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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report and in the annexes.

1. The Committee notes with interest from the report of the National Council for Women (CONAMU) annexed to the report, that the Constitutional Court declared section 12 of the Cooperatives Act to be unconstitutional, since this section prohibited the participation of women in the establishment of cooperatives, when their husbands were members of the same cooperative. It further notes that CONAMU, together with the Standing Committee for Women, Youth, Children and the Family, had set up the Board of Labour and Access to Resources, taking reform of the Cooperatives Act as a priority objective. The Committee hopes that, among the reforms to be carried out, attention will be given to the previous comments of the Committee on section 17(b) of the regulations issued under the Cooperatives Act, by virtue of which married women require the authorization of their husbands to be members of housing, agricultural and family vegetable garden cooperatives. The Committee has also referred to section 12 of the Commercial Code, under which married women require the authorization of their husbands to enter into commerce, and sections 66, 80 and 105 of the above Code, which prohibit married and single women from entering the stock market, being stockbrokers or public auctioneers. With regard to the above provisions of the Commercial Code, the Government has previously stated that, since 1989, the Court of Constitutional Guarantees has suspended the application of sections 12, 66, 80 and 105 of the Commercial Code with regard to the restrictions placed on women (RS.TGC.RO 224: 3 July 1989). Having already noted this information, the Committee nonetheless emphasizes the importance of bringing the national legislation formally into conformity with the Convention, by explicitly repealing or amending the provisions which are not in conformity with it, thereby ensuring that there is no uncertainty as to the legislation in force. In this respect, the Committee once again recalls the commitment made by the Government to submit legal forms to the National Congress to bring the national legislation into full compliance with the Convention and the provisions of the National Constitution and it requests the Government to continue supplying information on the measures adopted in this regard.

2. In its earlier comments, the Committee had noted that, despite the efforts being made to eradicate the remnants of racial discrimination, such discrimination still exists in practice, affecting the indigenous peoples and the Afro-Ecuadorian communities, and requested information on the action taken or under way and on any measures taken or envisaged to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation for indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian groups. While the annexes to the report contain a number of projects specific to the indigenous communities, these do not refer to employment and occupation, nor do they reflect the existence of a policy of national scope to guarantee equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, for the indigenous peoples and the Afro-Ecuadorian communities. The Committee also indicated that it will give further consideration to this aspect of the question under the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples' Convention, 1989 (No. 169), ratified by the Government in 1998. The Committee therefore again requests the Government to provide information on this matter and is addressing the question in greater detail in its direct request.

3. The Committee is addressing a request on other points directly to the Government.