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The Committee notes the information sent by the Government in its report.

The Committee notes that, according to the statistics compiled by the National Statistics and Census Institute, the unemployment rate among women between 18 and 29 years of age is 30.2 per cent and among women of 30 to 39 years of age is 15.9 per cent whereas the male unemployment rate for the same groups is 15.8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on measures underway to promote equal opportunities and access to employment and to improve women’s participation in the labour market.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments and hopes that the next report will give full information in response to the questions raised in the previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes with interest the Social Development Plan - Policies for Women 1996-2005 - which, in its section on Economy and Poverty, establishes as a primary objective the creation of the necessary social and economic mechanisms to enable the active participation of women in economic processes and all their benefits, through access to employment, to training and to the market, with equal rights and opportunities. The plan includes proposals for the revision of the legal framework to achieve equality between men and women, and in particular to introduce legislation on equality of remuneration, against discrimination in the social security system, and to counter sexual harassment, inter alia. Positive measures are also being considered to eliminate occupational segregation. Moreover, in a document annexed to the plan, entitled "Institutional viabilities for social policies for women", a proposal was outlined for the creation of an Institute for Women, responsible for coordinating compulsory application of gender policies within public sector bodies, as well as gender cross-cutting in public and social policies in general. This Institute should also be responsible for the promotion and establishment of local, regional and intersectoral committees, as part of a National System for the Promotion of Women, directed by the Institute and ensuring application and follow-up of the policies concerned. The Committee requests to be kept informed on the establishment of the Institute, the implementation of the National System for Women, and in particular to be supplied with detailed information on the activities already undertaken of those outlined in the section on Economy and Poverty of the National Plan for Social Development: Policies for Women 1996-2005.

2. The Committee notes with interest the text of the Interinstitutional Agreement between the National Council for Women (CONAMU) and the Ministry of Labour, of February 1998, to promote gender equality in respect of employment and occupation. In the agreement, the CONAMU gives priority within its operative programme to "activities directed towards facilitating the access of women to employment and reducing disparities between men and women with regard to remuneration, especially in occupations where women predominate, with a view to overcoming discrimination and segregation on the basis of sex". The Committee requests clarification regarding the meaning given to the phrase "especially in occupations where women predominate", given that discrimination in access to employment and differences in wage levels are more pronounced when comparing occupations considered typically male with those considered typically female, than within one sole category. Regarding the principle of uniformity of equality, the Committee refers to paragraphs 256 and 257 of the 1986 General Survey on equal remuneration. It also recalls that phenomena of occupational segregation on the basis of sex, which result in different concentrations of men and women according to the occupations or sectors of activity in question, are due to archaic and stereotyped conceptions of the roles which men and women should perform, and that they result in the nullification or impairment of opportunity and treatment. Occupational guidance should play an important part in opening a broad range of occupations free of considerations based on stereotypes or archaic conceptions according to which specific trades or occupations are supposedly reserved for persons of a particular sex in order to promote a genuine policy of equality of opportunities (General Survey of the Committee of Experts on equality in employment and occupation, 1988, paragraphs 85 and 97). The Committee therefore requests to be kept informed on the measures adopted to ensure equality of opportunities in respect of occupational guidance, vocational training and access to employment.

3. The Committee notes that formulation of the project: "Establishment of a database: Participation and earnings of men and women workers in the private sector, 1988" has been completed. With reference to paragraph 247 of the General Survey of 1988 mentioned above, the Committee stresses the importance of statistical analysis of the distribution of labour in the national economy so as to be able to identify de facto discrimination, such as occupational segregation based on sex, religion or race, and asks to be kept informed in respect of the statistical information obtained as a result of the abovementioned data bank project.

4. The Committee notes with concern that 80 per cent of the indigenous population is below the vulnerability line with a fortnightly per capita consumption of less than US$60, insufficient to provide for their basic needs, including food, education and housing. With reference to paragraph 35 of its General Survey, 1988, the Committee recalls that in rural areas, if indigenous and tribal peoples have lost all or most of their traditional lands, and are now working as agricultural labourers, the main employment-related problem confronting them may be de facto discrimination in terms and conditions of employment. And if they earn their livelihood as subsistence farmers alongside non-indigenous peasants and tenant farmers, their main problems frequently arise from unequal access to credit, marketing facilities, agricultural extension and skills training facilities. It also reiterates that in all these cases state policies will need to focus on equal opportunity in providing the skills, assets and resources on an equal basis as they are made available to other sectors of the national population. The Committee hopes to be informed on the national policies taken with this objective in view and on the action under way or envisaged to eliminate discrimination in employment and occupation in respect of indigenous peoples and the Afro-Ecuadorian minority.