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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report, in reply to its previous direct request.

1. The Committee notes Decree No. 14/87 of 20 May 1987 to approve the general conditions of service of public servants. It notes that under section 41(2)(b) of these conditions of service, in order to enter the public service, account is taken, inter alia, "of the personality of the citizen, and his or her devotion to and activities for the patriotic cause and for socialism". By virtue of section 74, all public servants are assessed annually on their merit, based on values including their "commitment to the revolutionary process" and under section 79, if the person is given a zero mark for any aspect this may result in the suspension of the employee and a disciplinary inquiry. The Committee also notes that in order to have access to the positions of directors and chiefs in the service of the State, Annex I, No. 11, of the conditions of service provides that the person's "identification with the higher objectives of the State and the socialist fatherland" must be taken into consideration.

The Committee refers to paragraph 126 of its 1988 General Survey on Equality in Employment and Occupation, in which it points out that "although it may be admissible, in the case of certain higher posts which are directly concerned with implementing government policy, for the responsible authorities generally to bear in mind the political opinions of those concerned, the same is not true when conditions of a political nature are laid down for all kinds of public employment in general or for certain other professions: for example, when there is a provision that those concerned must remain loyal to the political principles of the regime in power". It hopes that the Government will be able to indicate in its next report the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to restrict to higher posts which are directly concerned with implementing government policy requirements relating to political or revolutionary commitment, in order to give full effect to Article 1(a) of the Convention.

2. The Committee notes the statement that the concepts prevailing in the public service are generally applied to directors who do not belong to the public service. It once again requests the Government to indicate whether, in view of the adoption of the General Labour Act and of Decree No. 5/87 of 30 January 1987 approving the Regulations respecting the wages system, the Order of the Secretary of State for Labour, dated 21 May 1982, is still in force or whether it has been replaced by a new text.

3. The Committee thanks the Government for the statistics that it has supplied concerning the training and employment of women, in reply to its previous direct request. It notes that, while women represent 31.53 per cent of the persons registered by the employment services, they account for only 18.43 per cent of the persons placed in employment by these services. It also notes that women account for a low proportion of the number of persons who have continued in secondary and higher education. The Committee hopes that the next report will indicate the measures that have been taken or are envisaged, in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention, to pursue an active policy to promote the equality of women in employment, by encouraging the access of women to education, vocational guidance and vocational training and promoting their employment in the various sectors at different levels of responsibility. Please indicate in particular the measures that have been taken or are envisaged in this respect as regards employment under the direct control of a national authority, in accordance with Article 3(d) of the Convention.