Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Iraq (Ratification: 1959)

1. The Committee notes the Government's report and observes that it contains few answers to its comments.

2. The Committee had asked for information on the implementation of a national policy to promote equality of opportunity and treatment, as provided for by Article 2 of the Convention in respect of citizens belonging to the country's ethnic and linguistic minorities, such as the Kurdish and Turkoman minorities a point which has also been discussed by other bodies within the United Nations system, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Since the Government has not answered the Committee's comments on this point, the Committee recalls that the Conference Committee expressed deep concern about these minorities and asked the Government to provide information on their situation with regard to equality of opportunity and treatment, and how the latter is ensured in practice.

The Committee refers once again to Chapter IV of its 1988 General Survey on Equality in Employment and Occupation and, in particular, to paragraphs 158 and 159. It draws the Government's attention to the fact that Article 2 of the Convention requires a national policy for the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation to be declared and pursued and that, in order to apply the Convention, the legislative provisions which are in force have to be accompanied by clearly stated practical measures to implement the principles of equality. The Committee once more asks the Government to provide detailed information on the adoption and implementation of a national policy to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and, more particularly, its application to the Kurdish and Turkoman minorities.

3. With regard to women's employment, the Committee notes that, according to the Government's report, Resolution No. 480 of 1989 concerning the employment of women graduates in the state administration and the socialist and mixed sectors, under which certain posts may not be held by women, has been suspended by Order No. 76 of 2 May 1993. The Committee asks the Government to provide the text of this Order with its next report. It also asks the Government to indicate the number of women holding high-level posts in the public sector, their percentage in relation to that of men, and statistical tables on their classification.

4. The Committee notes the Government's statement that women participate in vocational training courses on an equal footing with men and that it will shortly provide information on the number of courses organized by the General Federation of Iraqi Women. It asks the Government to send this information with its next report, together with information on the type of vocational training provided in the country, the number of students and the proportion of male and female students, and the actual results obtained in promoting women's employment.