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

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Kyrgyzstan (Ratification: 1992)

1. The Committee notes with regret that it has not received the Government’s report since the June 2005 report. The Committee asks the Government to provide a detailed report on the application of the Convention containing up to date and precise information and replying to the 2005 observation which raised the following matters.

2. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Policies to promote employment and coordination with poverty reduction. The Government enumerated the aims of the National Employment Policy, which was established in the context of the national poverty reduction strategy 2003–05, and was approved by Decree No. 126 on 14 March 2005. The objectives of the employment policy aimed, amongst others, at assisting unemployed citizens in choosing an occupation and placement; improving vocational training and retraining of the unemployed; organizing temporary employment and voluntary work; preventing the rise of unemployment by eliminating or reducing the effect of the factors which lead to mass unemployment; and supporting entrepreneurship and self-employment. The Government also indicated that the employment rate fell slightly from 92.5 per cent in 2000 to 91.1 per cent in 2003. The unemployed young people accounted for 53 per cent of overall unemployment and remained one of the most problematic issues (as mentioned in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Progress Report of July 2004). In 2001, the poverty rate was estimated by the World Bank to be considerably high between 45 per cent and 56.4 per cent. The Committee noted the Government’s indication that the goals of employment policies and their relation to social and economic development are reflected in the programme on the “Comprehensive basis of development of the Kyrgyz Republic until 2010”, which was adopted on 29 May 2001. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that employment, as a key element of poverty reduction, is central to macroeconomic and social policies. Indeed, the Committee considers that it is essential from the outset for employment objectives to be included “as a major goal” in the formulation of economic and social policy if these objectives are truly to be an integral part of the policies that are adopted (paragraph 490 of the General Survey of 2004 on promoting employment). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the results and progress achieved with the implementation of the measures envisaged by the National Employment Plan, including information on the employment situation of socially vulnerable groups such as women, young persons and older workers.

3. The Committee also requests the Government to include in its next report information on the following matters that were raised in its 2004 observation:

–           training and retraining measures for workers affected by structural reforms (such as the declining of the Kumtor gold mine);

–           the impact of the different programmes adopted by the Government concerning specific groups of workers, such as the “National programme Zhashtyk on youth development until 2010” and the “State programme New Generation for the protection of children’s rights”.

4. Article 3. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and application of policies. The Government reported that a tripartite committee has been created to regulate issues of employment promotion, which held its first session on 17 May 1999. The basic tasks of the tripartite committee were the preparation of the National Employment Policy up to 2010; the development of corresponding measures to determine future directions in reducing tensions in the labour market; and the development of proposals to introduce amendments in Kyrgyz legislation on employment promotion and other regulatory acts in application of employment policy. The Committee asks the Government to provide specific information about the operation of the abovementioned tripartite committee, as well as the involvement of social partners in the formulation and implementation of the National Employment Plan. It also requests information regarding the measures taken or contemplated to involve in the consultations required by the Convention, the representatives of other sectors of the active population, such as persons working in the rural sector or in the informal economy.