Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

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

1. Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Failure to provide sufficient information to assess the progress made in applying the provisions of the Convention. In its past observations, the Committee has been raising doubts about the satisfactory application of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. It has pointed out that the lack of information in the Government’s report on concrete measures taken to promote and ensure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, inhibited an adequate assessment by the Committee of progress achieved in applying the provisions of the Convention on the basis of all the grounds set out in the Convention.

2. The Committee notes that the Government, in its most recent report, continues to refer to the relevant legislation applying the Convention. The Government further lists a number of measures taken, such as the annulment of the economic security courts, the establishment of the National Committee for International Human Law, and, in 2005, the ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the establishment of the Syrian Agency for Family Affairs. The Committee notes these measures but regrets that the Government’s report does not provide any further information on how these measures, and any other measures taken, have in fact contributed to promoting and ensuring the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, in particular with respect to the grounds of discrimination other than sex set out in the Convention. Further, the Government continues to omit full particulars on the action taken to pursue a national policy on equality of opportunity and treatment with respect to the grounds of race, colour, national extraction, religion, political opinion and social origin (Article 3(f)). The Committee therefore strongly urges the Government to provide full information in its next report on the following:

(a)   the concrete action taken or envisaged to pursue a national policy on equality of opportunity and treatment with respect to the grounds of race, colour, national extraction, religion, political opinion and social origin, and the results achieved through such action;

(b)   the measures taken to increase the knowledge and understanding, including among ethnic minority Kurds and Bedouins, of the objectives of the Convention and of the legal provisions providing for equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation;

(c)   the measures taken, through surveys or otherwise, to undertake an evaluation of the effectiveness of the complaint procedures, including any practical difficulties encountered by women or men, including ethnic minority Kurds and Bedouins, in seeking judicial remedies with regard to cases of discrimination on the basis of all the grounds covered by the Convention.

3. Access of women to employment and occupation. The Committee notes from the information in the Government’s report that the number of female judges, while increasing, remains low, and that women represent only 14.47 per cent of the total number of state lawyers. Furthermore, the statistics for 2004 on the distribution of men and women by economic activity and salary groups, indicate that women continue to be concentrated in the agriculture and forests activities, primarily in cooperatives and collectives (47 per cent) and the private sector (49.5  per cent); and in services mainly in the public sector (92.5 per cent) but also in the private sector (19.5 per cent). The Committee notes from the Government’s report on the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), that one of the expected outcomes of the five-year plan (2006–10) is to contribute to poverty alleviation through raising women’s educational level and increasing women’s participation in economic activity. The Government also indicates that the plan provides for awareness-raising activities on gender equality and the amendment of legislation concerning gender and women. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report the progress made and results achieved under the five-year plan (2006–10) to improve women’s participation in a wider variety of occupations in the public and private sectors, and to increase their numbers in management and decision-making posts as well as in the judiciary. Please also indicate any legislative steps taken or contemplated to improve equality between men and women and, in particular, in employment and occupation.

4. Access of women to vocational training and guidance. With respect to its previous observation regarding women’s access to vocational training, the Committee notes that the Government refers to a number of strategies relevant to promoting the access of women to vocational training. The strategies include, among others: (i) a direct new education policy to serve the labour market and put an end to unemployment; (ii) defining available options for job opportunities in the private sector; and (iii) coordinating activities with various training institutes to meet the needs of the various sectors of the economy. The Committee further notes the statistics attached to the Government’s report on the attendance of students in vocational education, which are unfortunately either difficult to read or not disaggregated by sex. In order for the Committee to be able to assess the progress made in the application of the Convention, it asks the Government: (i) to indicate in its next report the impact of the general educational strategies on women’s access to vocational training and education, including their participation in training courses primarily attended by men; and (ii) to provide clear statistics disaggregated by sex on the participation of women and men in the various training courses and vocational training centres.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.