The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Labour presented the proposal for the National Employment Plan, prepared with the support of EUROsociAL+, to employer representatives, workers' organisations and public bodies to receive recommendations before the final drafting of this important instrument.
Foto: Ben Albano
The EUROsociAL+ programme has assisted the Ministry of Labour in the preparation of the National Employment Plan (PLANE), whose objective, according to the mandate of the President of the Republic, is to promote the creation of 600 thousand new decent jobs for the period 2021-2024.
After the process was completed, on 10 and 11 February, the Ministry of Labour convened employer representatives, workers’ organisations and public bodies (Employers’ Confederation of the Dominican Republic, National Confederation of Dominican Workers, MEPyD and the Ministry for Commerce, Industry and MIPYMES – MCIM) to present the PLANE proposal and receive recommendations before the final drafting of this important instrument.
These last forums are part of a long participatory process in drawing up the PLANE. Last year in particular, different virtual encounters were held with Government representatives, employers and workers, as well as with experts from the labour market, academia and with non-governmental organisations, local governments and civil society. An electronic consultation was also made with companies, workers’ organisations, and a representation of other sectors of the country, to hear their proposals on promoting employment.
In the words of Francesco Chiodi, EUROsociAL+ Social Policy Area coordinator, who closed the forum together with representatives of public institutions, “Inequality, particularly in the labour market, cannot be considered an inevitable by-product of growth; rather its reduction contributes to conditions that favour growth. Also from this perspective, we should get used to thinking of employment policies as part of economic growth policies. In the post-pandemic period, without new employment policies focused not only on exclusionary problems generated in the market, but also on development, we will continue with informality and the employment crisis, which is also a crisis of productivity and national competitiveness.
The PLANE calls for a coordinated and converging effort from different institutions and proposes, among other things, objectives such as economic incentives for investment, coordination with territorial and sectoral plans; training and professional technical training to promote the development of human talent and employability in the most vulnerable population; the modernisation of the Public Employment Service; technical and financial support for independent workers, MSMEs, green job initiatives, jobs in the circular economy, ICT and care.
The EUROsociAL+ programme will continue to assist with the implementation of the Plan in the coming months and will initiate support for the modernisation of public employment services.
