Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Niger (Ratification: 2018)

First report

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of an active policy designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment. The Government indicates that the National Employment Policy (PNE 2008-2012) was adopted on 12 March 2009, by Decree 2009-095/PRN/MFP/T. The PNE 2008-2012 puts job creation at the centre of its political, economic and social objectives with a view to a sustainable reduction in poverty and the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the population. An Action Plan accompanies the policy, which includes implementation and follow-up and assessment elements for the PNE. In 2018, a PNE assessment mission was organized with the support of the International Labour Office to identify the achievements and weaknesses of the PNE 2008-2012 and make recommendations regarding the elaboration of the PNE 2020-2025. In April 2018, a workshop to launch the formulation process of the new PNE for Niger was held in Niamey. The Committee notes with interest that, after wide consultations with all interested parties and in collaboration with the ILO Country Office in Abidjan, a first version of the PNE 2020-2025 was finalized and that the workshop to approve the new PNE was held from 13 to 15 July 2021. The Government indicates that the Office will be kept informed of all developments in this respect. Noting that the workshop to approve the new PNE 2020-2025 was held in 2021, the Committee hopes that the National Employment Policy and its Action Plan will shortly be finalized and requests the Government to communicate a copy of the policy and plan once it is adopted.

Labour market trends. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the labour market situation in Niger, the employment trends in the economic sectors, the labour market participation of the population in urban and rural areas, the employment and unemployment rates, in the formal and informal economies. In this regard, the Government indicates that the employment offered by the productive system of Niger is essentially to be found in the agriculture, livestock, and environment branches. It adds that, between 2011 and 2017, around one million jobs were created, at an average rate of 143,000 jobs a year. The Government also indicates that, at national level, the public sector is the largest provider of employment. In 2017, the public sector generated about 89.6 per cent of jobs created. The Government highlights the precarious nature of employment in Niger and indicates that the majority of jobs offered are not stable, including those created by private sector enterprises. Of the 1,035,829 jobs created between 2011 and 2017, less than 20 per cent were permanent jobs, and 80 per cent of jobs created were of three to six months’ duration. The Committee notes, however, that certain branches of activity, in particular the gas, electricity and water sectors (93.91 per cent), education (91.25 per cent), and the oil and mining industries (91.2 per cent) offered a majority of stable jobs. Regarding employment trends, the Government indicates that at 30 June 2020, the National Employment Promotion Agency (ANPE) registered 15,947 jobseekers and 3,090 job offers. According to the latest available statistics (ERI-ESI, 2017), the 2017 unemployment rate for the full labour force stood at 7.9 per cent. The unemployment rate for women and men was similar (around 8 per cent). However, the 2017 unemployment rate in rural areas (8.3 per cent) was higher than in urban areas (7 per cent). The Government states that overall, the average duration of unemployment is 6.65 years. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on employment market trends, including statistics on employment and unemployment disaggregated by age and sex. More precisely, it requests the Government to provide information showing the employment situation for categories particularly exposed to decent work deficits, such as women, young persons, persons with disabilities, older workers, rural workers and other workers how encounter particular difficulties in entering the labour market.

Informal economy and employment. Rural development. The Government indicates that most jobs in Niger are informal. They are unproductive, poorly remunerated and lack social protection. The Committee notes that in 2017, almost all employment in the country was informal (91.9 per cent). It also notes that the PNE Action Plan provides for measures aimed at providing a better framework for the informal sector. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and updated information on the nature and impact of the measures taken to organize the informal sector and integrate the informal sector workers into the formal labour market, including young workers and women, taking account of the guidance contained in the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the initiatives undertaken to generate growth and create jobs in the rural areas, in particular to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship of women and men. It also requests the Government to provide information on all measures taken or envisaged to promote the creation of micro-enterprises, cooperatives or other forms of associative enterprises in order to boost the development of entrepreneurship in rural areas. With reference to the Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193), the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote decent and productive work through cooperatives.

Article 2. Implementation of employment programmes and employment services. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the labour market institutions, including those responsible for the implementation, follow-up and monitoring of the PNE. It particularly notes the activities of the ANPE, which is a public establishment with a tripartite composition responsible for promoting employment and which has autonomy in management. It is directed by a Governing Body. The Government indicates that the ANPE is under the supervision of the Minister for Employment and includes central directorates and services. The Committee notes that each regional capital has a regional employment agency, with a departmental employment office in Birni Konni. It also notes that ANPE services are to be extended, with the creation of 40 communal offices in rural areas. The Government indicates that the ANPE receives and registers jobseekers, collects job offers and places jobseekers. The Committee notes that between 2011 and 2018, the ANPE received and registered an increasing number of jobseekers. The number of jobseekers increased from 22,476 in 2011 to 42,432 in 2018, an annual increase of 9.5 per cent. In respect of employment programmes, the Government indicates that, starting in 2016, the ANPE has developed several programmes aimed at jobseekers’ labour integration, including the Labour Insertion Assistance Programme for Young Workers (PAIJ) and the Assistance in Creating Enterprises Programme. The ANPE also acts as a labour market observatory. Regarding private employment agencies, the Committee notes that sections 10 to 24 of Decree No. 2017-682/PRN/MET/PS of 10 August 2017, issuing the Labour Code Regulations, address questions related to the establishment and operation of private employment agencies. In this connection, the Committee refers to its comments concerning the application of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the activities of the ANPE, including on the number of beneficiaries of the placement services who have obtained sustainable employment after their registration. It also requests the Government to provide information on the effects of the programmes and measures developed by the ANPE to promote employment, particularly in terms of job creation and combatting poverty. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the number of communal offices effectively installed in rural areas.

