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

1. The Committee notes the Government’s report and the comprehensive statistical information and other documents attached to it relating to the application of the Convention. In relation to points 1–3 of its previous direct request, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the average wage received by men in urban areas is 1,351 bolívares, while women receive 773 bolívares; in rural areas men receive an average wage of 346 bolívares, while women receive 95 bolívares – a difference of 73 per cent. The average wage of women is always lower than that of men, even when both have the same level of education. With regard to credit, the majority of borrowers are women (58.7 per cent) who take out small loans for business, while larger amounts are borrowed by men and used in manufacturing activity. As regards access to land, in recent land titularization processes only 6.08 per cent benefited women compared with 23.8 per cent for men and 58.4 per cent for couples under joint titularization procedures, which is considered to be an important step forward since the enactment of the National Agrarian Reform Act of 2006. The Government indicates, however, that women’s main access to land is via inheritance, a right which in the case of indigenous peoples is extremely limited by customs favouring the rights of male offspring. While the Committee notes that the differences in income are a cause for concern, it considers that a rigorous analysis such as that carried out by the Government provides a basis on which it is possible to establish an effective plan of action to eliminate such differences. The Committee notes with interest that the 2004–07 National Public Policies Plan for the full exercise of women’s rights sets forth four development policies: (1) to implement specific business agreements and processes for coordination and concerted action with public and private organizations which allow for improved employment and income opportunities for women entrepreneurs in priority municipalities; (2) to incorporate gender criteria into financial programmes promoting economic activity, including gender criteria in the regulations, manuals and guides of public and private funds so as to benefit women equally; (3) to institutionalize public policies that benefit women through comprehensive productive strategies and the creation of a gender committee for rural and economic development; and (4) to promote the incorporation of gender equity into public land distribution, and inheritance systems. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the implementation of this Plan and on the Plan’s impact in reducing the differences between the wages of men and women.

2. In reference to point 4 of its previous direct request, the Committee notes that, according to the Government, the best way to increase women’s income is to ensure access to and attendance at school, technical and vocational training and better conditions of employment. The Committee notes the report attached to the Government’s report on gender discrimination and the wage gap, drafted in 2005 by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Latin American Institute for Social Research (ILDIS) (a study based on cases involving workers in the health sector: El Alto, Trinidad and Tarija), which indicates a strong presence of women in the public health sector and affirms that they hold the lowest-paid posts, a situation which intensifies in the rural sector where discriminatory cultural factors increase. The Committee also notes that, in order to facilitate the adoption of policies at the departmental level, the hierarchical position of departmental gender units in department prefectures was raised under Supreme Decree No. 28162 of 17 May 2005, thereby transforming these units into general directorates of gender in charge of proposing, coordinating and implementing gender-based public policies and departmental programmes and projects, including those on equal remuneration. The Government points out that these institutional advances will enable effective measures to be taken in the future to apply the Convention. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue providing information on these measures, including on the activities of the general directorates of gender, and on the impact of these measures in terms of the promotion of women to jobs at a higher hierarchical level which receive greater remuneration, particularly in the public sector.

3. The Committee notes the terms and conditions for public officials (Act No. 2027) and the activities of the Civil Service Superintendence, established under section 58 thereof, with legal personality under public law, and national jurisdiction and technical, operative and administrative autonomy. The Committee also notes the functions of the Conciliation Service of the Ministry of Labour. The Committee notes that, for the moment, the cases dealt with are not recorded and therefore statistics of results are not available with regard to the specific application of the Convention. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep it informed of the activities undertaken by the abovementioned Superintendence and Conciliation Service, which contribute to eliminating wage discrimination between men and women in the public sector.