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The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report. It requests the Government to provide further information in its next report on the following points.

1. The Committee notes that the Gender Equality Act has been drafted and will be enacted by the end of this year. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of the legislation once it is adopted and to provide information on its implementation and impact in promoting equality in employment and occupation.

2. The Committee notes with interest the activities described in the annual report 2000 organized by the Department of Women in Society in order to promote and mainstream gender equality in the country, in particular the activities carried out for the public sector, such as the establishment of focal points in all Government departments, the organization of seminars and the project proposal for a gender trainer for senior officials in the public service and the training of trainers in the field of gender equality. Recalling that women are poorly represented in management positions, the Committee notes with interest the course "Women in public management" and the new project to formulate a strategy for increasing women’s representation in decision-making positions in the public service. The Committee hopes the above initiatives will result in increasing the level of participation of women in the public service including in management positions and asks the Government to continue to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

3. The Committee notes that the activities to promote gender equality in employment focus mostly on the public sector. As for the private sector, the Committee notes the new initiative launched by the Institute for the Promotion of Small Enterprises to increase the growth of entrepreneurial start-ups managed by women. It also notes the information included in the Government’s report on the incentives and subsidies offered under section 18A of the Industrial Development Act, recently amended to read the Business Promotion Act. The Committee asks the Government to supply a copy of this new legislation and to continue to provide information in future reports on the implementation of this Act and on other initiatives to improve the participation of women in the private sector.

4. The Committee notes with interest that the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) has set up a working committee on gender equality in employment and training, that a new six-week training programme for women re-entering the labour market has been set up and is now offered on a regular basis and that, together with the Commission for the Advancement of Women, ETC is formulating a report with a concrete proposal on how to promote women’s employment and training participation. The Committee hopes the Government will continue to supply information on further progress made by the ETC to enhance women’s training and employment opportunities.

5. The Committee has noted for some years now that the employment service of female employees accumulated prior to the time they were required to resign due to marriage is counted as experience in access to jobs and promotions but is not recognized for purposes of calculating pensions, and this puts re-employed women at a distinct disadvantage because their actual years of service are not taken into account. The Committee also noted that by means of OPM Circular 103/80 of 1980, female public officers are no longer required to resign on marriage. The Committee continues to hope that the Government will consider providing legal recourse to those negatively affected and will report on any such measures taken. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate how many women are still in service whose pensionable remuneration will be negatively affected by the fact that they were forced to resign before 1980.

6. The Committee notes that no new cases were submitted to the Employment Commission in the year 2000, and that five cases are still in proceedings. The Committee hopes that the Government will be able to supply copies of the Commissions’ decisions in its next report and asks the Government to continue to provide information on the Employment Commission’s activities.

7. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on measures taken by the Government to seek the cooperation of workers’ and employers’ organizations in accordance with Article 3(a) of the Convention.