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While the independent expert welcomes the Government’s efforts to tackle unemployment by addressing skills development and reinserting people into the labour market, she reminds the Government that employment activation policies must be implemented from a human rights approach. 54. (...) This is particularly important when individuals are required to enter the job market in times of recession and high unemployment. (...) Activation policies should be designed to increase the participation of women in the labour market, while enabling them (in particular, single mothers) to balance employment and parenting.

The Special Rapporteur visited local supermarkets in Harare where she observed that while an ample amount of diversified food was available on the market, high inflation rates and food prices prevented a majority of Zimbabweans from purchasing it. (...) Affordable basic commodities should be available on the market for households with reasonable to low incomes, in order to reduce the burden on social welfare. 59. (...) In addition to not having secure land tenure, major constraints affecting the agricultural sector include limited access to market information, unreliable supply of affordable inputs, lack of agricultural financing, high transportation costs due to inadequate road infrastructure, inadequate irrigation systems and vulnerability to weather-related shocks.

The quantitative approach has resulted in positive change, with large segments of the population becoming homeowners with security of tenure that can be passed on to their children. (...) That can be traced back to the introduction of free-market neoliberalism, during the military dictatorship (1973–1990), with a clear link to the provision of housing through market mechanisms, with the State playing a subsidiary role. (...) Various recent amendments to the General Law on Urbanism and Construction include a provision that allows municipalities to provide zoning incentives for projects that benefit social integration.32 New or revised legislation on land, for example, to address transparency in the land market, was under consideration at the time of the preparation of the present report.33 36.

First, they must increase market access for agricultural products. All quantitative restrictions or other non-tariff measures except those justified by health and safety reasons should be replaced by tariffs (art. 4.2), which the members are subsequently bound to reduce (art. 4.1). (...) In the Ministerial Doha Declaration of 14 November 2001, WTO members committed themselves to comprehensive negotiations aimed at: substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support. (...) That dependency is further increased by the fact that, in order to comply with the standards of global retailers, farmers wishing to be included in global supply chains must use external inputs, including improved varieties of seeds, often supplied by companies which occupy an oligopolistic position on the market. As a result, the farming sector is increasingly divided between one segment which has access to high-value markets and therefore, to the best technologies, inputs, credit, public support and political influence, and another segment which is left to serve only the low-value, domestic markets, and is comparatively neglected and marginalized, particularly as new tastes are introduced through international trade which they cannot satisfy. 26.

Therefore, the role of a company such as ENABAS, in- sofar as its interventions on the market could improve the prices paid to the produc- ers and reduce the prices paid by consumers, is in principle welcome. For example, in 2008, ENABAS sold rice at 20 per cent below market prices, beans at 15 per cent below market prices and oil at 12 per cent below market prices through the Food for the People Programme (Alimentos para el Pueblo). (...) He is, nevertheless, con- cerned that its market interventions may lack effectiveness in the absence of addi- tional liquidity and storage capacity.

He further encourages the Government to consider establishing mechanisms that would ensure transparent public consultation and the free and informed participation of all segments of society, particularly ethnic minorities and the poorest, in the decision-making relating to and monitoring of public finances. 31. (...) The slow recovery of the world economy may undercut growth prospects through reduced or disrupted global trade and knock-on effects (e.g. trade protection barriers) on Vietnamese exports, an important contributor to the country’s growth.38 GDP growth is likely to slow over the medium term as a result of the financial market turmoil and recessionary conditions in Europe and the United States, the country’s largest export markets. 41. (...) Since 1986, the Government has pursued a policy of Doi Moi (economic renewal), which laid the foundations for a market-driven economy. The country has since experienced rapid economic growth, as well as improved economic opportunities and incentives, permitting household incomes to grow along with increased household consumption and savings. 46.

The implementation of market reforms has brought about dynamic changes in the social and economic situation of the population of the Russian Federation. (...) The SPDs and the consumption segments are still work-in-progress and no final decisions have been taken. 61. (...) It caused the breakdown of the market and trade systems and a significant part of the turnover was relocated into the underground and illegal part of the economy.

The possibility of using TV sets for interactive services and the opportunity for integrating editorial content in the press with video programmes open up new prospects for the development of the market. In this wider multimedia context the division of the communications market into limited segments, each with an anti-competitive ceiling on audience share, no longer appears to be compatible with the strong impetus exerted by new technologies, which is encouraging companies to seek cross-fertilisation and synergies. (...) In resolution 136/05/CONS, the Communications Regulatory Authority recently adopted seven measures to foster competition on the digital terrestrial market, mainly based on the obligation to invest in expanding the network, the obligation to provide independent third- party programme content suppliers with 40% of available frequencies in order to give low- cost television market access to new broadcasters, and the obligation on Publitalia to act according to the principles of transparency and non-discrimination on the publicity market (...) An asymmetric provision is envisaged whereby telecommunications operators whose revenues in the telecommunications services market, as defined by Article 18 of the Electronic Communications Code (Legislative Decree 259/2003), exceed 40% of total revenues for that market may not obtain revenues in the integrated communications system of more than 10% of those of the sector itself.

Unemployment is of particular concern, including discriminatory patterns against women for accessing jobs on the employment market. During the first quarter of 2017, the overall unemployment rate stood at 15.3 per cent, however female unemployment (22.7 per cent) was much higher than male unemployment (12.5 per cent). (...) Shrinking the public sector may increase unemployment and further entrench discriminatory patterns in the Tunisian labour market, as a reduction of jobs in the public sector will disproportionally affect women working in public administration, education and health services. (...) The Independent Expert would also like to express his caution about potential labour market reforms. As underlined in a recent report, there is no empirical evidence that austerity- related labour market reforms, such as facilitating the lay-off of workers or freezing or reducing wages, have resulted in increased economic growth, employment, or a better situation for workers.19 B.

The benefits arising from labour market improvements have been unequally distributed. (...) The result is a skewed picture where the median income threshold may end up at a deceptively low level, leaving out segments of low-income earners from the poverty count and therefore from official statistics. 14. (...) The proposed recommendation for a European Child Guarantee refers to the need for member States to adopt labour market integration measures for parents or guardians and income support to families and households, so that financial barriers do not prevent children from accessing quality services.