Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Cameroon (Ratification: 1988)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report.

1. The Committee notes that the Government's report contains no reply to the question raised by the Committee in its direct request of 1994 concerning the fact that the Preamble to the National Constitution, section 1(2) of the 1992 Labour Code, and the Conditions of Service for the Public Service (section 5 of Decree No. 74-138 of 18 February 1974) do not cover all the criteria expressly mentioned by the Convention as prohibited grounds for discrimination in employment. The Committee therefore asks the Government once again to indicate how the national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation with a view to eliminating all distinctions, exclusions or preferences on the grounds referred to in Article 1, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention has been declared. The Government is also asked to describe the general methods by which this policy is being implemented in respect of access to vocational training, access to employment, and terms and conditions of employment, in both the public and private sectors, in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee notes furthermore that the Government indicates that the legal basis of the national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation is Decree No. 93/571 of 15 July 1993, which specifies the methods for placement of workers. The Committee requests the Government to supply information in its future reports on the concrete measures taken to implement this Decree.

2. The Committee notes that, in its direct request of 1995bis, it asked the Government to communicate information on appeals lodged by persons who are justifiably suspected of, or engaged in, activities prejudicial to the security of the State (Article 4 of the Convention) using the successive appeal procedures recognized in the Labour Code and by Order No. 72/6 of 26 August 1972 providing for the organization of the Supreme Court. In its response, the Government indicates that it is very difficult in legal terms to establish that a worker has been dismissed because of his or her political activities, since employers always contrive to find some professional or economic pretext for the dismissal. As a result of this, appeals by employees who believe they have been wrongfully dismissed because of their political activities are treated as ordinary labour disputes. The Committee also notes that under section 39 of the Labour Code, any dismissal without a valid reason is considered unlawful and may give rise to compensation. The Committee asks the Government to supply information in its future reports on appeals lodged in recent years against wrongful dismissals even where they are treated as ordinary labour disputes.

3. The Committee notes that in answer to its earlier comments concerning Article 2 of the Convention with regard to the national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation and the methods used to implement this policy in respect of access to vocational training, the Government indicates that access to vocational training is governed by Act No. 76/12 of 8 July 1976 and Decree No. 79/201 of 28 May 1979 concerning rapid vocational training. The Committee notes that Decree No. 79/201 sets out the conditions for the organization and operation of the Rapid Vocational Training Centres, and the procedures for granting subsidies to these Centres. With reference to paragraph 77 of its 1988 General Survey on equality in employment and occupation, the Committee wishes to draw the Government's attention to the fact that the term "vocational training" used in the Convention should be interpreted broadly to include any training intended to prepare a person for a job, whether a first-time job or not, or for promotion, in any branch of economic activity, including the general, vocational and technical education required for that purpose. The Committee therefore asks the Government to indicate in its future reports its national policy and general methods designed to promote equality of opportunity in respect of access to vocational training in general, including access to general education and in particular higher education.

4. The Committee notes that section 117 of the Labour Code establishes a National Labour Advisory Committee responsible, on the one hand, for studying problems relating to working conditions, employment, vocational guidance and training, job placement, movement of labour, migration, improvements to the material condition of workers, social security, trade unions and, on the other hand, for expressing views and putting forward proposals on legislation and relevant regulations where this is called for by the Code.

The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the organization and working methods of the National Labour Advisory Committee, the work it has done and the manner in which the views of employers' and workers' organizations are reflected in the national policy concerning the areas covered by the Convention.

5. The Committee notes that, according to the report which the Government submitted to the Human Rights Committee (United Nations document CCPR/C/102/Add.2), the Government has set up a National Committee for Human Rights and Freedoms (CNDHL) by Presidential Decree No. 9P-1459 of 8 November 1990. With regard to the functions attributed to the Committee under article 2 of the Decree of 8 November 1990, namely, to defend and promote human rights and freedoms, the Committee would like to know if this includes the defence and promotion of equal rights in employment and, if this is the case, if the Committee has already taken action in this area. The Committee would also like to receive, in future reports, information on the role of the CNDHL in the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation.

6. The Committee notes that the report submitted by the Government to the Human Rights Committee (United Nations document CCPR/C/102/Add.2) draws attention to the concerns and efforts of the Cameroon Government to bring about equality between men and women, in particular by rigorous application of such principles as equal access to the civil service and equal remuneration. Mention is also made in the report of pressure groups set up by women themselves, such as the Association of Women Jurists, the Association for the Advancement of Women and the Association to Combat Violence against Women, and of specialized weekly radio programmes such as "Le droit au féminin". The Committee would like to receive information in future reports on action undertaken by the Government and by these associations to educate and inform the public on anti-discrimination policy.