Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

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

Equality of opportunity and treatment between women and men. The Committee recalls its request for information regarding the impact of the “Supporting women in vocational training and employment placement, 2010–15” project in broadening occupational options to women, the National Target Programme of Poverty Reduction and the National Target Programme of Employment, the preferential policies to enable women to migrate overseas, and sections 13 and 14 of the Law on gender equality. It notes the Government’s indication that with regard to the vocational training project, female workers from disadvantaged groups including ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, and people who suffer from land recovery are given support to receive vocational training for three months, although the Government does not indicate the types of training courses that are made available under this project. The Committee notes, with regard to the National Target Programme on Employment and Vocational Training 2012–15, that the local governments and social partners of 63 provinces and cities received funds to provide loans towards the creation of employment, 90 per cent of which concentrated in the informal sector, contributing to 20 per cent of the total number of jobs created during that period. The Government indicates that about half of these loans were used to create jobs for female workers. With regard to the preferential policies to enable women to migrate overseas, the Committee notes that awareness-raising activities are undertaken to provide information to implementing staff about gender equality and non-discrimination. The Committee notes that the Government did not provide information regarding the Law on gender equality. The Committee also notes the concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), which in turn noted that, owing to their role as main caregivers in the family, women work primarily in the informal economy where working hours are more flexible, and that measures taken by the Government perpetuate this discriminatory situation through gender-biased training plans on skills such as sewing and knitting (E/C.12/VNM/CO/2-4, 15 December 2014, paragraph 16), in line with the Committee’s previous comment that the Government is promoting women to jobs in “light industries”. The Committee notes that, overall, vocational training and financing measures provided by the measures mentioned in the Government’s report support women’s employment in the informal economy and light industries. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the Convention expressly addresses equal access to occupations and professions, which requires equal treatment by placement services and other measures promoting employment such as vocational training (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 753). In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide more information on measures taken or envisaged to provide women with equal access to higher compensated occupations and professions in the formal sector, including through general education, vocational training, and awareness-raising measures that would prepare both women workers and employers for work in professions beyond the informal economy and light industries. The Committee also requests the Government to provide specific information on progress made and outcomes achieved through the policy and programme measures mentioned above, including statistical information disaggregated by sex. The Committee reiterates its previous request for information regarding 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 with interest the Government’s indication that section 12(2) of the Labour Code of 2012 stipulates that the State shall assist employers who employ a large number of people from ethnic minorities. It also notes the Government’s statement that a number of programmes and schemes have been implemented to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment for ethnic minority workers. The Government indicates that these schemes provide investment in infrastructure to promote production in villages in a “difficult” situation; support for housing, water and land for ethnic minority households generally as well as in the Mekong Delta; loans for production activities; price and transportation subsidies to poor people in disadvantaged areas; and socio-economic development in the regions inhabited by the Mang, La Hu, Cong, Co Lao minority groups. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that Decision No. 449/QD TTg of 12 March 2012 approved a strategy regarding ethnic affairs up to the year 2020. Major tasks include: (i) the improvement of the quality of minority human resources through development of education and vocational training policies at all levels; (ii) capacity building aimed at ethnic minority staff members; and (iii) the promotion of production and acceleration of poverty reduction in ethnic minority regions in light of the economic restructuring resulting in the reduced share of the agricultural sector. It also notes the Government’s indication that Decision No. 755/QD-TTg of 20 May 2013 provides support to ethnic minority households that no longer have land allocated to them for production, such as monetary support to vocational trainees, and subsidies and credit to purchase agricultural equipment. The Committee also recalls from its previous comments that Decision No. 267/2005/QD-TTg of 31 October 2005 supports vocational training to ethnic minority groups. The Committee welcomes the legislative and policy measures indicated by the Government in its report. It notes, however, that the World Bank’s report demonstrates that ethnic minorities are not a homogenous group, with the Khmer and Cham having seen the largest decrease in poverty rates between 1998 and 2008, while minorities in the Central Highlands and Northern Uplands such as the Hmong and Dao have not benefited to the same extent (Well Begun, Not Yet Done: Vietnam’s Remarkable Progress on Poverty Reduction and the Emerging Challenges, 2012 Vietnam Poverty Assessment, World Bank, paragraphs 5.7 and 5.8). This report observed that in light of this diversity, poverty reduction and development programmes that target “extremely difficult” geographic areas, or all ethnic minorities as an undifferentiated group, will inevitably benefit some populations more than others (paragraph 5.21). In this regard, the Committee recalls that legislative measures to give effect to the principles of the Convention are important, but not sufficient to achieve its objective, and that monitoring the implementation of plans and policies in terms of results and effectiveness is essential and obligated under Article 3(f) of the Convention (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 856 and 858). The Committee requests the Government to provide information regarding measures taken to ensure that section 12(2) of the Labour Code of 2012 is implemented so that the most disadvantaged minority groups benefit equally from this legislative scheme. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on measures taken to ensure that Programmes 134, 135, 143 and other programmes targeting minority groups regarding employment and occupation are implemented so that the most disadvantaged ethnic minority groups are ensured equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation. Finally, it requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the above initiatives are sufficiently monitored, and provide detailed statistics of their impacts disaggregated by sex and ethnic group.

Equality of opportunity and treatment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that section 8(1) includes disabilities as a prohibited ground of discrimination. It also notes the concluding observations of the CESCR, which noted that persons with disabilities are discriminated against in the enjoyment of the right to work, despite the adoption of the 2010 Law on persons with disabilities and the National Action Plan to Support People with Disabilities 2012–20. It notes that the CESCR recommended to the Government that it allocates sufficient resources towards accessibility and the provision of reasonable accommodation in rural areas, and actively recruit persons with disabilities in the public sector and reinstate the quota system, including in the private sector (E/C.12/VNM/CO/2-4, 15 December 2014, paragraph 15). In this regard, the Committee recalls that the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment between persons with disabilities and other workers falls within the scope of Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention, and that under Article 1(3) of the Convention “employment” and “occupation” include access to vocational training, access to employment and to particular occupations, and terms and conditions of employment (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 784), and that the CESCR’s recommendations fall under the scope of the principles of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information regarding measures taken to implement section 8(1) of the Labour Code of 2012, the 2010 Law on persons with disabilities and the National Action Plan to Support People with Disabilities 2012–20 to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, including measures taken to allocate sufficient resources towards accessibility and the provision of reasonable accommodation in rural areas, and actively recruit persons with disabilities in the public sector and reinstate the quota system, including in the private sector. The Committee also requests the Government to provide relevant statistical data disaggregated by sex, ethnic group and disability status.