Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Egypt (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the Government’s brief report.

1.  The Committee notes that the new Labour Code, which has been under discussion since 1994, has still not been adopted. It requests the Government to provide it with a copy when it has been adopted.

2.  The Committee notes that, in reply to the questions that it raised in its previous observation concerning the practical measures taken by bodies such as the National Committee for Women, the General Department for Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture’s unit responsible for policy and coordination of women’s agricultural activities, the Government indicates that the competent authorities make every effort to improve the level of education and to combat illiteracy in rural areas by means of numerous projects at the national level and broad media campaigns. The Committee also notes that a training and information project on the rights of women workers, involving representatives of the administration, employers and trade unions, as well as non-governmental organizations, was launched in 1996. It requests the Government to provide further practical information on the activities and measures undertaken by the above bodies, including the project carried out in collaboration with the ILO, and on the results obtained and the measures envisaged in the future. In particular, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to inform it of developments in the participation rates of women in the labour market, including in high-level functions in the public service and in the private sector. It would also be grateful to be provided with information on the measures taken to promote the access of girls to the broadest possible range of fields of education and vocational training, including the practical measures taken to combat sociological factors which are considered to constitute a major obstacle to the integration of women in development and their entry into the formal employment market.

3.  Furthermore, the Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure non-discrimination in employment and occupation on the basis of the other criteria set out in the Convention, and particularly political opinion, religion and national extraction.