational guidance and vocational training systems. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on any developments in relation to the national strategy for the reform of the vocational training system and to provide a copy once it has been adopted.

Article 3. Information for vocational guidance. The Government indicates that, within the context of the implementation of the pillars of the RCPCA and the strategic priorities of the OPA, the Central African Agency for Vocational Training and Employment (ACFPE) has signed a partnership agreement with the BÊKOU Fund for the development of action to promote decent employment and training programmes for persons in vulnerable social groups, such as young persons without work and persons with disabilities, based on a catalogue of training in subjects that correspond to the real needs of enterprises, as well as other initiatives for the creation of self-employment. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the National Employment and Vocational Training Policy (PNEFP), as well as detailed information on the content and impact on employment of the specific programmes and activities envisaged in the partnership agreement signed with the BÊKOU Fund. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the catalogue of training referred to above and to indicate in detail the impact of the specific activities undertaken within the framework of OPA on the access to employment of persons in vulnerable situations, such as women, older persons, young persons and persons with disabilities. In this respect, it requests the Government to describe the manner in which the available information for vocational guidance is kept updated and adapted to the changing needs of the labour market.

Article 4. Lifelong training. The Government indicates that the objective of the peacebuilding and decent employment creation programme implemented by the ILO in the country during the period 2017–21 is to develop a policy for the promotion of decent employment for young persons without work in the Central African Republic so as to enable them to participate in stabilizing and improving the security of the country. The Government adds that the programme is based on three components, the first of which is designed to create decent jobs immediately and is based on the launching of labour-intensive works for the construction and rehabilitation of school infrastructure throughout the country with a view to providing opportunities for young persons to enter the labour market. The second component includes the strengthening of technical and vocation skills through training and skills certification for young persons in agriculture, stock-rearing and forestry. The third component addresses the issue of the governance of the labour market through the promotion of social dialogue and sincere collaboration between the Government and the social partners. The Government specifies that other action is envisaged in the project document to build the capacities of all the actors involved, and to develop an all-out labour market information system. The Committee requests the Government to describe the achievements of the peacebuilding and decent employment creation programme launched with the ILO, and to provide relevant statistics. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on the labour market information system. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted with a view to extending vocational training systems to economic sectors that are not yet covered, such as the informal economy, and to ensure that these systems remain adapted to the changing needs of individuals throughout their active lives, and to the needs of the various branches of the economy, in accordance with the Convention and the guidance provided in the Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195).

Article 5. Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Government reports the participation of the social partners at all stages of the formulation of the PNEFP through official invitations sent to workers’ and employers’ organizations and the representatives of the sectoral departments involved and interested in this issue in order to gather their views on the situation of workers in rural areas and actors in the informal economy. The Government adds that the social partners were consulted regularly in advance and were invited to the national workshop to validate the strategy document on technical education and vocational training in January 2019, which was organized jointly with the AFD within the framework of a public–private partnership, in the presence of those responsible for vocational training centres in the Central African Republic. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the impact of the involvement of the social partners in the process of the formulation and adoption of the documents referred to above through the consultation mechanisms established.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Government reiterates its intention to have recourse to ILO technical assistance to conduct surveys and studies relating to the application of the Convention. Taking into account the Government’s stated intention to have recourse to ILO technical assistance in this regard, the Committee hopes that this assistance will be provided in the near future. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to communicate extracts of reports, studies or surveys, statistical data, etc., regarding ongoing vocational guidance and training policies and programmes.