Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Viet Nam (Ratification: 1997)

Equality of opportunity and treatment between women and men. The Committee notes that the Government is continuing to promote better access for women to jobs in “light industries”, including the textile, footwear and traditional handicrafts industries. The Committee also notes that the Government launched the programme “Assisting women in vocational training and employment placement” for the period of 2010–15. The Committee also notes that under the National Target Programme on Employment and the National Target Programme on Poverty Reduction of 5 February 2007, for 2006–10, extended for the period of 2011–20, measures were taken in cooperation with the Vietnam Women’s Union to promote equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women, including offering low-interest loans, offering exemptions or deductions on education fees for female students from lower-income families, offering vocational training courses and organizing job fairs. The Government also indicates that under the National Target Programme on Employment, measures were taken to improve and strengthen the capacity of 40 Employment Service Centres and the National Employment Fund, approved by the Prime Minister, created approximately 250,000–300,000 jobs per year. The Committee recalls its previous comments in which it noted that the Government adopted preferential policies to enable women to migrate overseas for higher income employment. It notes the statistics provided by the Government which indicate that from 2000 to 2010, out of the 687,792 Vietnamese working overseas, 32.6 per cent were women. The Committee also notes that 50 per cent of workers who migrated received vocational training and 90 per cent benefitted from orientation education. The Committee further recalls its previous requests regarding the implementation of sections 13 and 14 of the Law on Gender Equality providing for equal treatment between men and women in employment, training and education. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the following:

• (i) the programme “Assisting women in vocational training and employment placement” launched for the period of 2010–15, and particularly to indicate whether women’s access to employment in a wider range of occupations and industries is included through a more diversified choice of educational and training opportunities;
• (ii) the impact of the measures taken under the National Target Programme Poverty Reduction and the National Target Programme of Employment with respect to women’s representation in the public and private sectors and the impact that the National Employment Fund has had thereon;
• (iii) the types of occupations undertaken by women and men working overseas and the impact of the preferential policies to enable women to migrate overseas for higher income employment;
• (iv) the application of sections 13 and 14 of the Law on Gender Equality, and on any violations detected by or brought to the attention of the labour inspection services, the sanctions imposed and the remedies provided.

Equality of opportunity and treatment of ethnic minority groups. The Committee notes that section 14(2) of the draft Labour Code provides that the “State shall issue preferential policies on creation of employment in order to attract and employ labour from ethnic minority groups”. The Committee notes that under Decision No. 267/2005/QD/TTg of 31 October 2005, adopted with a view to promoting employment and training for persons of ethnic minorities, financial support, fee exemptions and fee deductions continue to be offered by the Government. The Government indicates that vocational training is offered to ethnic minorities through short or long-term training courses and that out of the students from ethnic minority groups who benefitted from vocational training programmes, many have found stable jobs in remote areas, and thousands have found jobs through the Overseas Employment Programme. Regarding Decision No.134/2004/QD-TTg of 20 July 2004, which aimed to provide access of ethnic minority households to land and water, the Government indicates that during a period of four years, under the supervision of the National Committee for Ethnic Affairs, support for housing was provided to 373,400 households, housing land was rendered to 71,713 households, cultivating land to 83,563 households, and individual water distribution was supplied to 198,702 households. The Committee had also noted that the total number of students belonging to ethnic minority groups and enrolling in secondary technical and vocational institutions remained low (5.5 per cent in December 2007). The Committee notes from the statistics provided by the Government that in 2009, 96,951 persons from ethnic groups received vocational training, of whom 92,971 received funding assistance under the Vocational Training Capacity Building Project. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the progress in the adoption of section 14(2) of the draft Labour Code, and to indicate the practical measures taken to ensure full application of a national policy promoting equal opportunities and treatment with respect to access to vocational training and education, vocational guidance and placement and access to a wide range of jobs and occupations for ethnic minority groups. The Committee asks the Government to provide more specific information on the types of training provided and the types of occupations and employment promoted under the preferential policies aimed at ethnic minority groups, including under the Overseas Employment Programme and to indicate the number of ethnic minorities employed within different branches of economic activity, in the private and public sectors.