Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Malawi (Ratification: 1965)

National equality policy. The Committee notes the Government’s general statement that there is no discrimination as regards vocational training, or employment and occupation, based on a person’s race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, and that all recruitment is solely merit-based. The Committee recalls that, for the purposes of achieving the objectives of the Convention, it is important to acknowledge that no society is free from discrimination and that continuous action is required to address it. The Committee also recalls the obligation under the Convention to declare and pursue a national equality policy with a view to eliminating any discrimination in employment and occupation on all the grounds enumerated in the Convention. Recalling that in assessing whether a country has declared and is pursuing a national policy on equality of opportunity and treatment in accordance with the Convention, the Committee is guided by the criteria of effectiveness, and under Article 3(f) there is an obligation to provide information regularly on measures taken to promote equality and also to indicate the results secured by such action, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in this regard in its future reports.

Access to education and vocational training. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that there is no discrimination in vocational training, and that the Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Act, 1999, is designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of occupational and vocational training. The Government also refers to the development of a National Gender Policy in this context, as well as to the training of labour officers dealing with placement, and states generally that these measures have yielded positive results. The Committee recalls that vocational training and education have an important role in determining the actual possibilities of gaining access to employment and occupation, including access to less traditionally or typically “female” professions. The Committee, therefore, asks the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken to address unequal access of women to training and education at all levels, including through the National Gender Policy and the training of placement officers, and the results achieved through such measures, including whether they have led to women gaining access to traditionally “male” jobs, and higher level positions.

Access to soft loans and credit facilities for rural women. The Committee understands that from 2004–09, under the women’s economic empowerment programme, an average of 500 business groups have been formed and trained per year, and 600 rural business groups with more than 20 members obtained grants worth 80 million Malawian Kwacha (MWK) from UNDP Malawi while others received MWK60 million from the African Development Bank as loans. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the number of men and women in rural areas that have benefited from soft loans and credit facilities. Please also provide further information on the measures taken or envisaged to facilitate access to soft loans and credit facilities for rural women, such as dissemination of information regarding soft loans and credit facilities, or any training provided on business management and various production skills.

Statistics. The Committee notes that the Government is still not in a position to provide statistical information on the participation of women in training and education. The Committee also notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations of 5 February 2010, expressed concern at the lack, or limited availability of data disaggregated by sex (CEDAW/C/MWI/CO/6, 5 February 2010, paragraphs 44 and 45). Recalling the importance of appropriate data and statistics in determining the nature, extent and causes of discrimination, and to monitor the impact of measures taken, the Committee asks the Government to take steps to collect and analyse statistical information, disaggregated by sex, regarding participation in education, vocational training, and at the various levels in the different sectors and occupations in both the public and private sectors, including in the informal economy if possible.

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