Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45) - Cameroon (Ratification: 1962)

1. The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government’s report in response to its previous comments, including the information according to which Decree No. 16 of 27 May 1969 on women’s work - that is in accordance with the provisions of the Convention - is still in force. The Committee also notes that section 83 of the Labour Code prescribes that an order of the Ministry of Labour fixes the nature of the works respectively prohibited to women and pregnant women. In this respect, the Committee notes that the Government is not planning to adopt a new order on the basis of this section of the Labour Code. The Committee also notes the observations of the General Union of Workers of Cameroon, and particularly the information that the Government is planning to seek technical assistance from the ILO to build the capacities of the labour inspectorate and strengthen the institutions in which it operates. The Committee requests the Government to assess whether technical assistance would be useful in this context and, if appropriate, to request such assistance from the Office.

2. The Committee takes this opportunity to recall that, on the basis of the conclusions and proposals of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards, the ILO Governing Body decided to invite States parties to Convention No. 45 to envisage ratifying the more recent Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176), and to consider the possibility of denouncing Convention No. 45 (see document GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraph 13). Unlike the old approach, based on a total ban on underground work for all women workers, modern standards focus on risk assessment and management, and provide for adequate prevention and protection measures for mineworkers regardless of their sex or whether they work in opencast or underground mines. As the Committee noted in its General Survey of 2001 on night work of women in industry, in connection with Conventions Nos. 4, 41 and 89, "the question of devising measures that aim at protecting women generally because of their gender (as distinct from those aimed at protecting women’s reproductive and infant nursing roles) has always been and continues to be controversial" (paragraph 186).

3. In view of the above observations and the fact that the general trend worldwide is to provide protection for women in a fashion that does not infringe their rights to equality of opportunity and treatment, the Committee invites the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176), which focuses not on a particular group of workers, but on protecting the safety and health of all mineworkers, and of denouncing Convention No. 45. The Committee reminds the Government in this connection that, in accordance with established practice, the Convention will again be open to denunciation for a period of one year from 30 May 2007 to 30 May 2008. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any decisions taken in this regard.