Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Cambodia (Ratification: 1971)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its 2000 direct request which read as follows:

The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s brief report, in which it states that it is making efforts to expand the garment industry (where it aims to apply all core international labour standards), palm oil farms, and tourism in Siem Reap province. It notes from other sources that the Government has developed several other policies and programmes to promote employment. The Committee invites the Government to seek technical assistance when preparing its next report, in order to better aid the Committee in understanding the Government’s progress in implementing the Convention.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes from the Country Brief, prepared by the Office for the World Employment Report, that GDP grew by 5 per cent in 1999; however, fundamental problems persist. Poverty remains widespread; the economy is not sufficiently diversified; and there is low domestic resource mobilization and an almost exclusive reliance on official aid for public investment programmes. Furthermore, human resource development is stagnating due to high repetition and dropout rates of school-age children.

Labour force participation rates for 1999 were 66.3 per cent for men and 65.9 per cent for women, with much higher rates in rural areas. The majority of workers are self-employed or unpaid family workers (predominately women). Unemployment rates for 1999 were 0.5 per cent for men and 0.6 per cent for women, with slightly higher rates in rural areas. Underemployment rates for 1999 were estimated at 8.6 per cent for men and 14.7 per cent for women. The labour force is growing at about 3 per cent per year.

Women are concentrated in low and unskilled employment, particularly in the informal sector. Women comprised only 11 per cent of total paid workers, but 64 per cent of unpaid workers, mainly in agriculture. Employment of women in the garment industry is reversing this trend to some extent, but the gender gap in education and training indicates that the gap in remuneration is likely to continue.

The Government has declared employment generation the most important strategy for poverty reduction in its Five-Year Development Plan for 1996-2000, and has made some progress, particularly in improving administration. The Committee notes that the UNDP/ILO project on vocational training for poverty alleviation has been completed and tripartite reviews have been carried out. Please provide further information on the follow-up taken, and on any other projects undertaken to develop training to promote employment. The Committee also notes that greater diversification of the economy is needed. The Committee would appreciate receiving further information on progress made to diversify the economy, particularly concerning agricultural and rural development. The Committee points out that ILO technical assistance is available to the Government.

The Committee notes that specific programmes have been undertaken by the Government, including mainstreaming the use of labour-based infrastructure development methods for rural development, and participating in the ILO/Japan project on employment promotion for people with disabilities. Please provide further information on the outcome of these programmes. Please also provide information on how the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour, Vocational Training, and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSALVYR) coordinates its policies and programmes with the Ministry of Planning, and on how MOSALVYR promotes employment as part of the annual Consultative Group under the auspices of the World Bank.

Lastly, the Committee notes that the public employment service is largely underdeveloped and poorly utilized. It encourages the Government to seek ILO technical assistance to modernize the employment service and to integrate active labour market programmes in its functions.

Article 2. The Committee notes from the Country Brief that statistics are not very reliable, due to limited access to certain areas of the country for security reasons, and to the use of classifications that do not always conform to ILO standard classifications for labour statistics. ILO/EASMAT reviewed the labour statistics system in Cambodia in 1995, and proposed a major programme to develop the system of labour statistics. The ILO also provided support to MOSALVYR to develop labour market indicators. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on whether progress is being made in implementing the findings of these studies and whether further technical assistance from ILO/EASMAT is needed. Please also provide information more generally on how policies and programmes are kept under review within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy.

Article 3. The Committee notes that a tripartite Labour Advisory Committee was formed in 1999, comprised of workers’ and employers’ organizations, as well as government representatives. Please supply further information on the mandate of the Labour Advisory Committee, including whether it is consulted on the development and review of policies and programmes. Please also supply information on how the views of other persons affected, such as rural and informal sector workers, are taken into account.