Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2008, publiée 98ème session CIT (2009)

Convention (n° 122) sur la politique de l'emploi, 1964 - Ouzbékistan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report received in March 2008, including the information provided in response to the Committee’s 2005 direct request, which was reiterated in 2006 and 2007.

1. Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Coordination of employment policy and poverty reduction. The Committee notes that a State Employment Promotion Fund to assist employment was established to finance measures to implement its employment policy. It further notes that in order to prevent the risk of job losses, and to promote stable paid employment for citizens, the Government’s activities are being complemented by programmes aimed at job creation. The Committee also notes from the Welfare Improvement Strategy of Uzbekistan (2008–10), set out in the Republic of Uzbekistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, that the rate of unemployment continued to fall from 3.7 per cent in 2004 to 3.0 per cent in 2006. In this connection, the Committee notes that Uzbekistan is also experiencing a rapid increase in the working-age population, whereby the proportion of the population which was of working-age increased from 54.5 per cent in 2004 to 56.1 per cent in 2006. The Committee further notes that the demand for labour will be shaped by state policy aimed at: (i) encouraging the placement of new, especially labour intensive industries, predominantly in the regions and settlements with high levels of unemployment and poverty; (ii) the creation and modernization of infrastructure contributing to economic development and to the creation of new industries and workplaces in regions with high levels of unemployment and poverty; (iii) the comprehensive development of rural territories; (iv) supporting small businesses; (v) creating and widening diverse forms of individual employment in regions with low levels of employment and a high poverty rate; and (vi) the expansion of human resources training for newly reintroduced modern industries financed by initiators of investment projects. The Committee further notes that policies affecting labour supply in the market will be aimed at: (i) revision and substantial strengthening of the practical orientation of all education programmes; (ii) more active implementation of employee professional development (training) programmes to retain them in the labour market during the restructuring of the economy; (iii) more active use of in-service staff training programmes; (iv) the gradual reduction of labour taxes; (v) the improvement of the registration and statistics of the employed population; and (vi) the substantial widening of legal and socially protected labour migration. The Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report information on the outcomes of specific employment creation policies that are part of its poverty reduction strategy. The Government is also requested to indicate the manner in which employment objectives are taken into account in the adoption of measures in monetary, budgetary and taxation policy, and price, income and wage policy. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on the specific measures adopted to address the employment situation in regions and settlements with high levels of unemployment and poverty.

2. Labour market measures. The Government reports that a procedure was adopted for the development and implementation of an employment programme aimed at achieving a balance between supply of, and demand for, labour by organizing placements, vocational training and retraining of those not in work, redundant workers, and the unemployed. The Government reports that this employment programme provides for: (i) a brief assessment of the situation in the labour market; (ii) the establishment of new jobs in enterprises of all forms of ownership and industry, including small enterprises and private development; (iii) the development of new forms of employment based on denationalization and privatization of ownership; (iv) training and retraining of managers; (v) regulating the process of dismissal of workers; (vi) designation of regions or population centres as priorities in tackling the employment problem; (vii) the rational use of rural labour resources to establish enterprises to process agricultural production, the development of small farms and entrepreneurship; and (viii) the development of private secondary industry and self-employment and other forms of industry. The Government reports that measures taken to regulate the labour market situation have helped to increase levels of placement of persons who applied to the country’s employment service. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that over a period of nine months in 2007, of the 407,033 citizens registered with local employment agencies, 351,079 were placed in jobs. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the number of individuals benefiting from its employment services and participating in vocational training, paying particular attention to the rates of successful job placement. The Government is further asked to include information on measures taken to match education and training policies to the actual demands of the labour market.

3. Particular categories of workers. The Government states in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper that the reduction of the informal sector and the return of the labour force to the formal market will be a priority of the medium-term policy. The Government provides that an indicator of success at this stage would be for the employment rate in the informal sector to decrease from its current level of 56 per cent to 30 per cent. The Committee notes that the employment rate of women was lower than among men; however, their share in the structure of formal employment remained stable at 44 per cent in 2001–05. The Government further states in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper that there is an imbalance in the sectoral distribution of female labour, in that women dominate in the healthcare and education sectors, while men dominate in the construction, transportation and telecommunications sectors. The Government states that in all sectors women have less qualified jobs in comparison with men. The Committee ask the Government to include in its next report detailed information on the impact of such measures taken to meet the needs of particular categories of workers, such as women, young people, older workers and workers with disabilities.

4. Article 3. Participation of social partners in the formulation of policies. The Government reports that, by article 20 of its Employment Act, Coordinating Committees for Employment Promotion, comprising representatives of trade unions and other workers’ representative bodies, employers’ organizations, state authorities and other organizations concerned that represent the interests of citizens in need of social protection are to be established to elaborate joint decisions at the national and local levels on the determination and implementation of employment policy. The Employment Act also prescribes for the participation of trade unions and other workers’ representative bodies in employment promotion, and for the participation of employers in the implementation of state employment policy. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the consultations held on the matters covered by the Convention with the representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations, including details of their contribution to the implementation of an active employment policy. It similarly welcomes being kept apprised of the manner in which the Coordinating Committees for Employment Promotion effect consultations and closer cooperation with the social partners, and the results of such consultations.