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

Niger

Workmen's Compensation (Occupational Diseases) Convention, 1925 (No. 18) (Ratification: 1961)
Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) (Ratification: 1966)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of the ratified Conventions on social security, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 18 (workers’ compensation, occupational diseases) and 102 (minimum standards) together.

Article 2 and Schedule appended to Convention No. 18. Occupational diseases. The Committee notes the Government’s reply to its previous comment, which referred to the new schedule of occupational diseases included in Decree No. 2015-641/PRN/MET/SS/MEF of 15 December 2015, amending and completing Decree No. 65-117/PRN/MFP/T of 18 August 1965 on work injuries and occupational diseases. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that diseases must be the result of a slow and durable aggression resulting from specific professional activities or from specific circumstances in which the work is performed, in order to be considered as having an occupational origin. These diseases are reflected in the tables in national legislation, which are constantly updated. The Government specifies that diseases that are not listed in these tables are not automatically recognized as having occupational origin with respect to a certain work activity or circumstance, as they must be declared by the employer instead. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the Convention provides that all poisonings by lead or mercury, their alloys or compounds and their sequelae, and all types of anthrax infection should be automatically considered as an occupational disease if resulting from work in the industries and processes listed in the Schedule appended to the Convention, and if they affect workers covered by national legislation. The Committee requests the Government to indicate if the professional activities to which it refers include all the industries and processes listed in the Schedule appended to the Convention, if performed in undertakings covered by national legislation, and if all types of anthrax infection or poisoning by lead and mercury, their alloys or compounds and their sequelae that affect workers engaged in the said trades or industries are considered as occupational diseases, as provided for by Article 2 of the Convention.

The Committee further requests the Government to supply information on the application of the Convention in practice, as indicated in the report form, regarding: (i) the number of workers employed in the industries and processes concerned; (ii) the number of cases of such diseases which have been reported; and (iii) the sums paid by way of compensation as benefits in cash and kind respectively.

Part V (Old-age benefit), Article 27, Part VI (Employment Injury benefit), Article 33, Part VII (Family benefit), Article 41, and Part VIII (Maternity benefit), Article 48 of Convention No. 102. Minimum standards of the Convention. Population coverage. Further to its previous comments on the development of the national social protection floor and the means of protection chosen for the provision of benefits under the Convention, the Committee observes that a national Strategy on Universal Health Coverage 2021-2030, aimed at strengthening access to medical care and services, was adopted in 2021 (Decree No. 2021-583 of 23 July 2021).

The Committee also observes that, according to the ILO World Social Protection Report 2020–22, only 20.6 per cent of the population is covered for at least one social protection benefit excluding health, and that only 5.8 per cent of older persons are protected by the social protection system. Furthermore, the ILO World Social Protection Database indicates that the proportion of workers not covered by the social security system remains very high, with self-employment representing 94.3 per cent of total employment, and informal employment, 73.4 per cent.

The Committee recalls that, in accordance with its Articles 27, 33, 41, and 48, the Convention requires a minimum percentage of population coverage to be attained for each of the Parts of the Convention that have been accepted by Niger. These Articles set out options in this regard, depending on the methods of protection in place for the provision of benefits in application of the Convention, namely old-age benefits, employment injury benefits, family benefits, and maternity benefits.

In view of the important gaps in population coverage observed and with a view to assessing whether the requirements of the Convention are met in this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date statistical information, as required under Articles 27, 33, 41, and 48, in conjunction with Article 76 of the Convention, on the percentage of persons protected by general and special schemes with respect to the accepted Parts of the Convention (Parts V, VI, VII, and VIII).

Recalling that the underlying objective of the Convention is to ensure that the largest number of workers enjoy the benefits provided for by the Convention for each of the Parts accepted, the Committee further requests the Government to indicate any measure envisaged to increase the legal and effective coverage of social security benefits, for example through the extension of existing benefits to other categories of workers, the strengthening of mechanisms for the transition from informal to formal employment, and/or the establishment of new benefits that could form part of a national social protection floor. Regarding the latter example, the Committee draws once again the Government’s attention to the fact that benefits ensuring basic income security for older persons (Part V (old-age benefit)) and for families with dependent children (Part VII (family benefit)), would give the possibility to consider the options envisaged in Articles 27(c) and 41(c), in conjunction with Article 67 of the Convention, for the purposes of applying the Convention.

Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date information on the measures taken in implementation of the Strategy on Universal Health Coverage 2021-2030, especially in terms of the provision of medical care benefits to victims of employment injury and to women in case of maternity, in application of Articles 34 and 49 of the Convention, respectively.