Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3) - Cameroon (Ratification: 1970)

The Committee notes the observations of the Cameroon Workers’ Trade Union Confederation (CSTC) on the application of Convention No. 3, received on 31 August 2022, and the Government’s reply, received on 17 November 2022.

Article 3(c) and application of the Convention in practice. Coverage and access to maternity benefits. The Committee notes the indication by the Government that the total amount of family benefits paid in 2019 corresponded to 12,800,000,000 FCFA, in respect of 81,283 beneficiaries, an amount which included daily maternity allowances. The Government also reports a number of measures taken to lighten the procedures and to facilitate access to social security benefits through online services, including online employees’ registration and payment of social security contributions among other services.

The Committee notes, however, that the CSTC alleges the weak social protection of women and men working in the informal economy. In reply, the Government indicates that informal workers may register to the voluntary social insurance and that it is deploying important efforts to implement measures for the coverage of these women workers. While taking note of this information, the Committee observes from the data available in the ILO World Social Protection Databasethat the informal economy constitutes 82.4 per cent of employment in Cameroon, and that only 17 per cent of women in the labour force are covered by law in case of maternity.

The Committee hopes that the Government’s efforts will translate into a significant increase of the number of women workers covered in case of maternity and requests the Government to provide information on specific measures taken to ensure the full application of Article 3(c) of the Convention and the effective access of all women employed in public and private industrial or commercial undertaking to maternity benefits. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing statistical information on coverage and benefits paid, in accordance with the report form for the Convention.

Article 3. Qualifying period for entitlement to the daily maternity allowance. In its previous comments on the situation of women workers who do not fulfil the six-month qualifying period for entitlement to the daily maternity allowance granted under section 25 of Act No. 67-LF-7 and sections 6 and 26 of Order No. 007/MTLS/DPS of 14 April 1970, the Committee drew the Government’s attention to the possibility of affording them appropriate benefits out of public funds (as part of a social assistance scheme, for example). In reply, the Government stated that this matter is regulated by collective agreements. Noting this information, the Committee requested the Government to send copies of collective agreements containing relevant provisions. The Committee notes with regret the absence of information from the Government on this point. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the collective agreements containing provisions on benefits granted to women workers who do not fulfil the six-month qualifying period required to be entitled to the daily maternity allowance under section 25 of Act No. 67-LF-7 and sections 6 and 26 of Order No. 007/MTLS/DPS of 14 April 1970.

Article 4. Employment protection. With respect to the previous observations made by the General Union of Workers of Cameroon (UGTC), alleging that some enterprises were dismissing women because of pregnancy, the Committee notes the Government’s reply that measures have already been taken and that labour inspection plays a key role in this regard, by ensuring compliance with such measures during inspection visits.

The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate in detail how it ensures that Article 4 of the Convention, which establishes the protection of women against dismissal during their absence from work for maternity leave or due to an illness arising out of pregnancy or confinement, is applied in law and in practice, and to provide specific and up-to-date information on the concrete measures in place to ensure the protection of pregnant women during pregnancy, and statistical information on the number of sanctions applied, in reply to the observations of the UGTC. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to step up its efforts in this regard.