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The Committee notes the Government’s report.

1. Recalling the continuing delay in the adoption of a new Labour Code, the Committee notes that the draft Code has been submitted to Parliament and that it expressly prohibits all forms of discrimination. According to the information sent by the Government, section 9 prohibits "all discrimination based on race, colour, sex, invalidity, civil status, belief, political opinion, trade union affiliation, national extraction or social origin the effect of which is to breach or impair the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, particularly in hiring, the administration and distribution of work, vocational training, remuneration, promotion, enjoyment of social privileges, disciplinary sanctions and dismissal". The Committee hopes that every effort will be made to adopt and apply this text and awaits a copy of the new Code.

2. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government was unable to send with its last report statistical information on employment and training for women. The Committee again stresses the importance of obtaining reliable statistics of the number of men and women in a given occupation in both the private sector and the public sector. It recalls in this connection that where inequality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation is overlooked because it is inadequately recorded in statistics, there are negative repercussions for the effective application of the Convention.

3. The Committee notes the concluding observations of 1 December 2000 by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/1/Add.55) concerning the high rate of illiteracy in Morocco, particularly among women in rural areas. It also notes that, according to the abovementioned committee, less than 50 per cent of children of both sexes are being regularly educated, and the access of young girls to education is considerably more limited, particularly in the rural areas, which accounts for the fact that the adult illiteracy rate is 65 per cent for women, as against 40 per cent for men. The Committee asks the Government to send information on the effective measures taken to promote the access of girls to primary and secondary education establishments and to set up programmes to reduce the female illiteracy rate.

4. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on any measures or programmes to facilitate acquisition of skills and vocational training for women, and on the manner in which such training has enhanced equality between men and women in respect of access to employment.

5. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee again requests the Government to provide information in its next report on tangible progress made in implementing the ministerial programmes to enhance the status of women in terms of their access to and participation in employment in all areas and in decision-making.

6. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on how effect is given in practice to the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation in respect of members of minority groups in order to eliminate all discrimination based on race, sex, national extraction or religion.