Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Benin (Ratification: 1961)

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Article 1(1)(b) of the Convention. Additional grounds of discrimination. Disability. With regard to the effective implementation of Act No. 2017-06 providing for protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, the Government indicates that: (1) persons with disabilities are now authorized to compile and submit their files for public service competitions on the same footing as persons without disabilities; and (2) the draft implementing regulations for the Act have been initiated and are in the process of being adopted. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on: (i) the measures taken to implement Act No. 2017-06 and promote the employment of persons with disabilities on an equal footing with other workers in practice, including incentives and the provisions adopted to implement them; (ii) the measures taken to raise awareness of the Act of 2017 among workers, employers and their respective organizations, as well as administrations, labour inspectors and magistrates; and (iii) any complaints concerning the application of the above Act and, if applicable, any other judicial or administrative decisions issued.

Real or perceived HIV status. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on the numerous health initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, sexually transmitted diseases, and epidemics, including in the workplace. It also notes that no cases of discrimination on the basis of HIV status have been referred to labour inspectors. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the absence of complaints to the labour inspectorate does not necessarily mean that discrimination does not exist; rather, the absence or low number of discrimination cases or complaints may be due to the lack of an appropriate legal framework, the lack of awareness of rights, lack of confidence in available means of redress, as well as problems of access to them or the fact that they do not exist, or fear of reprisals. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on: (i) the measures taken within the framework of HIV/AIDS plans or policies to prevent and combat all forms of discrimination on the grounds of real or perceived HIV status in employment and occupation, including at the recruitment stage; and (ii) measures taken to make both victims and perpetrators of this type of discrimination more aware of the provisions of national legislation relating in particular to available forms of redress and applicable penalties. Lastly, the Committee hopes that the draft Labour Code will contain provisions explicitly prohibiting all discrimination on the basis of real or perceived HIV status and requests the Government to continue providing information on any cases of discrimination on the grounds of HIV status brought to the attention of labour inspectors.

Article 2. National equality policy. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that in 2021 it formulated a “National strategy on equal opportunities” aimed at eliminating all discrimination in employment and occupation by the end of 2023 on the basis of an analysis which identified, inter alia, the following priority actions: improving the legal and institutional framework for protection against discrimination in employment and occupation; developing a mechanism for information, awareness-raising and social mobilization on the principle of equality of opportunity at work and improving access to education and training for girls and persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to send a copy of the “National strategy on equal opportunities” and indicate the measures taken, and their results, to implement this strategy, in collaboration with employers’ and workers’ organizations, in order to eliminate all discrimination based on sex, race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin or any other prohibited ground of discrimination.

Article 3(e). Equal access to education and vocational training. The Committee notes the measures taken by the Government to improve access to and continued attendance at school for girls, such as extending free schooling for girls until classe de troisième (first year of senior high school), establishing technical and vocational training schools in all departments and vocational training universities open to both sexes, and taking action against harassment at school. The Government also indicates that girls are to be found in branches of vocational training previously occupied exclusively by men. In view of the importance of vocational guidance and training for combating occupational segregation and promoting gender equality, the Committee refers to its observation on this point and requests the Government to continue providing information on specific measures taken to: (i) improve, especially in rural areas, access to and continued attendance in general and vocational education for girls and women to enable them to gain access to a wider range of jobs, particularly in sectors traditionally reserved for men and often better paid; and (ii) combat gender stereotypes and other forms of sexist prejudice which girls and women face in the areas of education and vocational guidance. The Committee also requests the Government to provide statistics disaggregated by sex showing the number of pupils in branches of vocational training.

Article 5. Special protection measures. The Committee notes with interest that Ministerial Order No. 132/MFPTRA/MSP/DC/SGM/DT/SST of 7 November 2000 concerning occupations and activities prohibited for women has been repealed by Ministerial Order No. 2021-096/MPMEPE/MTFP/MS/DC/SGM/DGT/DSSMST/DPEE /SA/012SGG21 establishing the types of work and categories of enterprise prohibited for pregnant and breastfeeding women and for young persons and the age limit to which the prohibition applies.