Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s brief report does not reply to the issues raised in the Committee’s previous direct request, which address the following points:

1. Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Sexual harassment. The Committee noted that section 47 of the new Labour Code (Act No. 33-2004/AN of 14 September 2004) continued to cover only quid pro quo harassment. The Committee reminds the Government that in accordance with its general observation of 2002, sexual harassment also includes conduct of a sexual nature that creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment for the recipient, whether or not for the purpose of obtaining a sexual favour. The Committee, therefore, asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to prohibit and prevent hostile working environment harassment in practice. Please also provide information on the practical application of section 47, including the number and outcome of any cases brought before the court.

2. Discrimination on the grounds of colour, national extraction and race. Referring once again to its earlier direct requests concerning the amendment of the Penal Code, which makes racial discrimination a criminal offence, the Committee asks the Government to provide the Office with a copy of the amendment of the Penal Code, together with information on the practical effect given to the amendment and on court decisions.

3. Article 2. Promotion of the principle of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that in Burkina Faso, the forms of discrimination identified by the Convention do not exist. The Committee reminds the Government that the achievement of favourable conditions for equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation is a continuing endeavour and it is the responsibility of each government to continue supplying, in its successive reports, information on developments regarding its policy. The Committee previously noted the adoption of a national policy for the promotion of women by Decree No. 2004-486/PRES/PM/MPF of 10 November 2004. It also noted the various strategies previously mentioned by the Government that have been adopted or are envisaged to promote employment and vocational training. It noted in particular the adoption of the “Strategic Framework for the Promotion of Employment and Vocational Training in Burkina Faso”, the project for an Employment and Vocational Training Observatory and the Bill to set guidelines for the promotion of employment and vocational training. The Government is asked to provide a copy of its national policy for the promotion of women as well as information on the measures taken under this policy to advance the principle of the Convention, and the results achieved. The Committee also asks the Government to indicate to what extent and by what means the abovementioned strategies help to promote equal opportunity and treatment in employment and training with a view to eliminating all discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. Please also provide the full text of the “Strategic Framework”.

4. Equal opportunity and treatment of women. The Committee notes the continued concern expressed by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/BFA/CO/4-5, July 2005, paragraph 21) that the Government has not sufficiently addressed the enforcement of labour laws to eliminate discrimination in employment. In this context, the Committee asks the Government to provide details of the practical effect given to the Act of 28 April 1998 to ensure equal access to employment without distinction in the public sector. It further asks the Government to provide full information on the measures taken to improve standards of education for women, the results of the measures for women’s participation in vocational training and university and their promotion to management posts, and to report on the progress of the draft legislation to promote women’s development in rural areas. Noting the creation in 2002 of the Ministry for the Advancement of Women, the Committee asks the Government to provide information on the activities undertaken by this new Ministry in the promotion of the principle of the Convention.

5. Article 5. Special measures of protection for women. The Committee welcomed the fact that section 107 of the 1992 Labour Code, which provided that women may not be kept in jobs considered to be beyond their strength and must be assigned to suitable employment, was not maintained in the new Labour Code. However, the Committee noted that, pursuant to section 140 of the new Code, certain types of work can be prohibited for women by regulation and upon the advice of the Labour Advisory Council. The Government is again asked to provide a copy of the pertinent regulations as well as a list of the jobs prohibited for women and the reasons for such prohibition.

6. Part V of the report form. Statistics. The Committee reminds the Government of the importance of including statistical data along with its report to allow the Committee to make an informed evaluation of the progress achieved and to assist the Government in promoting the principle of the Convention. It hopes that in its next report, the Government will provide recent statistics disaggregated by sex, race and ethnic origin, on the distribution of Burkinabes in the various sectors of the economy and the different occupations.