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

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

1. Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Sexual harassment. The Committee notes the Government’s intention to include the issue of sexual harassment in the forthcoming relevant surveys of the Office of Statistics. The Committee further notes from the Government’s report that the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2006–10) includes a special item on awareness raising on equality issues, women’s rights and amendment of legislation relating to women and gender. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the activities taken or envisaged under the Five-Year Plan to increase knowledge about sexual harassment among employers and workers, or to adopt legislation explicitly prohibiting and preventing sexual harassment in employment and occupation.

2. Discrimination on the basis of sex. With reference to its previous comments regarding section 139 of the Personal Status Act, which imposes restrictions on the employment opportunities of female custodians, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that there are no statistics on the number of women who left their jobs to obtain custodianship, and that it will seek this information from the competent authorities. The Government further indicates that measures such as maternity leave and breastfeeding breaks are aimed to assist female workers with their family responsibilities. While welcoming these measures, the Committee notes that these only concern women who are pregnant or with very young children who are being breastfed. The Committee, therefore, asks the Government to indicate any other measures taken or envisaged to assist women, and especially female custodians, to maintain their employment and combine the responsibilities for the children under their custody. Please also indicate whether any steps are being taken to amend the legislation so as to remove the restrictions that apply to female custodians.

3. Improving women’s access to employment and training. Further to its observation, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that peoples’ organizations and non-governmental organizations, such as the Association of Women and the Women’s Confederation, play a role in awareness raising of society with respect to changing stereotypes of men and women. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report how it is cooperating with the Association of Women and the Women’s Confederation on raising awareness among employers and workers on stereotyped roles of men and women in society and the labour market, and the results of this action on the opportunities of women to gain access to a wider variety of occupations and more diversified training, including in non-traditional jobs.

4. Article 3(a). Cooperation with relevant institutions in the promotion and observance of national policy. Further to its observation, the Committee notes the establishment of the National Committee for International Humanitarian Law which is mandated to coordinate work at the national level regarding awareness raising on international law and efforts to bring national legislation into conformity with international conventions, and to monitor potential human rights violations. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the specific activities of the Committee for International Humanitarian Law to promote the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation with respect to all the grounds contained in the Convention.