Nepal is not generating sufficient levels of economic and employment opportunities to satisfy the overwhelming demand due to limited economic growth. The country diagnostic study, Nepal: Critical Development Constraints – attempts to identify the causes for slow growth. Only one-sixth of Nepal’s total workforce of some 11 million people are in paid employment. Nepal currently has in excess of 300,000 new job seekers annually, mostly rural young women and men in the 15-29 age groups which account for over 50% of Nepal’s workforce.
From this perspective, the ILO’s Decent Country Work Programme 2008-2010 in Nepal has prioritized the question of employment-centered growth opportunities, which contribute to political stability and peace building and sustaining. The ILO’s view is that the generation of productive employment needs to be the primary focus of macro policy, and other policy spheres that impact on employment – sectoral policies, product market policies and commercial regulation, trade policy, etc. Hence, ILO together with DFID and ADB conducted the Country Diagnostic Study. It is now supporting the country to commission Labour and Social Trends studies. In cooperation with various line Ministries, the ILO has been supporting in the implementation of growth-oriented integrated Technical Cooperation projects also. All have a bearing on employment outcomes in the labour market.