Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 122) sur la politique de l'emploi, 1964 - Suriname (Ratification: 1976)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment trends and implementation of active employment policy measures. The Government refers to Chapter II of the Suriname Mid-Term Labour Market Policy 2022-2025, developed with the assistance of the ILO and as part of the Decent Work Country Programme Suriname II. The report describes different labour market measures undertaken to reduce unemployment, which include: (i) the BNTF-9 subproject “From grassroots to entrepreneurs & Retraining of workers and unemployed”, designed to strengthen the labour market qualifications of unemployed youth from poor households in order to increase their chances in finding a job, both as a worker or as an entrepreneur; (ii) the restructuring of the labour market policy, an action point of the Decent Work Country Programme II 2019–2021, which includes as action points a special focus on vulnerable groups, promoting micro and small entrepreneurship, improving cooperation between the public and private sectors, and promoting sectors with potential for the creation of new jobs; (iii) the Re-Training of the Labour Force and Job Placement intuitive, which includes the registration of job seekers and vacancies and the promotion of cooperative entrepreneurship; and (iv) the Projects Basic Needs Trust Fund/Canadian Development Bank, which seeks to work on poverty alleviation by training vulnerable young people and people with disabilities in various vocational training courses. The Government also provides statistical data concerning the employed population by gender and age group taken from the 2012 census, reflecting a total of 188,229 employed persons, of which 118,745 were male and 69,484 were female. The Government also provides statistical data on the employed population in family households in the districts of Paramaribo and Wanica by age group and gender over the period 2018, reflecting a total of 137,059 employed persons, of which 85,313 were male and 57,746 were female. As regards unemployment, the report supplies some limited statistical data on the unemployed population by gender and age group (2012 census) and the unemployed population in family households in the districts of Paramaribo and Wanica by age group and gender (2018). The Committee observes however that the statistical information provided by the Government is limited and does not give a complete picture of the extent and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment in the country.

The Committee notes that the Suriname’s Mid-term Labour Market Policy (2022-2025) was launched in September 2022 and was developed through a research and consultative process led by the ILO, starting in October 2021. Aligned with national efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the policy was created with input from national stakeholders, guided by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Youth Affairs, and the National Commission for Long Term Labour Market Policy. The policy focuses on four main areas: education offer, labour market data, matching of demand and supply, and social protection and activation measures, especially for self-employment. Concomitantly, a second publication titled “The system of labour administration in Suriname (2nd revised edition),” was also launched to serve as a guide for various stakeholders in the labour market. The Committee takes note of these advances with interest and hopes that the Government will in the future be in a position to report on the advancements and achievements made possible based on its new strategic vision aimed at securing decent work and full, productive and freely chosen employment. In particular, the Committee requests the Government to indicate measures taken to: (i) address significant unemployment, particularly among youth and women; (ii) increase overall workforce participation, especially for marginalized groups such as rural residents and people with disabilities; (iii) ensure inclusive labour markets that provide equal opportunities for all segments of the population which remains a critical issue; (iv) enhance the employability of the workforce through better education, training, and skills development is essential; and (v) promote entrepreneurship and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to stimulate job creation and economic growth.

