Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Egypt (Ratification: 1982)

Article 1(1) of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies and programmes closely linked with employment. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report received in August 2013 in reply to its 2009 direct request. The Government indicates that training policies are formulated taking into account the effective needs of the labour market. It adds that the Ministry of Manpower and Migration has adopted several measures, namely: the Quick Training programme, the Vocational Training programme, the Occupational Education programme, and the Gradual Progress in Occupation programme. The Committee invites the Government to provide information illustrating the way in which the different measures implemented have contributed to promote access to education, training, and lifelong learning. The Committee also invites the Government to provide information on the efforts being made to secure coordination among the various institutions responsible for developing comprehensive and coordinated policies and programmes of vocational guidance and vocational training.

Article 3. Vocational guidance. The Government reports that the Vocational Training Department at the Ministry of Manpower assists adults in choosing the right occupation and provides information on vocational guidance. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the impact of measures taken to raise awareness of the benefits of training, including information on the involvement of the social partners in the design and delivery of training and vocational guidance programmes (Article 3(1)). The Government is also invited to complete its report with a description and specimens of available documentation for vocational guidance and the manner in which such information is kept up to date (Article 3(2) and (3)).

Youth employment and training. The Government indicates that several measures have been taken for the training of young persons to create small businesses. The Committee notes that, according to the Global Employment Trends 2014 published by the ILO, unemployment among young people has reached around 25 per cent in Egypt. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the results achieved with regard to vocational training and vocational guidance, particularly with regard to young persons with few or no qualifications and those living in rural areas.

Women in employment and training. The Government indicates in its report that it takes active measures to ensure the participation of women in the labour market, including guaranteeing the participation of girls in training programmes. The Committee takes note of the information provided concerning the Salheya Initiative for Women's Economic Empowerment which was initiated in 2010 with financial support from the UN Fund for Gender Equality and which seeks to advance gender equity by enabling women to participate effectively in the economic sphere. The Committee invites the Government to provide detailed information on the active measures taken to ensure progress in the participation of women in the labour market, including an indication of the number of beneficiaries, the types of vocational training provided, an evaluation of the impact in terms of jobs occupied by women prior to, and following, their education and their participation in various training programmes. Please also provide information on existing ILO women employment projects implemented in the country (Part V of the report form).

Article 5. Cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Government indicates that the work of the Supreme Council on Human Resources Development has temporarily stopped due to the situation currently prevailing in the country. The Committee notes that, in recent years, a number of Enterprise Training Partnerships (ETP) have been created to assist in improving productivity and competitiveness of companies, as well as to contribute to the development of the national technical and vocational education and training reform. While ETPs’ Boards of Directors are composed of employers’ representatives, who make up two-thirds of the membership, such partnerships do not appear to include workers’ representatives. The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to report on the manner in which the social partners cooperate in the fields covered by the Convention. In particular, the Committee would welcome examining information on how a national strategy for education and training was defined with the involvement of the social partners.