Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Iraq (Ratification: 1970)

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. Implementation of an active employment policy. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its reports supplied in September 2011 and March 2012. It notes the National Employment Policy (NEP) that was formulated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) with the assistance of the ILO and adopted in 2011, attached to the Government’s report. The Government indicates that during a roundtable held in 2011 in collaboration with the ILO, the National High Commission for Employment and Vocational Training made various recommendations regarding the priorities for the implementation of the NEP for the 2011–14 period. Recommendations focused on, inter alia, the coherence between the NEP implementation and the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the establishment of a legal framework for implementing the NEP, the coordination between relevant stakeholders, the organization of various promotional activities in collaboration with the ILO, the strengthening and modernization of employment-related and vocational training services. The National High Commission also encouraged the participation of social partners in the implementation of the NEP, as well as the free and independent election of members within the most representative employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Government indicates that in the Governorate of Baghdad there were 453,310 unemployed persons in the 2003–11 period. The Committee invites the Government to include information in its next report on the implementation of the NEP and its impact in terms of promoting full, productive and lasting employment. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the follow-up to the recommendations of the National High Commission for Employment and Vocational Training.

Coordination of education and training policy with employment policy. The Government indicates that in implementing the NEP, modern competency-based training programmes were developed to provide skilled manpower covering labour market needs. Referring to its comments formulated in 2009 on the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), the Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on Convention No. 122 on the way in which it ensures effective coordination between the programmes of vocational training and employment. Please also provide further details on training programmes and supply disaggregated data on the number of participants in these trainings and of those obtaining lasting employment following their attendance of these programmes.

Promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Government indicates that a bill prepared by the MoLSA and pending Government approval encourages the establishment of SMEs. It further indicates that a programme launched by the MoLSA to provide loans at preferential rates for small projects in the Baghdad area, with the objective of poverty reduction and the empowerment of deprived social groups, was implemented between 2007 and 2008. The programme benefited approximately 73,500 of the 250,000 persons registered. Women comprised less than 10 per cent of the beneficiaries and the majority of beneficiaries were made up of illiterate persons, the vulnerable and the socially excluded. The Government indicates that the programme was expected to be expanded and cover all governorates (except Kurdistan) at a budget of US$612 million. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on continuing measures taken to support the establishment of SMEs and their results in terms of reducing poverty and stimulating productive employment.

Measures to promote the employment of specific categories of workers. The Government indicates that, due to the current lack of funds, no additional projects may be implemented, which has led to the suspension of activities in almost the whole country. In its 2010 General Survey concerning employment instruments, the Committee recalled that member States should make the best possible effort, in relation to their level of development and economic capacity, to achieve and maintain full employment. This includes, among others, that targeted programmes are being deployed to overcome handicaps faced by vulnerable groups of workers and to remove labour market discrimination (paragraph 516 of the 2010 General Survey, also available in Arabic). The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the impact of the measures adopted in cooperation with the social partners, representatives of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups of the active population and other relevant stakeholders at the national and international levels, to promote the integration into the labour market of specific categories of workers, such as women, young persons, older workers and workers with disabilities.

Article 2. Collection and analysis of employment data. The Committee notes that the statistics provided by the Government on unemployment and employment levels in the Governorate of Baghdad refer to the period 2003–11 as a whole. It also notes that among the 2011 recommendations of the National High Commission for Employment and Vocational Training some focused on the enhancement of the labour market information system within the public employment service and the preparation of a labour force survey in collaboration with the ILO. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report updated statistics, disaggregated as much as possible, on the situation and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment in both the formal and the informal economy.