Women’s employment. Education and vocational training. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on specific measures taken or envisaged to address occupational gender segregation. The Government states that, in Suriname, no gender distinction is made in access to educational facilities and, therefore, there are no general measures to provide women with a wide choice of options. The Government indicates that in the past, the Ministry of Labour, Employment Opportunity and Youth Affairs (Ministry of AW&J’s) and the training institute SAO carried out projects to train women in non-traditional professions and that in 2022 a large company provided training for refrigeration technology and electrical home installation to the female employees of that company via the SAO. In its previous comments, the Committee had also requested the Government to provide detailed information measures designed to improve the employment situation of Maroon women. The Government states in this regard that women in general and Maroon women in particular represent vulnerable groups identified as target groups in the labour market policy, although until now, no statistics have specifically been gathered focusing on that sector. The Government provides statistical data on: (i) persons in technical and vocational training, disaggregated in sectors and gender at the SAO over the year 2021; (ii) the number of people in training under the project “From grassroots to entrepreneurship, the retraining and further training of employed and unemployed people between 16-24 years” by result and district; and (iii) the number of people in training under the project “Micro-entrepreneurship for people with disabilities” by result and district. The Committee notes that these training programmes benefited 737 persons, of which 477 were men and 254 were women, while in 36 cases, the gender is not specified. The Committee takes due note of this information which demonstrates that the Government is taking certain measures with a view to addressing the challenges related to promoting women’s employment and occupational gender segregation. Referring to the Mid-term labour market policy (2022–25) for Suriname, the Committee observes however that a more holistic approach would better address the workforce participation as well as the high unemployment and underemployment rates of women in the country, especially for women living in rural areas and women with disabilities. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the results achieved in ensuring more inclusive labour markets that provide equal opportunities for all segments of the population, including the vulnerable and marginalized groups. It thus requests the Government to provide additional information on specific policy measures taken or envisaged to address occupational gender segregation, including measures taken to provide women with a broader choice of educational and vocational training opportunities, including in relation to non-traditional occupations. The Committee further reiterates its request to the Government to provide detailed information, including statistical data disaggregated by age, and sex on the impact of technical and vocational training programmes in terms of providing employment opportunities to women as well as information on measures designed to improve the employment situation of Maroon women, including provision of entrepreneurship training.

Youth employment. In its previous comments the Committee, while noting that youth unemployment levels remained high in Suriname, had requested the Government to provide information on measures taken to promote employment for young women and men. The Government indicates that the Ministry of AW&J’s training institutes are the regular policy instruments for training young men and women. The Government adds that efforts are being made to set up the Suriname National Training Authority (SNTA), which will provide vocational training and education at all levels and in those sectors that are on the rise, such as tourism, ICT services, oil and gas, will be considered. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the steps taken to implement such initiatives and any other measures taken or envisaged to promote full, productive and lasting employment for young women and men and recalls that enhancing the employability of the workforce through better education, training, and skills development is essential to reach the objectives of the Convention, especially in the context of the numerous challenges associated to the transformation of labour markets and the future of work.

Article 3. Consultation with the social partners. The Government indicates that the social partners are consulted when the overall government policy is formulated and that the Labour Advisory Board (AAC), the technical Social Economic Council (SER) and the Tripartite Consultation (TO) are also used to consult the social partners. The Government adds that in the context of the implementation of the second Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP), a tripartite committee was established to determine a long-term labour market policy, which consisted of experts from the Ministry of AW&J, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, the Planning Bureau, the University of Suriname, the General Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the business community and the trade union movement. In addition, a consultant was recruited to evaluate and reformulate the current labour market policy. The Government adds that during a stakeholders’ workshop, the consultant presented the draft document and all relevant stakeholders, including the social partners, were heard and their feedback on the draft document was included and processed by the consultant. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on consultations with the social partners as well as other relevant stakeholders to indicate the manner in which account has been taken of their opinions in formulating of employment policies and programmes.

Small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government reports the projected renovation of the coaching, research and training facilities of the Foundation for Productive Work Units (SPWE) building for small and micro-enterprises. The Government adds that in 2018, several entities launched the platform “The Alliance for Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities”, with the aim of promoting decent work in that target group. This initiative led to the implementation in 2021 of the BNTF 9 subproject: “Micro-entrepreneurship for people with disabilities”, funded by the Caribbean Development Bank through the Ministry of Finance and Planning. During this project, about 30 people with disabilities were trained in entrepreneurship and received a monetary incentive for materials. The Government indicates that the Entrepreneurship Directorate aims to stimulate entrepreneurship in general and that due to the current challenges within entrepreneurship in Suriname, the Ministry has opted for a general approach. The Government adds that the Directorate has mapped out different policy areas for the 2022 financial year, which include stimulating entrepreneurship in the interior, training entrepreneurs nationwide, strengthening and facilitating enterprises, developing the policy for SMEs, and operationalizing the SME Fund. The Committee notes the Government’s observation that the Ministry of Labour does not have statistical data on the number and type of newly created SMEs. The Committee observes that promoting entrepreneurship and supporting SMEs are essential to stimulate job creation and economic growth and requests the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to generate employment for particular categories of workers, such as people with disabilities, through the promotion of cooperatives and micro-business, particularly in regions with the highest unemployment rates. It further requests the Government to consider collecting statistical data on the number and type of newly created SMEs as these are key elements in guiding and assessing the strategic vision in this regard.