Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3) - Gabon (Ratification: 1961)

Article 3(a) of the Convention. Establishment of compulsory postnatal leave. With reference to its comments of 2009, the Committee notes that the Government reiterates its intention of introducing, in the context of the Bill to amend the Labour Code, a compulsory period of postnatal leave of at least six weeks with a view to ensuring that, as a result of pressure or any offer of material gain which might be proposed, the woman is not induced to return to work before the end of the statutory period of postnatal leave, to the detriment of her health or that of her child. The Committee points out that it has been drawing the Government’s attention to this matter for many years and hopes that, in its next report, the Government will give an account of progress made in bringing the national legislation fully into line with the Convention.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. Medical care. The Committee notes that according to information from the ILO World Social Security Report 2010–11: Providing coverage in times of crisis and beyond, that in the period 2000–09, Gabon recorded a drop in the birth rate accompanied by a reduction in the infant mortality rate, which fell from 58 to 49 deaths per thousand births. Available statistics also show that the proportion of births assisted by trained personnel stood at 86 per cent in 2000, a relatively high rate. At the same time, medical costs accounted for a fairly low percentage of household expenditure – around 20 per cent in 2006. The Committee takes note of this information and would be grateful if, in its future reports, the Government would provide all available up-to-date statistical information on the care provided to expectant and new mothers and to their new born children, and on the financing of the health system.