Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2005, publiée 95ème session CIT (2006)

Article 1 of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide detailed information, including statistics, on the progress achieved in the extension of the coverage of the sickness, maternity and employment injury insurance scheme, both in geographical terms to the various departments and regions of the country, and to the various categories of women workers and enterprises. In its report, the Government indicates that, in 2003, a total of 957,921 persons were affiliated to the social security system and specifies that it does not have statistics disaggregated by sex on this subject. It adds that the sickness and maternity insurance scheme currently covers 19 departments of the 22 in the country and that this coverage should soon be extended to the three departments which are currently still excluded (El Petén, El Progreso and Santa Rosa). The Government also indicates that, according to the information provided by the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS), of the 41,950 pregnancies reported in 2004, a total of 16,780 concerned women affiliated to the social security system and who were therefore covered by the maternity insurance scheme. The Committee notes this information. While observing with interest the trend for the progressive extension of the geographical coverage of the sickness and maternity insurance scheme throughout the national territory, the Committee trusts that the three departments which are currently excluded could very soon benefit from such coverage, as the Government had already expressed the hope of being able to achieve this extension in 2003. It recalls in this respect that, under the terms of Article 1, the Convention applies to women employed in industrial undertakings and in non-industrial and agricultural occupations, including women wage earners working at home, both in the public and private sectors and irrespective of the size of the enterprise. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would keep it informed of any development in this respect, particularly by providing with its next report copies of the decisions relating to the successive extensions of the geographical coverage of the sickness and maternity insurance scheme. Finally, as such information was not included in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests it to provide detailed statistics on the number and categories of women workers actually covered by the sickness and maternity scheme of the IGSS in relation to the total number of women employed in the various departments of the country.

The Committee is raising certain other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.