Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Afghanistan (Ratification: 1969)

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Legislation. The Committee previously noted that the prohibition of discrimination in section 9 of the Labour Law is very general and urged the Government to take the opportunity of the Labour Law reform process, in the context of the Decent Work Country Programme and the National Action Plan for Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA) 2007–17, to amend its legislation to explicitly prohibit direct and indirect discrimination covering all the grounds listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, as well as any other grounds determined in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, in accordance with Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its reports, that the Tripartite Consultative Committee is still engaged in the revision process of the Labour Law. Referring to its previous comments on section 10(2) of the Civil Servants Law, 2008, which only prohibits discrimination in recruitment based on the grounds of sex, ethnicity, religion, disability and “physical deformity”, the Committee notes the Government’s general statement that provisions of the Labour Law are also applicable to civil servants. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the activities and recommendations of the Tripartite Consultative Committee concerning the revision of the Labour Law, and trusts that in a near future its national legislation will explicitly prohibit, both in the private and public sectors, direct and indirect discrimination covering all the grounds listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, as well as any other grounds determined in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, in accordance with Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention, covering all aspects of employment and occupation. In the meantime, the Committee requests the Government to clarify the relationship between section 9 of the Labour Law and section 10(2) of the Civil Servants Law and, more generally, to indicate whether all the provisions of the Labour Law shall apply to civil servants or whether this is limited to provisions of the Labour Law which are expressly referred to by the Civil Servants Law.

Article 1(1)(a). Discrimination on the ground of sex. Work-related violence and sexual harassment. The Committee takes note of the Law on the Prohibition of Harassment against Women and Children, adopted in December 2016 and approved by the President on April 2018, which defines and criminalizes physical, verbal and non-verbal harassment, and provides that harassment is punishable with a fine. On the other hand, it notes that section 30 of the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW), 2009, which provides that harassment is punishable by up to six months of imprisonment, was firstly incorporated into the revised Penal Code in March 2017 and then removed on the instruction of the Government in August 2017, as a result of pressure exerted by some members of the Parliament, which left the status of the EVAW Law in a state of uncertainty. The Committee also notes that several United Nations (UN) bodies expressed concern at the escalating level of targeted attacks, including killings, against high profile women, particularly those in the public sector, as well as at the prevalence of sexual harassment against women in the workplace (Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/37/45, 21 February 2018, paragraph 55 and Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, A/HRC/29/27/Add.3, 12 May 2015, paragraphs 21 and 26). It notes that, according to a survey carried out in 2015 by the Women and Children’s Legal Research Foundation, based in Afghanistan, 87 per cent of the women interviewed experienced harassment in the workplace. It further notes that the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) recently indicated that women police officers are particularly affected and that the Ministry of the Interior is currently finalizing an internal complaints mechanism to this end (Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/37/45, 21 February 2018, paragraph 53). The Committee notes that, pursuant to the 2015 Regulations on the Elimination of Harassment Against Women (11/07/1394), commissions aimed at addressing complaints have been established in several provinces, but that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently highlighted that the mechanisms to combat sexual harassment against women in the workplace remained largely ineffective owing to underreporting, which is mainly due to the social stigma attached to the issue (Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/37/45, 21 February 2018, paragraph 54). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any concrete measures (such as, for example, campaigns addressed to the general public to promote gender equality) and specific programmes taken or envisaged to combat violence against women (and more particularly high-profile women), and sexual harassment at the workplace, both in the private and public sectors, including any social stigma attached to this issue. It further requests the Government to provide information on the number, nature and outcome of any complaints or cases of work-related violence or sexual harassment in the workplace handled by the commissions established under the 2015 Regulations, the labour inspectorate and the courts. The Committee also requests the Government to clarify the relationship between the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 2009, and the Law on the Prohibition of Harassment against Women and Children, 2016, as well as the current status of both legislations. Please provide a copy of the Law on the Prohibition of Harassment against Women and Children, 2016, and of the 2015 Regulations on the Elimination of Harassment Against Women (11/07/1394).

Article 2. Equal access of men and women to vocational training and education. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that girls represent 45 per cent of total school enrollment. Referring to the discussion held at the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards at its 106th Session (June 2017) on the application of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), the Committee notes that non-state groups deliberately restricted the access of girls to education, including attacks and closure of girls’ schools, and that 35 schools were used for military purposes in 2015. It further notes the low enrollment rate of girls, in particular at the secondary school level, high dropout rates especially in rural areas owing to a lack of security in the journey to and from school, and the written threats warning girls to stop going to school by non-state armed groups. The Committee notes that, in the Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey (ALCS) for 2016–17, the Central Statistics Organization indicates that, in 2016, girls’ access to primary education was in decline, and female gross attendance rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education represented only 0.71, 0.51 and 0.39 per cent of the corresponding male rates, respectively. Furthermore, it is estimated that only 37 per cent of adolescent girls are literate, compared to 66 per cent of adolescent boys and that 19 per cent of adult women are literate compared to 49 per cent of adult men. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee requests the Government to step up its efforts to encourage girls’ and women’s access and completion of education at all levels, and to enhance their participation in a wide range of training programmes, including those in which men have traditionally predominated. It requests the Government to provide updated statistics disaggregated by sex, on participation and completion rates of the different levels of education, as well as in the various vocational training programmes. The Committee again requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken as a result of the affirmative action policy in education envisaged by the NAPWA 2007–17.

Article 5(1). Special measures of protection. Work prohibited for women. The Committee previously noted that the list of physically arduous or harmful work prohibited for women to be established under section 120 of the Labour Law was still under preparation. Noting the absence of updated information provided by the Government in that respect, the Committee again urges the Government to ensure that, in the process of the Labour Law reform, any restrictions on the work that can be done by women are strictly limited to maternity protection and are not based on stereotyped assumptions regarding their capacity and role in society that would be contrary to the Convention. It requests the Government to provide a copy of the list of work that is prohibited for women, once adopted.

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