Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 1977)

Articles 1 to 3 of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Government indicates in its report that the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare (MTEPS), in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 4857 of 6 January 2023, determining the organization of the executive branch, includes among its functions: promoting employment policies and proposing active and passive employment policies to improve the living conditions of the population. The Government adds that, for this purpose, there is the Public Employment Service (SPE), which is free of charge and matches jobseekers with the demand for labour in the private and public sectors through its labour exchange. The Committee notes that, during the period 2016–23, there were 95,978 jobseekers and 44,322 vacancies registered in the SPE’s labour exchange in the various regions of the country. The Government adds that, during the period 2018–23, the Employment Support Programme II (APE II) was implemented with financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), benefiting 24,044 workers through the development of labour skills within the job and the provision of a monthly stipend and accident insurance for beneficiaries. The Committee recalls the importance of the Bolivia Public Employment Service being consolidated as a model of modern, transparent and inclusive management capable of responding proactively and effectively to present and future challenges on the labour market. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures adopted or envisaged to strengthen and modernize the Public Employment Service so as to ensure that it plays a central and exemplary role in the promotion of full, productive and freely chosen employment for the population as a whole. It requests the Government to provide detailed and updated data in its next report disaggregated by sex, age, region and vulnerable groups on the operation and impact of the Public Employment Service, including: (i) data on the effective access of women, young persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous people and the rural population to employment services; (ii) evidence of the strategic use of labour matching, vocational guidance and training in line with current and future labour market needs; and (iii) the specific results achieved in terms of sustainable labour market integration, job quality and the reduction of inequality. The Committee also requests information on interinstitutional coordination mechanisms and effective consultation of the social partners and civil society, as well as the measures taken to improve the innovation and digitalization of the system.

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation with the social partners. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided information on cooperation with the social partners in the organization and operation of the Public Employment Service and in the general employment policy. The Committee recalls that Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention require the creation of advisory committees with a view to the full cooperation of the representatives of employers and workers in the organization and operation of the public employment service and in the development of general employment policy. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on cooperation with the social partners in the organization and operation of the Public Employment Service and general employment policy at both the national and departmental levels.

Article 6(b)(iv). Mobility of workers. The Government indicates that, as from 2023, the General Directorate of Employment, with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has been taking the following action: (1) the development of management tools for the effective integration of the migrant population with beneficiaries of policies on access to employment; and (2) the modernization of the Digital Labour Matching Platform of the Public Employment Service as a tool of the greatest importance to facilitate the matching of jobseekers and employers. The Committee requests the Government to continue and extend measures to strengthen the role of the Public Employment Service in facilitating the suitable and safe referral and placement of workers at both the national and international levels. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide detailed information on the progress achieved, in cooperation with the IOM and other United Nations agencies, particularly for the modernization of the Digital Labour Matching Platform and the effective inclusion of migrant workers in policies on access to employment.

Article 7. Youth employment. The Government indicates that the APE II (2018–23) has seen the broad participation of young persons aged 18 to 28, who have benefited from skills training within the job for the development of vocational skills to improve their employability. The Government adds that in 2023 the first version of the pilot project on vocational guidance for production was implemented with a view to the provision of vocational and occupational guidance based on the needs of the industrialization process undertaken by the Government. The project had two phases: (1) a webinar which gave over 16,000 participants direct access to guidance on various subjects relating to production; and (2) guided visits to the dairy processing plant in the municipality of Achacachi in the Department of La Paz. The Committee notes the official public notice providing information on other measures that have been adopted, such as the “Opportunities Bolivia” programme to support young entrepreneurs and the “Young entrepreneur” programme. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the impact of the measures adopted by the Public Employment Service with a view to facilitating the labour market integration of young persons, including statistical data disaggregated by sex and age on the number of beneficiaries of the measures adopted and the number of young persons whohave entered the labour market as a result of these measures.

Finally, the Committee draws attention to recent publications prepared by the ILO which could be useful in the development and regulation of public employment services, including: Public employment services: Diagnostic tool and guide (ILO, 2021), and Public employment services and active labour market policies for transitions: Global Report Part I; Response to mega trends and crises (ILO, 2023).