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

1. Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Sexual harassment. With reference to its general observation of 2002 on Convention No. 111, the Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures adopted or envisaged to prohibit and combat sexual harassment in employment and occupation.

2. Article 2. Promotion of the national policy. In its previous comments, the Committee noted with interest the adoption of Ordinance No. 99-009/P-RM of 1 April 1999 creating a National Bureau for the Promotion of Women. The Committee also noted with interest Decree No. 99-156/PM-RM of 16 June 1999 establishing an inter-ministerial Committee for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family within the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family, to study and advise on questions submitted to it by the Ministry and to monitor and evaluate the implementation by the various departments of the recommendations and measures taken in favour of women, children and the family. Moreover, the Committee noted with interest Decree No. 96-149/P-RM of 15 May 1996 establishing the National Advisory Commission on Human Rights. The Committee further noted that the Commission on the Promotion of Women has become the Ministry on the Promotion of Women, Children and the Family. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information in its next report on the activities undertaken by these new bodies, including extracts from reports, studies or surveys, to enable it to ascertain the progress achieved in promoting the application of the Convention.

3. Article 3. Access of women to employment. The Committee notes from the report on “Equality of remuneration between men and women in the modern sector in Mali”, 2001, that women are poorly represented in remunerated employment, and they have high rates of participation in the informal economy and in agriculture. Women earn on average 15 per cent less than men in the private sector, and 30 per cent less in the public sector. Women are poorly represented in management positions (10 per cent in the public sector) due partly to lower education and partly to obstacles encountered in internal promotions. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the measures it intends to take in order to address these inequalities in practice.

4. Article 3. Access of women to education and vocational training. In its previous comments the Committee noted the low school attendance rate of girls in comparison with boys and that the proportion of girls, which is already low during the first cycle, decreases with each level of education, declining from 36.53 per cent in the first cycle to 25.93 per cent at the secondary and technical levels and 13.72 per cent in higher education. The Committee also notes the concern expressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its concluding observations (02/11/99, D.7) about the scarce school attendance, particularly of girls. The Committee again requests the Government to indicate the positive measures which have been taken, and the results obtained, to facilitate and encourage the access of girls and women to education and training (particularly vocational training and university education).