Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Comoros (Ratification: 2004)

Article 2 of the Convention. National policy. Equality of opportunity and treatment of men and women. The Committee notes the adoption of the National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality (PNEEG) in June 2008. According to the Government’s report, the PNEEG promotes equality in employment and occupation, taking into account the provisions of the Convention. The Committee also notes that the Organization of Employers of Comoros (OPACO), in a communication received on 1 September 2009, indicates that it had not been informed of the elaboration of such a policy, and also regretted that no measures have been taken to prevent the exclusion of women from certain jobs and occupations. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in reply to OPACO’s comments and strongly encourages the Government to cooperate with the workers’ and employers’ organizations in the implementation of the PNEEG. In this regard, the Government is requested to provide detailed information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the PNEEG’s effective implementation, as far as they relate to equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of access to education, vocational training, wage and non-wage employment and working conditions (including remuneration, promotion, and security of tenure). Please provide a copy of the PNEEG.

Equality of opportunity and treatment irrespective of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin. In the absence of any information from the Government regarding this matter, the Committee recalls once again that in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention the Government is required to declare and pursue a national policy with a view to eliminating discrimination based on all the grounds listed in Article 1 of the Convention, and not only discrimination based on sex. The Committee therefore requests the Government once again to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to declare and pursue a national policy to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, irrespective of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin.

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