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

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Zimbabwe (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes the observations of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) received on 31 August 2019 and 20 January 2020.

Article 1(1)(a) and (b) of the Convention. Grounds of discrimination. Legislation. Referring to its previous comment, in which it noted the Government’s indication that section 5(1) of the Labour Act would be amended to incorporate all of the grounds enumerated in the Constitution, including the grounds of “place of birth” and “ethnic origin” which cover “national extraction”, the Committee notes with regret the Government’s indication, in its report, that the bill amending the Labour Act is still pending. In this regard, it notes the ZCTU’s indication that the bill has been on the Parliament’s agenda for the last three sessions. It further notes the Government’s reply that the labour inspectorate gives the following interpretation to the expressions contained in the Constitution: “nationality: the country of origin of the person/citizenship”; “ethnic origin: the ethnic/tribe group one belongs to”; and “place of birth: area/region in which a person was born”. The Committee urges the Government to take all the necessary steps with a view to: (i) enacting the draft Labour Bill in the near future; while (ii) ensuring that the Labour Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on at least all of the grounds enumerated in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, including national extraction and social origin, for all workers and with respect to all aspects of employment. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard and to provide a copy of the Labour Act once adopted. Recalling that the concept of “national extraction” does not only cover distinctions made on the basis of a person’s place of birth, ancestry or foreign origin, but also discrimination directed against persons who are nationals of the country in question, but who have acquired their citizenship by naturalization or who are descendants of foreign immigrants, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice given to the expressions “nationality”, “ethnic origin” and “place of birth” listed in article 56 of the Constitution, such as extracts of relevant court decisions.

Articles 2 and 3. National policy to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women. The Committee notes the ZCTU’s allegations that the National Gender Policy for 2013–17 has not been allocated a budget nor been implemented. The Committee also notes that the Government does not provide any information on the implementation of the National Gender Policy but states that the issue of gender has been mainstreamed as a cross-cutting issue in the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1, 2021–2025). The Government indicates that, in order to enhance women’s participation in decision-making positions, 60 seats (out of the 270 seats) of the National Assembly are reserved for women, and that, following the elections in 2018, 86 seats were held by women. The Committee notes, from the Government’s report under the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), that it established the Zimbabwe Women Micro Finance Bank (ZWMB) in January 2017 to facilitate financial inclusion of women, and the Women Development Fund and Community Development Fund, a platform that provides loans to women’s community projects at concessionary rates. The Committee further notes, from the Government’s report under the United Nation’s Universal Periodic Review, that the 2019 Labour Force and Child Labour Survey estimated that there were overall employment and unemployment rates of 84 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. Among those who were employed, 57 per cent were male and 43 per cent were female. The unemployment rate for females (17.2 per cent) was slightly higher than for males (15.7 per cent). There was also a wide disparity on the Employment to Population Ratio, being at 44.4 per cent for males and 28.5 per cent for females. Among people who were employed at management level in the country, the proportion of women had increased to 33.7 per cent (from 27.9 per cent in the 2014 Labour Survey) (A/HRC/WG.6/40/ZWE/1, 9 November 2021, para. 108). The Committee also notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the insufficient level of human, technical and financial resources allocated to the implementation of gender equality policies and plans, the absence of sectoral targets, benchmarks and effective coordination arrangements to guide implementation as well as the lack of information on the results and impact of the national gender policy (CEDAW/C/ZWE/CO/6, 10 March 2020, para. 19). While taking due note of the information provided by the Government, the Committee requests it to: (i) intensify its efforts to fully implement the National Gender Policy, by allocating it the necessary budget and taking effective measures to address past gender discrimination and enhance women’s economic empowerment and access to decision-making positions; and (ii) provide information on the measures taken and their impact in terms of equality of opportunity and equal treatment for men and women in employment and occupation. The Committee also asks the Government to provide: (i) detailed information on how equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women has been incorporated in the National Development Strategy 1, including on any relevant measures taken in its framework; (ii) information on the number of women who benefited from the Zimbabwe Women Micro Finance Bank or the Women Development Fund and Community Development Fund; and (iii) updated statistical information on the participation of men and women in education, training, employment and occupation, disaggregated by occupational categories and positions.

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