Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the documents and draft amendment to the Labour Code attached thereto.

1. The Committee refers to its previous comments, in which it noted that the Labour Code and the Public Service Act prohibited discrimination only on grounds of sex. It notes the Government’s intention to incorporate in the above legislation all the criteria set forth in paragraph 1(a) of Article 1 of the Convention and to send the relevant information to the Committee as soon as possible. The Committee notes that, although section 55 of the draft amendment (May 2000) to the Labour Code which concerns wage fixing includes origin, colour, national extraction, age and status as criteria on the basis of which no distinction may be made, the draft amendment does not appear to contain a provision setting forth the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of political opinion or religion. The Committee again requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken or envisaged to include in the Labour Code and the Public Service Act specific provisions to prevent discrimination on the basis of all the criteria enumerated in Article 1(a) of the Convention, not only in respect of wage fixing but for all areas of employment, whether access to employment, terms and conditions of employment or security of employment.

2. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, under section 18 of Ordinance No. 93-019 of 30 April 1993, entrants to public service jobs are recruited by competition either directly or via the occupation. It also notes the Government’s statement that the texts governing admission to competitions in schools and centres for the training of future public servants no longer assign a quota for female entrants. The Committee notes, however, that there are no affirmative measures or legal provisions expressly establishing equal treatment in access to employment in the public service or access to the above schools and centres for the training of future public servants. It again asks the Government to indicate what positive measures have been taken to promote equal access for women at all levels of responsibility in the public service, data on the number of public servants, disaggregated by sex, in the various categories of the public service and information showing how these figures have evolved over the years.

3. The Committee notes the statistical data supplied by the Government. It notes that there is a considerable gap (45 per cent) between the number of male apprentices (4,940, 73 per cent) and female apprentices (1,858, 27 per cent) registered in technical and vocational schools. The Committee also notes that other than in the tertiary sector and in training deemed to be traditionally "feminine", girls’ attendance rate in such establishments is still generally very low. The Committee notes with interest that ILO assistance is still being sought in order to carry out a project of the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training to develop vocational training which, through the training of specialized educators in the field of information, education and communication (IEC) and by informing and raising awareness among girls about various jobs, aims in the long run to reduce the gap between men and women employed in the private sector. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of developments regarding this project.

4. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to develop and implement a specific policy on equal opportunities, in respect of all the criteria covered by the Convention, in the public sector and the private sector. The Committee also asks the Government to provide information on measures taken to protect workers from discrimination on the basis of political opinion.