CMNT_TITLE

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 the Government’s commitment to take into account the concept of "work of equal value" in the upcoming revision of the inter occupational collective agreement of 15 December 1972, and particularly of section 38, which the Committee found to be in non-conformity with the Convention. With regard to the concept of work of "equal value", the Committee refers the Government to paragraphs 19-21 and 141-152 of its General survey on equal remuneration, 1986. It asks the Government to provide information as to developments in this respect.

2. The Committee notes Decree No. 80-203/PCMS/MFP/T of 6 December 1980, repealing and replacing Decree No. 79-74/PCMS of 26 April 1979, determining the minimum guaranteed inter-occupational hourly wage (SMIG) throughout the territory of the Republic of Niger, irrespective of gender. In this respect, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide copies of the decrees determining the current rates of minimum wages for the various occupational categories.

3. The Committee notes that the Annex to Ordinance No. 9-008 of 27 February 1997, amending Ordinance No. 89-18 of 8 December 1989 issuing the general conditions of service of the public service, entitled "Index scale for public officials", attached to the Government’s report, determines the wages of State officials without distinction on grounds of sex. However, it notes from the statistics provided by the Government that women are systematically and seriously under-represented at all levels of the public service. As at 31 March 2002, women only represented 27 per cent of public employees. The low-level situation of women on the employment market is one of the causes of wage inequalities between men and women. In this respect, the Committee notes the establishment in the Ministry of National Education of a unit responsible for school attendance by girls and for the adoption of a policy with the long-term objective of increasing the low percentage of women in all branches of activities and professional categories. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the work of this unit and on the measures adopted by the Government for the implementation of its policy, with a view to improving the application of the Convention in practice.

4. The Committee notes the statistics provided by the Government. However, it notes that they do not contain data enabling it to compare both wage scales and the distribution of men and women in each category of employment, with a view to assessing the relative gap between the remuneration of men and women for work of equal value in both the public and private sectors. The Committee reiterates the importance of the Government supplying such statistics, as emphasized in the Committee’s general observation in 1998, and asks the Government to provide such information as soon as possible.