Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Indonesia (Ratification: 1999)

Promoting equality of opportunity and treatment. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Task Force. The Committee recalls the Decision of the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration (MoMT) on the Establishment of a Task Force on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) (No. KEP-53/MEN/IV/2004), and the EEO Guidelines drafted by this Task Force in 2005, to fill some of the gaps in the Manpower Act of 2003. The Committee notes that the EEO Task Force had been dormant since 2006. The Committee notes that ILO technical assistance has been provided in the area of gender equality and non-discrimination, including technical assistance under the Supplementary Programme Account (SPA) to address the comments of the Committee. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest that the Government has taken steps to revitalize the membership, programme and activities of the EEO Task Force including through the adoption of Decree No. 184 of 2013 of the MoMT concerning the Establishment of a National Task Force on EEO which is mandated to promote and conduct the EEO programme in coordination with the respective ministries, and employers’ and workers’ organizations. The tripartite Steering and Advisory Team of the Task Force shall provide guidance and direction with a view to formulating programmes and activities on EEO at the national level, and provide input to the ministries and institutions as a basis for policy decisions on EEO. The inter-ministerial Technical Implementing Team of the Task Force shall be in charge of formulating, promoting and implementing, as well as evaluating and monitoring the EEO programme in the respective areas in coordination with MoMT, other relevant ministries and institutions, and employers’ and workers’ organizations; and shall encourage the establishment of EEO task forces at the provincial level. The Committee notes that tripartite consultations and capacity building of the Task Force members was organized in 2013, during which the implementation of the following strategic objectives were discussed: increasing public awareness (training and education) and knowledge, including research, on equality and non-discrimination; strengthening advisory services to government agencies regarding discriminatory laws, regulations and practices; and strengthening law enforcement mechanisms (including mediation and conciliation) with respect to discrimination and equality. The Committee hopes that the National EEO Task Force will be instrumental in the achievement of the objectives of the Convention, and asks the Government to provide information on the action plan and activities of the Task Force undertaken to formulate, promote and implement EEO programmes. It also asks the Government to provide information on any steps taken by the Task Force with a view to the establishment of EEO task forces at the provincial level, and the results achieved. Please also provide information on any further capacity-building activities organized for its members.

Equality of opportunity between men and women. The Committee notes that according to the labour force survey of the National Statistics Bureau, in May 2013, the labour force participation of women was 53.26 per cent while the labour force participation of men reached 85.31 per cent. Informal employment for women reached 40.1 per cent, and of those women who work, unpaid workers represented 30.11 per cent in May 2013. The Committee notes from the data provided by the Government that the participation rate of women in various economic sectors decreased from 39.2 per cent in February 2011 to 37.66 per cent in August 2012. Women also continue to be concentrated in agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing (37 per cent); processing industries (41.5 per cent); wholesale, retail, restaurant and hotel (50.1 per cent); and social services (46.78 per cent). Women continue to be underrepresented in leadership and management positions (16.31 per cent), and the Committee notes that informal employment is high in those sectors in which women are highly represented, in particular the agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing sector and the wholesale, retail, restaurant and hotel sector. The Committee also notes from a study in East Java undertaken in the context of the ILO project “MAMPU – Access to employment and decent work for women” the high number of women among homeworkers. The Committee noted in the past that despite the progress made in education with participation rates of men and women almost reaching parity, gender segregation in skills training appeared to persist. The Committee had requested the Government to take measures to promote equal opportunities for men and women to access a wider range of educational and vocational training courses, and employment opportunities, including higher level posts. The Committee notes the statistical information on the participation of men and women in vocational training in 2012, which, however, do not allow an assessment to be made in this regard. The Committee asks the Government to indicate the specific measures taken, in cooperation with the social partners, to address occupational sex segregation and skills segregation, and to promote women’s access to a wider range of vocational training courses and occupations, including those traditionally reserved for men, and provide information on the results achieved. Please continue to seek and provide comprehensive statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the labour force participation rates in the various sectors and occupations in the formal and informal economies, and on the number of men and women participating in vocational training and education, specifying the type of courses attended.

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