Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Nigeria (Ratification: 2002)

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Discrimination based on sex. Maternity. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes once again that the Government provides no information on the specific measures taken to address discriminatory practices against women based on maternity and marital status in the workplace, nor on the number and nature of any cases of discriminatory practices based on these grounds addressed by the competent authorities. The Committee urges the Government to indicate the measures taken in collaboration with workers’ and employers’ organizations to address discriminatory practices based on maternity and marital status in the workplace, including information on the number and nature of the cases identified and addressed by the competent authorities, and particularly by labour inspectors, the sanctions imposed and remedies granted.

Articles 1(1)(b) and 2. Additional Grounds. HIV and AIDS. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a review of the National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS is being conducted to reflect the HIV and AIDS Recommendation, 2010 (No. 200), and that HIV/AIDS matters have also been included in the Occupational Safety and Health checklist. It further notes that the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) organizes awareness-raising events on the issue. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of the revised National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS once it has been finalized, the Occupational Safety and Health checklist, as well as information on any other practical measures taken or envisaged, including awareness raising, to ensure the prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination in employment and occupation, including in respect of recruitment, on the basis of real or perceived HIV and AIDS status. Please also provide information on the application in practice of the HIV/AIDS (Anti-Discrimination) Act of 2014, including any complaints related to non-compliance of this Act as well as any sanctions imposed and remedies granted.

Articles 2 and 3. Equality of opportunity between men and women. The Committee notes the materials submitted by the Government on the Community Services, Women and Youths Employment (CSWYE) project, which provides temporary employment opportunities in cleaning and light construction work through community services to unemployed women, youth, and persons with disabilities. It notes that while the project does not provide vocational training except to a limited number of participants, it provides a level of guaranteed income for up to one year that enables participants to develop skills relevant to the community context, and encourages the establishment of micro-enterprises; and that at least 30 per cent of participants were women. The Committee notes, however, that no further information has been provided on training activities by the National Directorate for Employment (NDE) and the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) programme for rural women and women with disabilities, as requested by the Committee. The Committee notes from the Government’s fifth periodic country report of June 2014 on the Implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Nigeria that the National Centre for Women Development was planning to re-activate women development centres across the country, which would provide vocational training to women, especially in the rural areas, and that the National Gender Policy of 2006 was being reviewed (page 130). The Committee further notes that the first session of the eighth Parliament reviewed the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill of 2016, which provides comprehensive protection against discrimination based on sex, age and disability, promotes gender equality, and provides for special temporary measures, including in employment and occupation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in the adoption of the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill of 2016 and the revision of the National Gender Policy of 2006, and to provide copies of the most recent versions of these documents. It further requests the Government to provide specific examples of any training conducted by the Women Development Centres, the TVET programme and the National Directorate for Employment, including statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the number of participants in various training courses and the results achieved. Please also provide information on results achieved through the measures taken by the Federal Character Commission, the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, and the National Centre for Women Development, in collaboration with workers’ and employers’ organizations, to promote equal opportunities for men and women in employment and occupation, including specific examples and statistical information on the results obtained.

Article 3(d). Public employment. Noting with regret that the Government’s report once again does not contain a reply to its previous requests concerning public employment, the Committee urges the Government to provide information on the progress made with regard to the legislative amendment proposed by the Federal Character Commissioner concerning the achievement of gender equality in all Government appointments. The Committee urges the Government to provide detailed and updated statistical information on the participation of women and men employed in the different ministries and other government agencies, including information on the number of men and women holding management positions within these bodies.

Articles 2 and 3. Equality of opportunity in respect of race, colour, national extraction or social origin. Having noted that Nigeria is an ethnically and linguistically diverse society, the Committee has repeatedly requested the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention with respect to the different ethnic and religious groups in the country. The Committee therefore notes with regret that the Government once again provides no further information on this point, nor regarding discrimination in employment and occupation resulting from the practice of ascribing certain occupations and social status to a person on the basis of that person’s descent. The Committee further notes the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues on her visit to Nigeria in February 2014 (A/HRC/28/64/Add.2, 5 January 2015), according to which minority women and girls in the Plateau and Kaduna States are particularly affected by low socio-economic status and insecurity (paragraph 29), and the Ogoni and Ikwerre communities have lost access to their primary sources of economic livelihood when their fishing grounds were destroyed due to oil spills (paragraphs 55 and 86). The Committee urges the Government to provide detailed information on measures taken to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation for ethnic groups which face disadvantage and discrimination, including nomadic groups.