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

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Sudan (Ratification: 1970)

Articles 1 to 3 of the Convention. General conditions to ensure protection against discrimination in employment and occupation. For a number of years, the Committee has been expressing its serious concern regarding the human rights situation in the country and has urged the Government to take immediate measures to create the necessary conditions to ensure effective protection against discrimination for all population groups, including the tribes in Darfur. The Committee notes from the Report of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan that human rights challenges persist, especially in conflict-affected areas like Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, but that the Government is making sustained efforts to improve the situation. The report refers in particular to the adoption by the National Commission on Human Rights of a four-year strategic plan for 2014 18 (A/HRC/27/69, 4 September 2014). The Committee notes the Government’s commitment to the Doha Peace Agreement in 2011 with the intention of ending the conflict in Darfur, and that a permanent Constitution is being prepared with the participation of all political parties and civil society organizations so as to bring about stability in the country. The Committee emphasizes the importance of making the application of the Convention an integral part of this process, and urges the Government to continue taking measures to bring about the conditions necessary to ensure effective protection against discrimination for all members of the population, including in the areas of Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, without distinction based on any of the grounds set out in the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the activities of the National Commission on Human Rights that give effect to the provisions of the Convention, including in the context of the four-year strategic plan 2014–18.

Article 1(1)(a). Prohibited grounds of discrimination. The Committee recalls that the Interim Constitution of the Republic of Sudan, 2005, provided for equal protection under the law for all persons without discrimination based on all of the grounds set out in the Convention except for social origin. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a provision clearly prohibiting discrimination in employment and occupation will be inserted into the permanent Constitution. The Government adds that consultations with workers’ and employers’ organizations carried out through the National Consultative Committee on Labour Standards resulted in a recommendation to include provisions in the draft Labour Code clearly prohibiting discrimination in all aspects of employment and occupation on the grounds set out in the Convention. The Committee notes the observations of the Sudanese Businessmen and Employers’ Federation, submitted by the Government with its report, expressing support for the inclusion of such a provision in the Labour Code. The Committee requests the Government to make every effort to ensure that the permanent Constitution and the Labour Code, when adopted, provide for comprehensive protection of all workers against direct and indirect discrimination based on all the grounds set out in the Convention and with respect to all aspects of employment, including vocational training, access to employment and to particular occupations, and terms and conditions of employment. Please provide information on any developments relating to the status of the adoption of the permanent Constitution and the new Labour Code.

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