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The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes with interest that, pursuant to research undertaken by the Industrial Training Authority (ITA) to determine the reasons for economic inactivity among women, the Government has taken measures to improve and expand child-care facilities; to encourage women to enter, with suitable training, new fields and occupations; to promote part-time work; to improve transportation facilities in rural areas; and to encourage, through financial and other incentives, the creation of industries in rural areas where there is an adequate potential female labour force. The Committee also notes with interest that the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act, No. 48(I) of 1994, has extended the minimum period of maternity leave from 12 to 14 weeks as from June 1994 and provides for its extension to 16 weeks, as from January 1997. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information on the effect these various measures have on improving the participation and situation of women in the labour force. It also requests the Government to furnish information on any initiatives taken to assist workers to harmonize their work and family responsibilities, in line with the proposal of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance to the Labour Advisory Board.

2. The Committee notes with interest that women comprised more than one-quarter of total trainees undertaking ITA management training courses in 1992 and 1993. This represented increases over the relative number of women trained in those courses in 1991. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue its efforts to encourage women to undertake training, particularly management and development training, and that it will continue to provide information on the results achieved.

3. Referring to its previous requests for data on the participation of women in employment, the Committee notes that, as of 1992, women's labour force participation accounted for 40 per cent of the total employment; and that the latest available statistics disclose an increase in women's employment participation in both private and public sectors, from 40.4 per cent of the total in 1991 to 41.4 per cent in 1992 in the private sector; and from 32.3 per cent in 1991 to 32.8 per cent in 1992 in the public sector. The Committee also notes that although there was a slight decrease in the percentage of women employed in the public sector (excluding manual labour) from 1992 (41 per cent) to 1993 (40.6 per cent), the number of female government employees (excluding the educational services) who hold professional or administrative/managerial posts increased, in absolute terms, from 1,191 in 1992 to 1,288 in 1993. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the relative gains being made by women in the labour market, particularly at the higher levels of employment in the public and private sectors. It also requests the Government to supply copies of any reports evaluating the status of women in the country, such as material that may have been prepared for the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September 1995.