Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

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

Article 1 of the Convention. Youth employment. The Committee notes the concise information communicated by the Government in response to its previous comments, as well as that provided to the Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2023. Concerning the agriculture and livestock sector, the Government indicates that this sector holds an important place in the country’s growth and development forecasts. The Sector has enjoyed support through the Programme to Promote Youth Agropastoral Entrepreneurship (PEA-Youth), which has granted funding to more than 2,600 young persons and created more than 10,000 jobs in six years. The Committee notes that, according to the Decent Work Country Programme 2023–26, that Cameroon’s population is essentially young. National statistics indicate that persons less than 35 years of age represent more than 70 per cent of the total population, and those aged between 15 to 34 years constitute more than 30 per cent of the population (World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank, 2019). The Committee again requests the Government to provide updated information on the measures and programmes implemented or envisaged to reduce youth unemployment and to promote the long-term integration of young people into the labour market, paying particular attention to the employment of young women. It also requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved or the results obtained in this regard. Furthermore, it requests the Government to provide information on the consultations with the representatives of the youth organizations in this regard and the manner in which their opinions have been taken into account in the development and implementation of projects and programmes affecting them.

Employment of women. The Committee notes that the Government mentions a National Action Plan for the employment of women if its report but provides no information on the measures taken in this regard. The Committee, therefore, reiterates its request to the Government to provide updated information on any measures taken or envisaged to promote the participation of women in the labour market. It also requests the Government to provide detailed information, including statistics disaggregated by age, region and sector of activity, on the impact of programmes for the integration of women into the labour market. The Government is also requested to provide information on the consultations held with representatives of women workers, including specific examples of the manner in which their comments and suggestions have been taken into account in the development and implementation of projects and programmes affecting them.

Small and medium-sized enterprises. The Committee notes that the Government provides no information regarding small and medium-sized enterprises in its report. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken, particularly in the context of the implementation of Act No. 2019/004 of 25 April 2019 and the National Social Economy Development Programme (PNDES), to promote the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises and to reduce the obstacles they face, particularly with regard to limited access to infrastructure, financial services and raw materials.