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The Committee notes with regret 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 the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

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1. Noting that the draft decree setting the guaranteed minimum wage (SMIG) -- the signing of which by the Head of State has been delayed owing to the deterioration in political, economic and social conditions -- should be re-examined soon and that the reform of the Civil Service Statute has not yet been completed, the Committee trusts that the Government will keep it informed of the progress made in this respect and that, as promised in the report, it will provide a copy of these texts as soon as they have been adopted.

2. In response to the concerns expressed by the Committee -- relating to the narrow interpretation of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value in the national legislation -- the Government stated that, in order to eliminate the possibility of discriminatory treatment against women workers, it was considering amending the definition of equality of treatment appearing in section 97 of the Labour Code which states that "in equal conditions of work, vocational qualifications and output, wages shall be equal for all workers irrespective ... of their sex ... under the conditions provided for in this section". In its last report, the Government repeats its previous comments and states that, in its opinion, the provisions of section 97 of the Labour Code comply with those of Article 1(b) of the Convention. The Committee wishes to emphasize that, as explained in paragraphs 51-62 of its General Survey on equal remuneration of 1986, such a definition -- interpreted restrictively -- may in reality give rise to discriminatory treatment against women workers. For that reason, it urges the Government to consider once again amending the definition of equal remuneration for work of equal value incorporated in the Comorian Labour Code and recalls that the ILO is available to provide any technical assistance it may desire in this area.

3. The Committee notes the civil service wages scale currently in force, as supplied by the Government, and, in particular, the fact that the scales does not make a clear distinction according to the sex of the worker concerned. However, since it considers that this information does not enable it to assess the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report the distribution of men and women at the different levels.

4. Finally, it requests the Government to provide a copy of Decree No. 93-1755/PR of 5 October 1993 concerning the classification, manner of appointment and special management rules for the holders of senior posts and supervisory staff working in the state civil administration which the Government indicated was attached to the report but has not been received.