Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 (No. 117) - Madagascar (Ratification: 1964)

Previous comment

The Committee notes the observations of the General Confederation of Workers’ Unions of Madagascar (FISEMA) and of the Trade Union Confederation of Malagasy Revolutionary Workers (FISEMARE), received on 1 September 2022. The Committee requests the Government to supply its comments on the observations received from the social partners.

Parts I and II of the Convention. Improvement of standards of living. The Government indicates that the General State Policy (PGE) 2019–2023 aims to promote decent work for all, to restore dignity and pride to every worker and thus support social peace, inclusive economic growth and the development of the country. The Government plans to update the PGE to take account of the challenges of productive and sustainable employment. The Government has also identified, together with the ILO, the following priorities for its Decent Work Country Programme 2020–24, which is under way: (i) the creation of decent and productive employment, particularly for young persons and vulnerable groups in key sectors of the economy (blue, green and rural economies); (ii) the transition from the informal to the formal economy; and (iii) the improvement and extension of social protection to all workers. The Government is also working on overhauling the Labour Code and adopting a strategic plan for labour inspection. With regard to the implementation of its social policy, the Government indicates that it has introduced a programme to promote entrepreneurship and handicrafts entitled Fihariana. It has also provided figures on the development of decent work. The number of workers inspected by the labour inspectorate, including those in the informal economy, rose from 30,000 in 2019 to 67,500 in 2020. The number of workers benefiting from increased social security cover, including in the informal sector, increased from 33,000 in 2019 to 87,975 in 2020. Regarding the living conditions of workers in the informal economy, the Government notes that the low level of involvement of the responsible actors, the low rate of social contributions, the failure to provide information on the application of relevant conventions and the non-application of legislation on working conditions all constitute obstacles to decent work in this sector. The Government has introduced initiatives to support the formal economy. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, around a hundred small and medium-sized enterprises benefited from a line of credit under the Miarina programme. Regarding the observations of the social partners, the FISEMA regrets the Government’s abandonment of the plan to overhaul the Social Security Code (CPS). The FISEMA denounces in particular the methods and bases used to calculate retirement pensions, which are no longer adapted to the current context. The FISEMA observes that, according to the World Bank, the pandemic has significantly worsened poverty in Madagascar and notes that, “according to a United Nations agency”, more than 9 out of 10 workers do not benefit from social protection schemes. The FISEMARE also denounces delays in revising the CPS and regrets the failure to provide information on the reasons for them. The FISEMARE calls for more social dialogue in this respect. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the manner in which the provisions of the Convention requiring “all policies” to be “primarily directed to the well-being and development of the population” are taken into account in the formulation and implementation of measures taken within the framework of the General State Policy (PGE) (Article 1 of the Convention). The Committee also reiterates its request to provide information on the measures taken to improve living conditions in rural areas, promote productive capacity and improve the standards of living of workers in the informal economy (Articles 3 and 4). In this respect, the Committee draws the attention of the Government to the fact that the preparation and implementation of integrated and coordinated employment and social protection policies and measures constitute powerful levers for achieving the important objective of formalizing the economy, increasing productivity and improving the standard of living of the entire population, in particular the most vulnerable persons excluded from all social and labour protection, a great many of whom work in the informal economy, often in rural areas.

Part IV of the report form. Representative organizations consulted. The Government indicates that it consulted representative organizations of employers and workers at a workshop held from 3 to 5 August 2022 to present and validate the report. The Government indicates that it has sent copies of the report to the Madagascar Chamber of Commerce (GEM) and the Fivondronan'ny Mpandraharaha eto Madagasikara (FIVMPAMA), for the organizations of employers, and to the FISEMARE, the FISEMA and the Christian Confederation of Malagasy Trade Unions (SEKRIMA), for the organizations of workers. However, the FISEMA observes that it has not received the Government’s report. The Committee reminds the Government that, in accordance with article 23, paragraph 2, of the ILO Constitution, it is required to communicate the report to the representative organizations.The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments on the FISEMA's observation that it has not received the Government's report.