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

Rural Workers' Organisations Convention, 1975 (No. 141) - Afghanistan (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee notes that in its report, the Government indicates that the Labour Code of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has been enacted. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the new Code applies to the rural workers. The Committee observes, however, that section 1 of the Labour Code “regulates the obligations, rights, privileges and social needs of workers”, and that section 3(2) of the Code defines workers as “government employees, workers and contractors”. The Committee recalls that under Article 2(1) of the Convention the term “rural workers” means any person engaged in agriculture, handicrafts or a related occupation in a rural area, whether as a wage earner or as a self-employed person such as a tenant, sharecropper or small owner-occupier. The Committee therefore requests the Government to clarify whether self-employed workers in the agriculture sector enjoy the rights under the Convention.

The Committee previously requested the Government to provide statistical information concerning the number of rural workers’ organizations in the country and to indicate the number of workers who are members of such organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, currently there are about 45,000 rural organizations working for the development and socio-economic uplift of local areas/their own communities, as well as dispute resolution through elected representatives. The Government indicates, however, that workers in rural areas as well as those in agriculture have not formed unions although they are allowed by law to do so. The Government adds that it is largely attributed to the peculiar situation confronting Afghanistan and, in particular, the security situation. In the light of this information, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any policy it had adopted or carried out and steps it had taken pursuant to Articles 5 and 6 of the Convention to eliminate obstacles to the establishment of an organization of rural workers, their growth and the pursuit of their lawful activities, as well as to promote the widest possible understanding of the need to further the development of rural workers’ organisations and of the contribution they can make to improving employment opportunities and general conditions of work and life in rural areas, as well as to increasing the national income and achieving a better distribution thereof.