Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Jordan (Ratification: 1966)

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Coordination of employment policy and poverty reduction. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in August 2007 in reply to its observation of 2006. The Government recalls that it had set itself goals to fight unemployment, promote training and adapt the labour force so as to fill the available jobs and coordinate the education policies with the needs of the labour market. In the period ending in 2006, some 9,000 permanent jobs had been created in the framework of the programme to promote productivity. Furthermore, many programmes aimed at adapting the labour force to the needs of the labour market are currently being implemented, including a project to train rural women and a national training and employment project. The Committee asks the Government to provide in its next report information on the results achieved by the various programmes intended to create productive and lasting jobs. It requests the Government to supply information on the other measures adopted to ensure that employment, as a key factor in poverty reduction, is at the heart of macroeconomic and social policies. The Committee also hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide statistics in its next report on the situation and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment, in particular with respect to women and young persons.

2. Education and training policies. The Committee notes the efforts made by the Vocational Training Institute to encourage the access of women to employment through training. Among the measures taken to increase the participation of women in vocational training programmes, the Government mentioned the establishment of ten vocational training centres for women in three different districts of the country, the readjustment of several institutions that up to now had been restricted to men, and the increase in the choice of occupations and professions open to young women. The Government also organises awareness-raising and professional guidance campaigns in schools. Through agreements concluded with private enterprise, the Institute also ensures that the same work schedules and salary scales are given to men and women participating in vocational training programmes. In 2006, some 900 students of both sexes had also participated in legal training classes on matters of labour law. During the period covered by the report, vocational training courses were also organized for the female attendees at a readaptation centre and for persons with special needs. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the education and training programmes being implemented and to indicate the results achieved in terms of the placement of beneficiaries, in particular women, in lasting employment.

3. Article 3. Participation of the social partners. The Government indicated that, in the framework of the ILO technical assistance project, workshops organized to improve the capacity of the social partners had led to the establishment of an Economic and Social Council and a tripartite consultative committee called the Tripartite Committee on Labour Affairs. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the consultations concerning the national employment policy held by the Economic and Social Council and the Tripartite Committee on Labour Affairs, and on the manner in which the opinions expressed were taken into account in the formulation of employment policy. Please also indicate how the representatives of rural workers and workers of the informal economy are included in the consultations held by these two bodies.

4. Part V of the report form. ILO technical assistance. In its previous comments, the Committee had asked the Government to report on the results obtained in matters concerning the coordination of an active employment policy resulting from the implementation of ILO technical assistance projects. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the ILO’s Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) in Jordan for the 2006–09 period envisages the creation of decent work for men and women by means of the adoption of the following measures: (i) the formulation of an employment strategy; (ii) the reinforcement of a national programme for the employment of young persons; (iii) support for vocational training reform; (iv) the revitalization of public employment services; and (v) the creation of small enterprises. The Committee hopes that the next report will contain detailed information on the impact of the ILO technical assistance projects intended to formulate and implement an active employment policy within the meaning of the Convention.