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1. The Committee notes that the Government has made use of the technical assistance of the Office with regard to the drafting of a new Employment Bill dealing with individual workers' rights. It notes that a preliminary draft of that legislation was sent to the Government in March 1997 and that this draft contains in sections 4 and 5, respectively, provisions on non-discrimination and equal pay. The Committee requests the Government to inform it of progress in the adoption of this new Employment Bill.

2. 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 concerning the elimination of sex discrimination raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

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2. With regard to the participation of women in self-employment, the Committee notes from the report that women's associations, such as the National Commission for Women in Development (NCWID) and the National Association of Business Women (NABW) are very active in promoting the interests of women, including women in rural areas. The Committee would be grateful to receive information on the activities of these organizations, such as extracts from reports on their activities or other publications related to the application of the Convention.

3. The Committee notes from the report that the Government is currently strengthening measures to combat discrimination in employment, occupation and training institutions. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide details in its next report on the nature and scope of these measures and the results achieved with regard to the application in practice of the constitutional provisions on equality and the Convention.

4. With regard to the training of women, particularly for trades traditionally selected by men, and their participation in training and retraining courses abroad, the Committee notes that awareness campaigns for women on these matters are being organized by the Government through the media and training and educational institutions. The Committee also notes that the statistical data requested in this respect will be provided in the near future once the National Statistical Office has collected and published them, which it has not done for the past four years.

5. In reply to its request for information (including statistics) on the specific measures taken to increase the proportion of women in the public service, which is currently very low, particularly in positions of responsibility, the Committee notes that the Government has undertaken a census in the sector and that the results of the census will enable it to provide recent data to evaluate the progress achieved. The Committee hopes that the Government will be in a position to provide such data with its next report.