Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Comoros (Ratification: 2004)

Article 2 of the Convention. National policy. Equality of opportunity and treatment of men and women. The Committee notes that the Government recognizes in its report that significant measures are needed to improve the situation of women with regard to employment, education, literacy and vocational training, and that access to traditional bank credit is very difficult for women. The Committee also notes the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which express concern at the persistence of attitudes based on patriarchal values and deep-rooted stereotyping with regard to the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and society (CEDAW/C/COM/CO/1-4, 8 November 2012, paragraphs 21–22). The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information on the National Policy on Gender Equity and Equality (PNEEG), adopted in 2008, or its plan of action. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to remove the obstacles to women’s participation in employment and the various occupations and to promote their access to credit and resources, including measures to combat stereotyping and prejudice towards women, and to provide information on any measures taken in this regard. The Government is also requested to provide information on the measures taken to implement the PNEEG and the subregional gender policy and strategy of the Indian Ocean Commission adopted by the governments of the countries of the region in April 2009, or any other policy adopted more recently on this matter, and the results achieved in employment and occupation.

Equality of opportunity and treatment irrespective of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin. The Committee recalls that, under Article 2 of the Convention, member States that ratify the Convention undertake to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation. It also recalls that the implementation of a national equality policy presupposes the adoption of a range of specific measures, which often consist of a combination of legislative and administrative measures, collective agreements, public policies, affirmative action measures, dispute resolution and enforcement mechanisms, specialized bodies, practical programmes and awareness raising (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraphs 848–849). In the absence of information on this point, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote equality for all in respect of employment and occupation, without any distinction made on the basis of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.

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