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

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Cuba (Ratification: 1965)

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Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Prohibited grounds of discrimination. The Committee notes the Government’s confirmation that grounds of ethnic, national and regional origin fall under the grounds of national extraction. The Government also reports that the country is conducting a legislative process and will take account of the Committee’s comments during the revision of the Labour Code and its regulations. The Committee hopes that the legislative reforms referred to will be carried out in the near future, and trusts that discrimination on at least all the grounds listed in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, in particular race, political opinion and social origin, will be clearly defined and prohibited. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on whether complaints have been filed concerning discrimination based on ethnic, national or regional origin, and if so, to provide copies thereof.

Article 1(3). Protection against discrimination relating to all aspects of employment, in particular access to education, guidance and vocational training. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government refers to article 42 of the 2019 Constitution of the Republic, which relates to the principle of equality before the law, and article 73, which provides for the right to education and stipulates that, in order to give effect to this right, the State “establishes a comprehensive system of educational institutions covering all forms and levels of education, which provides the opportunity to study at any stage of life in accordance with one’s skills, social demands and the country’s socioeconomic development needs. Furthermore, the Committee notes the statistics provided by the Government on the number of people trained in various subjects between 2014–22, the educational level of the economically active population and the population in work disaggregated by sex. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on whether cases of discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin in access to education, guidance and training have been filed, and if so, the penalties imposed and compensation awarded.

Article 2. National gender equality policy. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government on the educational level of the working population, according to which between 2017 and 2020, 1.96 per cent of women and 5.67 per cent of men have primary level education; 11.49 per cent of women and 27.38 per cent of men have secondary level education; 52.04 per cent of women and 52.24 per cent of men have higher level education; and 34.51 per cent of women and 14.71 per cent of men have further level education. The Committee also notes that between 2017 and 2021, a large share of the total number of working women was in the education, public health and social services sectors. The Government also reports that ten complaints based on discrimination in employment and occupation are being handled by the Office of the Public Prosecutor (five relating to discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation) and indicates that in none of the ten cases were the allegations of the complainants verified. Lastly, the Committee notes the Government’s information that in 2021 the National Programme for the Advancement of Women was passed, setting out an action plan for women’s economic empowerment including: the reorientation of women without employment relationships to work in strategic sectors of the country; development and improvement of family services to assist working women and those needing to enter employment; periodic reviews of women’s participation in non-state sectors; and the design of certification and retraining programmes for trades considered non-traditional for women, to facilitate their job placement and redirection of skills. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results of the measures taken within the framework of the National Programme for the Advancement of Women, in particular on their access to employment and occupation, including to occupations in which women are under-represented. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on complaints or reports of discrimination on grounds of sex in employment and occupation examined by the competent authorities, and the follow-up given to those.

National equality policy concerning race, colour and national extraction. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the establishment of the National Committee for the National Programme against Racism and Racial Discrimination, which sets out a series of measures for the elimination of any form of racism and discrimination. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government on the working population, disaggregated by economic activity but not by race, colour or national extraction. The Committee highlights that the lack of data thus disaggregated limits the development and application of effective public policies that take into account the specific needs of different groups. In this respect, the Committee notes that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) indicated, with regard to the Afro-Cuban population, that the absence of official data disaggregated by ethnic and racial origin continues to be a challenge in the Cuban labour context, as it heightens the invisibility of this population group and the impossibility of carrying out progressive and effective affirmative actions in order to generate structural changes that improve protection of their economic, social, cultural and environmental rights (IACHR report on labour and organization rights in Cuba, 2023, paragraph 18). The Committee refers to its General observation on discrimination based on race, colour and national extraction, adopted in 2018. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged by the National Committee for the National Programme against Racism and Racial Discrimination to combat all forms of discrimination against persons of African descent relating to employment and occupation, including information on the results achieved and the challenges faced. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide statistical information on women’s and men’s participation in the labour market, disaggregated by race and colour and, if this information is not available, to indicate whether measures have been adopted or envisaged to collect such information.