Education and vocational training. The Government indicates that unemployment in Niger is long-term unemployment, originating either from insufficient job supply, or from a mismatch between jobseekers’ qualifications and the skills required by enterprises. The Committee refers to its comments of 2021 on the application of the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142, and requests the Government to provide information, including statistics, disaggregated by age and sex, on the impact of measures taken, in consultation with the social partners and representatives of the groups concerned by these measures, to update and strengthen coordination of technical and vocational training so that the courses provided are designed and delivered in a way that answers to labour market needs. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on all measures taken or envisaged to ensure the coordination of the activities and programmes provided by the various agencies and bodies competent in the field of occupational guidance and training.

Specific groups. The Committee refers to its 2020 comments on the application of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), which were based on its comments on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and on the 2015 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences (A/HRC/30/35/Add.1, 30 July 2015), and requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to combat discrimination and stigmatization against former slaves and the descendants of slaves, including in relation to access to productive resources such as land, to enable them to find employment or carry out their activities freely. The Government is also requested to provide information on the measures taken to implement the employment programmes targeting rural areas.

Employment of women. The Government indicates that most formal employment is in the public sector, where women are poorly represented or where they occupy lower-level positions. The Committee notes that in the higher-grade jobs (A and B), the proportion of women varies between 21 per cent and 30 per cent for category A, and 35 and 40.5 per cent for category B. However, women predominate in the lower category (D), making up two-thirds of staff. It also notes that the jobs created by the public sector are mostly occupied by men, and that the fact that women are kept in the lower grades shows that they encounter difficulties in rising through the grades due to certain socio-cultural factors. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and updated information on any measures taken or envisaged to promote the employment of women, including young women and women workers with disabilities. It also requests the Government to provide updated information on specific measures taken to combat the persistence of stereotypes in respect of women’s work; occupational segregation (both vertical and horizontal) based on sex; and to increase the labour market participation of women.

Employment of young persons. The Government reports a worrying level of youth unemployment and indicates that unemployment is primarily rural and among young persons. The unemployment rate is higher among young persons and more persistent among first-time jobseekers. The Committee notes that, in 2017, the unemployment rate for those 15 to 34 years of age stood at 12.2 per cent, while it was at five per cent for those aged 35 years and over. It also notes that in 2017 the average duration of unemployment for first-time jobseekers was eight years, against about four years for persons who had already worked. In this regard, the Government reports on the elaboration of various youth employment programmes. Including the Labour Insertion Assistance Programme for Young Workers (PAIJ), which has three elements: the Entry into Working Life Contract (COSIVIP), which is designed to combat the lack of experience among young first-time jobseekers; the Assistance in Creating Enterprises Programme, which aims at helping young persons to realise their projects; and the Vocational Reskilling Programme (CRP), which is designed to teach new skills to young graduates facing difficulties in integrating the labour market. The Committee notes that, for the 2019-2020 period, the CRP organized reskilling courses for 400 young persons in the hotel and construction and public works sectors. It also notes that under the Youth Employment and Productive Labour Inclusion Programme (PEJIP), ANPE services will be extended to cover rural communes through communal employment offices. In this regard, the Government indicates that 40 communal employment offices will be installed throughout the national territory to provide rural youth with the possibility of benefitting from information, awareness-raising and guidance better adapted to rural and semi-urban job opportunities, including non-agricultural self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information, including statistical data disaggregated by sex and age, on the impact of the programmes implemented, in particular in terms of reduction of unemployment rates and of the sustainable labour integration of young persons, especially in respect of the integration of young women, young descendants of slaves and rural youth.

Persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no information in respect of the employment of persons with disabilities. It nevertheless notes that the PNE foresees targeted action to promote the labour market integration of persons with disabilities. In this regard, one of the guiding principles of the PNE is to increase equality of opportunity for all jobseekers, including persons with disabilities. Moreover, the Committee notes that in 2019, in the framework of the initial report of Niger on the application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Doc. CRPD/C/NER/CO/1) the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was concerned about discrimination against persons with disabilities, including in employment and education, particularly against women, children, migrants and refugees with disabilities, and persons with disabilities living in rural areas. Recalling the concerns of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and particularly regarding theabsence of incentive measures aimed at promoting the employment of persons with disabilities, the refusal to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace; discrimination against persons with disabilities, in particular women with disabilities, in the field of work as a result of prejudice, and the limited employment opportunities in the ordinary labour market; and the absence of disaggregated statistical data on persons with disabilities currently in employment, the Committee urges the Government to communicate detailed and updated information on any measure taken or envisaged, including under the implementation of the National Employment Policy, to promote the occupational training and employment of persons with disabilities, in particular on the open labour market.

Small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government indicates that the jobs created by enterprises are not stable. It also reports on the Assistance in Creating Enterprises Programme for young persons and the Initiative for Enterprise Development Project (IDEE-OIM), which is a partnership agreement related to the management and use of a fund (approximately €366,000) for the development of entrepreneurship among the youth of Niger. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed and updated information on any measure taken or envisaged to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and to promote the creation of sustainable employment through micro and small enterprises. It also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the Assistance in Creating Enterprises Programme and of the IDEE-OIM in terms of job creation and the labour market integration of young persons.

Article 3. Consultation of the social partners. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the consultations held with the employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society organizations, including during development of the new PNE 2020-2025. The Government also indicates that the workers’ trade union organizations and the staff representatives assist the labour inspectors and controllers in fulfilling their mandate, which is to monitor the application of laws and regulations. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on consultations held with the social partners in conformity with Article 3, as well as information on the manner in which the representatives of persons concerned, including those from the informal economy and rural areas, are consulted on the formulation and implementation of employment policies and programmes adopted or envisaged.