Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Niger (Ratification: 1962)

1. With reference to its previous comments on the promotion of equality between men and women in employment, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report, particularly the statistical data and the activities of the state department responsible for the advancement of women and children, which include the grant of loans enabling women to engage in income-generating activities with a view to raising the general standard of living, and the financing of investment to contribute to making women's tasks generally less arduous (health, grain mills, drinking-water points, etc.).

2. With regard to women's access to employment in the public and private sectors, the Committee notes that, according to the Government's report, the failure to apply the principles of equality in this area is due above all to social rather than legal constraints, since women are subject to parental or marital authority (they must obtain authorization for studying, training and seeking employment), and by tradition their role in society is confined to raising children and household tasks. The statistics supplied show the small number of women in high-level posts in the public service. The Committee would be grateful if in its next report the Government would provide information on specific steps taken or envisaged to promote equality between men and women in employment in practice, particularly awareness-raising measures and affirmative action to remove social obstacles to women's access to the employment market, and to remedy the under-representation of women in high-level posts in the public service.

3. Noting that another reason why women are poorly represented in the labour market is the access of girls and women to vocational training, the Committee takes note of the striking statistics supplied by the Government showing the very low percentage of female students in some vocational training schools and centres (36 per cent of total enrolment and 10.7 per cent in the Centre for Vocational Training and Retraining). According to the Government, the reason is that unequal access for boys and girls is a characteristic of the national education system. It adds that, aware of this inequality, it has undertaken measures to sensitize and inform the people in order to increase the school attendance rate of girls so that they have access to the various occupational skills and hence to a wider range of jobs. The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken to secure vocational training without distinction as to sex, including measures to prevent girls from being directed exclusively towards training and jobs or occupations traditionally regarded as "typically female" (the figures supplied show that the number of women students is higher -- accounting for over 61 per cent -- in the health sector).

4. The Committee also asks the Government, in its next report, to keep it informed of progress in this area, for example, by providing extracts of reports, studies and surveys (including statistics) on the entry of women to occupations from which they were formerly barred.