Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Mali (Ratification: 1968)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Gender pay gaps. Occupational segregation. The Committee notes that the Government has still not provided information in its report on the measures adopted to combat the occupational segregation of men and women. However, it notes that, according to the Gender Report 2024, annexed to the Finance Act 2024, women are mostly employed in the agricultural and services sectors, where their presence has increased since the 2000s to the detriment of the industrial sector. The same report indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic accentuated already existing disparities, which are particularly pronounced in sectors with a high presence of women (agriculture, crafts, services, insurance and banking, hotels and tourism, catering, retail, etc.), and are also reflected in the remuneration gap. The average hourly pay gap between men and women employees has risen from 122 per cent to 182 per cent, as women’s pay has fallen by half. Moreover, the proportion of women who are so-called inactive is 2.5 times higher than that of men, and the principal causes of this lack of activity are the need for them to carry out unpaid domestic and family work, and their low school attendance rate. Finally, although marital status and the size of the household do not appear to be a barrier to women’s entrepreneurship, the percentage of women owners of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises is only 9 per cent, and access to credit is still a major difficulty for women. In this regard, the Committee wishes to emphasize that one of the underlying causes of wage inequalities between men and women is occupational segregation (or in other words, the concentration of men and women in different occupations). While recognizing the particularly difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the specific measures adopted or envisaged to combat occupational segregation between men and women, such as: regular awareness-raising campaigns against sexist stereotypes of women’s occupational capabilities and aspirations; the promotion and revaluation of jobs predominantly carried out by women; and school, university and vocational guidance (and support) for girls and women towards subjects with a high earning potential, including positions of responsibility.

Article 2. Equal remuneration for work of equal value. Collective agreements. Legislation. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that section L.95 of the Labour Code, as amended in 2017, now sets forth the principle of equal remuneration for work of “equal value”, and that collective labour agreements also refer to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of “equal value”. However, the Committee observes that the Government has still not provided information on the measures adopted or envisaged for the amendment of section L.79 of the Labour Code on the compulsory content of collective agreements, which refers to the narrower concept of “equal work”. The Committee once again requests the Government to: (i) amend section L.79 of the Labour Code determining the compulsory content of collective agreements with a view to the incorporation of the concept of work of “equal value”; and (ii) provide copies of collective agreements concluded since 2017 containing clauses explicitly referring to the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of “equal value”.

Article 3. Objective evaluation of jobs. The Committee notes that the Government reiterates that activities to publicize and raise awareness of the principle of the Convention will be organized in the near future, depending on the availability of financing. Recalling that the concept of “work of equal value” is the cornerstone of the Convention and that it requires the adoption of a method of measuring and comparing the relative value of different jobs, the Committee once again requests the Government to: (i) indicate the measures adopted or envisaged, in collaboration with workers’ and employers’ organizations, to promote the development and use of methods for the objective evaluation of jobs which are free of any sexist bias; and (ii) provide information on the organization of any awareness-raising activities for workers, employers and their respective organizations, labour inspectors and magistrates on the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.