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1. Application in practice. Recalling its previous observation concerning the practical implementation and enforcement of the Gender Equality Act and the Labour Act’s equal treatment provisions, the Committee notes from the Government’s report that in addition to the National Policy to Promote Gender Equality, the new National Plan of Action for Employment for 2005-08 provides for a series of measures to promote women’s access to the labour market, including entrepreneurship. It also notes that a number of promotional activities concerning gender equality at work, including on sexual harassment, have been held during the reporting period. With regard to discrimination on the basis of race and national extraction, the Committee notes the adoption of the National Programme for the Roma in 2003 and the Ten-Year Plan of Action (2005-10) for the Inclusion of the Roma. The Committee further notes that the Government is planning measures to ensure access to effective legal remedies in case of infringements of the right to equality, while it has not yet provided information on any judicial or administrative decisions concerning equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation.

2. The Committee welcomes these programmes and policies, as their implementation has the potential to make a positive contribution to the practical application of the Convention. Noting that legal protection from discrimination through effective mechanisms and procedures is an important element of any national policy to promote and ensure equality of opportunity in employment and occupation, as envisaged by the Convention, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that anti-discrimination and equality provisions are widely known and understood and properly enforced. In order to be able to continue to assess the progress made in the application of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report the following information:

(a)   the specific action taken under the National Policy to Promote Gender Equality, the National Plan of Action for Employment, the National Programme for the Roma and the Ten-Year Plan of Action for the Inclusion of the Roma to promote and ensure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation of women and persons of ethnic minority background, as well as the results achieved through such action;

(b)   the measures taken to increase awareness and understanding of the anti-discrimination and equality provisions among workers and employers, and competent public officials and judges, as well as information on the number, nature and outcomes of any cases dealt with by the courts or the Ombudsperson on Gender Equality on the basis of section 2‑2(d) of the Labour Act or the relevant provisions of the Gender Equality Act; and

(c)   more detailed and up to date statistical information on the position of men and women in the labour market, as well as indications as to the labour market participation of the different ethnic minorities.

The Committee is also addressing a request directly to the Government.