Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Niger (Ratification: 1993)

Article 1 of the Convention. Policies and programmes. Close links between employment and vocational training. The Committee notes the report provided by the Government, received in November 2013, in reply to the 2009 direct request and the relevant information contained in the report on the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The Government indicates that, in the context of the first section of the Young Graduates Placement Programme (PIJD), namely placement in traineeships for initiation into working life (SVIP), 332 young persons of the 500 planned were actually placed throughout the national territory. Moreover, 35 of the planned 200 young persons were trained in the framework of the Programme of Placement in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (PIPME), which was launched to train young persons who are not at school or who have dropped out of school in simple trades. With regard to the results achieved by the Vocational Training and Apprenticeship Support Fund (FAFPCA) during the period 2010–12, the Government reports that 133 training providers were authorized to provide training in 205 crafts and that the training courses financed benefited 537 persons in 2010, 1,013 in 2011 and 613 in 2012. The Committee notes the adoption in 2011 of a national employment policy. The Committee also notes that the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP 2012–15) signed in July 2012 reports an official unemployment rate of around 16 per cent, with the unemployment rate being higher among women (25 per cent) than men (12 per cent), and affecting most severely the 15–29 age group (24 per cent). The Committee invites the Government to continue providing detailed information on the results achieved by the vocational and training programmes in terms of beneficiaries’ integration into the labour market. It also invites the Government to provide information on the coordination measures adopted between the various competent bodies for the development of full and concerted vocational guidance and training policies and programmes and on their close links with employment. Please indicate the manner in which effective coordination is ensured between these policies and programmes, on the one hand, and public employment services, on the other.

Article 1(5). Equality of opportunity. The Committee notes the information concerning the introduction of a recruitment quota for workers with disabilities contained in the report submitted by the Government concerning Convention No. 111. The Government indicates that the Self-Employment Initiative Support Programme (PAIEI) and the Rural Employment Creation Support Programme (PACER) both contribute to the promotion of self-employment through the provision of assistance to young persons for training in entrepreneurship, the development of business plans and how to seek financing. The National Employment Promotion Agency (ANPE) financed 12 micro-projects in 2010, in partnership with Qatar Charity, and three projects in 2011. The Committee invites the Government to provide updated information on the measures taken to encourage women and workers with disabilities to develop and use their vocational skills in all branches of activity and at all skill and responsibility levels.

Article 3. Information systems. The Government indicates that the information and guidance activities carried out in 2011 included: contact with 86,382 users, including 72,134 jobseekers and 4,554 employers; the registration of re-registration of 22,476 jobseekers, including 8,837 newly registered jobseekers; the coordination of the supply and demand for jobs, with 9,722 vacancies being registered for 22,476 jobseekers; training in job search techniques, with six five-module seminars being organized; support for recruitment provided to 222 enterprises; and the organization of sectoral meetings benefiting 93 enterprises. The Committee invites the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure the provision of comprehensive information and the broadest possible guidance to young persons and adults (Article 3(1)). The Committee also requests the Government to describe the type of information available for the purposes of vocational guidance, and the manner in which this information is kept updated, and to provide examples of the documentation available (Article 3(2) and (3)).

Article 5. Collaboration of the social partners. The Government refers to various tripartite bodies which participate in the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and training policies and programmes, namely the Executive Board of the Vocational Training and Apprenticeship Support Fund (FAFPCA), the Executive Board of the ANPE and the Labour and Employment Advisory Commission (CCTE). The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the activities of the FAFPCA, CCTE and ANPE, and on any other tripartite body participating in the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and training policies and programmes.