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The Government refers to the Committee's previous comments and indicates in its reports that Djibouti enjoys one of the most effective social protection schemes in East Africa which is organized around two complementary structures, the Social Benefits Fund (CPS) and the Inter-enterprise Medical Service (SMI), and financed by employers' and workers' contributions deducted from wages.

The Committee notes this information and also Act No. 135/AN/3rdL of 6 May 1997 establishing the Social Protection Organisation (OPS) which appears to have replaced the CPS. The Committee notes that the OPS does not cover sickness insurance and that, whereas medical care granted to workers in case of illness within the SMI scheme is free of charge, cash benefits paid to workers in case of illness are the direct responsibility of employers. In this respect, the Committee is bound to recall to the Government that cash benefits due, by virtue of Article 3 of the Convention read in conjunction with Article 1, to an insured person who is rendered incapable of work by reason of the abnormal state of his bodily or mental health must be financed by a compulsory insurance system and must not be the direct responsibility of the employer. Under these conditions, the Committee hopes that the Government will adopt the necessary measures to ensure that sickness benefits shall be guaranteed to all workers who are covered by the Convention in the framework of a sickness insurance scheme, in conformity with the provisions of the Convention. In this respect, the Committee proposes that the Government may wish to accept the offer of ILO technical assistance.

The Committee moreover requests the Government to transmit with its next report a copy of the legislation in force respecting the functioning of the SMI.