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Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - North Macedonia (RATIFICATION: 1991)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments initially made in 2015.

Legislative developments. The Committee notes the adoption of the Law on Protection against Harassment at the Workplace (No. 79/13), adopted to create a more concrete and comprehensive legal mechanism for the prevention and elimination of sexual harassment at the workplace. It also notes the adoption of the Law Amending the Law on Labour Relations (No. 13/13) transposing around five directives of the European Union which deal with equal treatment. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken to implement these Laws and on their impact in practice.

Article 1(3) of the Convention. Definition of discrimination and forms of discrimination. The Committee recalls the adoption of the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination (2010) (the LPPD) which prohibits direct and indirect discrimination in the public and private sectors, covering all the grounds enumerated in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, as well as other grounds pursuant to Article 1(1)(b). The Law makes provision for addressing victimization and creates a category of “more severe forms of discrimination”, which includes multiple, repeated or prolonged discrimination. It also provides for the adoption of affirmative action measures until actual equality is achieved. The Government is requested to indicate the manner in which the provisions regarding the “more severe forms of discrimination” are applied in practice, and to provide any information on judicial or administrative decisions handed down in this respect. Please confirm that the LPPD covers access to vocational training, access to employment and to particular occupations, and terms and conditions of employment.

Article 2. Promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women. The Committee notes from the Government’s report the various programmes and measures aimed at women and their impact. It also notes that the Commission for Equal Opportunities for Men and Women organized numerous public discussions and other similar awareness-raising activities in 2012 and 2013 at the international, national and local levels. The Government further indicates that it is in the process of drafting a national action plan on equal opportunities for women and men, which has already been reviewed by the Commission for Equal Opportunities. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the specific measures taken, including those to implement the national action plan on equal opportunities for women and men once it has become operational. Please also provide information and statistical data on the results of these measures in terms of the participation of women in the labour market, by economic sector, including women from minorities.

Equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction based on race, colour and national extraction. The Committee notes that the activities under the National Action Plan for Improvement of the Social Condition of Roma Women have been integrated into the revised draft strategy on Roma, the National Strategy on Gender Equality and the National Strategy on Equality and Non-Discrimination. It also notes from the Government’s Fourth Report under the Council of Europe (CoE) Framework Convention for the Protection of Minorities that the Government adopted an Action Plan for Increased Enrolment of Roma Pupils in Primary and Secondary Education (ACFC/SR/IV(2014)010, 15 July 2014, page 26). The Committee also notes from the Government’s report to the CoE (page 22) that it implemented “active employment programmes” addressed at the Roma community and that, under the Self-Employment Programme, training was delivered to 17 unemployed Roma, of whom 11 completed their training and eight were subsequently awarded a grant. However, the Committee notes the lack of data provided concerning the employment and unemployment rates of minorities. Moreover, in its 2013 concluding observations, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern at the lack of sufficient data disaggregated by sex and ethnicity allowing for the comparison of the educational attainment of girls from different ethnic communities (CEDAW/C/MKD/CO/4-5, 22 March 2013, paragraph 29). The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to implement the various strategies and action plans referred to above, especially in so far as they aim to create equal opportunity and treatment at work and in education and training for minorities. The Committee recalls the importance of collecting sufficiently detailed data to assess the application of the principles of the Convention in practice and requests the Government to provide statistical data on the participation of Albanian, Roma and Turkish minorities in the labour market.

Article 3(d). Public sector. The Committee notes from the Government’s report to the CoE that the Ministry of Information Society and Administration prepare an Annual Register Data Report containing the number of civil servants and the structure of the civil service, disaggregated by position, gender, age, education and ethnicity (ACFC/SR/IV(2014)010, 15 July 2014, page 8). The Committee further notes that in 2011, 13 per cent of the total judges were of Albanian descent, but that most judges from an ethnic minority were located in Skopje and that in Stip or Gostivar over 95 per cent of the judges were Macedonian. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to promote the representation of minorities in the public sector and to provide information in this regard. It also requests the Government to provide it with the most recent Annual Register Data Report.

Enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation. The Committee notes from the National Equality and Non-Discrimination Strategy annexed to the Government’s report, the roles and responsibilities of the Commission for Protection against Discrimination (CPD), the Public Ombudsman and the Agency for the Realization of the Rights of Communities. It further notes that the LPPD sets out the procedure to follow regarding discrimination claims brought before the CPD. Since it became operational in 2011, the CPD has received 224 complaints based on various grounds, including ethnicity, social status and political belonging, and has found the existence of discrimination in 12 cases. The Committee requests the Government to provide examples or extracts of applications made to the CPD and detailed information on how the CPD has dealt with them from the receipt to the conclusion of an application, including the measures taken to follow up its conclusions when discrimination was found to have taken place. The Government is also requested to provide information on the number and nature of violations of the LPPD detected by or reported to the labour inspectorate and the courts. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the awareness-raising and capacity-building activities conducted for labour inspectors, judges, prosecutors and the wider public, and the results achieved.