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The Committee notes the information provided for in the report.

1. The Committee notes that a draft of the federal specialized programme on the employment promotion of the population of the Russian Federation 2002-05 is being elaborated and will include a gender-specific examination of the Russian legislation concerning labour rights. It requests the Government to indicate the result of this examination and any follow-up action taken.

2. The Committee notes that section 253 of the new Labour Code refers to the types of work in which female labour is restricted and that the list of heavy duty work and work with hazardous or dangerous working conditions, in which the employment of women and persons under 18 years of age is prohibited was approved by Decision No. 162 of 25 February 2000. The Government states that the list of activities in which the employment of women is prohibited under the 2000 Decision provides for a flexible approach to this prohibition as compared to the list of prohibited occupations used in the past, and that the employer may employ women in case of creating safe working conditions that are verified by the State Inspection of Working Conditions. The Committee asks the Government to indicate how this flexibility is applied in practice and to provide a copy of the decision of 2000.

3. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain information relevant to some of its previous comments. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes from the Government’s report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that Presidential Decree No. 909 of 15 June 1996 adopted an Outline of Russian State Policy on Nationalities (CERD/C/304/Add.43), and that the State Duma Committee on Nationalities was established to implement this policy. The Committee also notes that the Committee on Nationalities has prepared a Plan of Action including socio-economic development programmes for the constituent entities and different ethnic groups of the Russian Federation, which includes measures to increase the number of jobs available. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed on the work of the Nationalities Committee, including information on the number of jobs created and the beneficiaries.

The Committee also notes that the National Cultural Autonomy Act entered into force on 17 July 1996 guaranteeing to all ethnic communities, in particular the national minorities, the right to enjoy their cultures, traditions, lifestyles, linguistic education, art and self-awareness, irrespective of size or geographical distribution and that cultural development programmes have been formulated with this end in view (CERD/C/299/Add.15 of 28 July 1997). Noting that the Government has established an advisory council on national cultural autonomy, with the objective of facilitating constructive interaction between the Government and the ethnic communities, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed on the work of this Committee.