Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1988)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report for the period ending June 1996 which contains detailed information in reply to its previous direct request and to which useful texts are attached. It notes that, according to the Government, poverty, unemployment and underemployment are due mainly to low productive investment. The rate of declared unemployment stood at 4.3 per cent in 1995, but the chief characteristic of the labour market is the underemployment of the majority of workers in unskilled, low productive and poorly paid jobs.

2. The Committee notes with interest that the objectives of the Government's action plan 1996-2000 to raise living standards, combat underemployment and offer the free choice of employment coincide to a large degree with those of the Convention. In addition, it also notes the relevant stipulations in the Agreement on socio-economic aspects and the agrarian situation concluded in May 1996 in the framework of the peace agreements. It notes that the action plan for social development aims particularly at bringing the underemployment rate down to 45 per cent and achieving an activity rate of 30 per cent for women. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report any results which have been achieved in the pursuit of these objectives by describing the measures applied and detailing the difficulties encountered. It requests the Government to continue to attach to its reports copies of reports, surveys or studies relating to the impact on employment of economic and social policy measures.

3. The Committee also notes with interest the 1995 annual report of the Technical Institute for Training and Productivity (INTECAP). Please continue to provide this type of information and to indicate to what extent the objectives of education and training policies are achieved.

4. Please supply detailed information on the implementation of measures designed to promote the integration of women into productive and lasting employment. In addition, please indicate whether specific programmes are designed for young people seeking first employment.

5. Please describe the progress made in cooperation between the National Employment Office and Private Placement Services with a view to providing a better response for workers in the informal sector, bearing in mind the relevant provisions of Conventions Nos. 88 and 96.

6. Please continue to supply information on activities in regard to migration for employment and particularly the implementation of the Tecún Umán pilot project.

7. With reference to its previous comments, the Committees notes with interest the establishment of the Advisory Council of the National Employment and Training Department. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate whether it requests assistance, as it intended, from the ILO multidisciplinary team in San José (Costa Rica) to improve the Council's functioning. In this connection, it recalls that the consultations required by Article 3 of the Convention should be extended to all aspects of economic and social policy which have an impact on employment and that, in addition to employers' and workers' representatives, the representatives of other sectors of the active population, such as persons engaged in the rural sector and the informal sector should be consulted. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on the effect given to this essential provision of the Convention.