Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

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

Further to its observation, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

1. The Committee notes the information provided on sexual harassment and hopes the Government will consider adopting legislation and other measures to prevent and prohibit such conduct.

2. The Committee in its previous comments, whilst taking note of the intention of the Government of opening up new vocational training branches in electricity and electronics among other fields, asks the Government to indicate the measures taken to encourage the access of girls and women to these branches to avoid occupational segregation based on sex. The Committee notes the reply of the Government in its last report indicating that there is no discrimination since the access to these fields is only linked to the capacities of the candidates. The Committee points out that discrimination is not always related to legal interdictions but to social prejudices that may result in determining capacities based on stereotypes or tradition rather than on actual ability and interest. Therefore the Committee would be pleased if the Government would provide the requested information with its next report.

3. The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not reply to many of its previous comments, thus it is bound to revert to some of the matters raised in its previous direct requests, which read as follows in relevant parts:

[1.] The Committee notes the information that the National Advisory Council for Vocational Training has not yet examined the question of segregation in training on the basis of sex and trusts that the Government will include this question on the agenda of an early session of the same Council and keep the Committee informed thereon.

[3.] In respect of the special protection of women in employment emphasized by the Government in its report - such as the prohibition of night work or refraining from assigning women to work that is dangerous, insalubrious or harmful to the health, etc. - the Committee is aware, when examining measures for the protection of women, that the specific needs of each country may vary. Nevertheless, it invites the Government to consider the possibility of reviewing these provisions - in consultation with the social partners and in particular with women workers - to appreciate whether it is still necessary to prohibit access to women to certain occupations, in view of the improvement of working conditions and also of changes in mental attitudes. It also draws the Government’s attention to the provisions covering this question in: (a) the Protocol of 1990 to the Night Work (Women) Convention (Revised), 1948 (No. 89); (b) the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), and the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176), with the corresponding Recommendations; and (c) the ILO resolution on equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women in employment, 1985. One of the reasons put forward by the Government to justify barring women from certain employment derives from the desire to allow women workers to harmonize their working life with the requirements of their family life. In this connection, the Committee wishes to recall that it has often emphasized that it would be preferable if certain measures taken for women workers - to enable them to raise and care for their children - were progressively extended to men, so that such advantages need no longer reduce women’s competitivity on the labour market. Family responsibilities can effectively become a hindrance to equality in employment and a major cause of direct or indirect discrimination against women. The adoption of such measures would bear witness to the recognition that family responsibilities are a problem proper to the family and society - and not solely to women.

[4.] The Committee notes that, following the 1996 acceptance by Algeria of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Government is discussing a first draft of an Act amending the Family Code (in particular section 39 on the duty of the wife to obey her husband); it would be grateful if the Government would keep it informed of the adoption of this draft and would transmit a copy of the various sections of the Family Code which may have been amended and which could affect discrimination in employment based on sex.

[5.] Since the Government has not supplied information on the activities undertaken by the National Council for Women, created in 1997, the Committee asks it to provide a copy of the most recent annual report of this body, including copies of material produced to raise awareness, of studies published and information on the involvement of the tripartite partners in these activities.

The Committee once more hopes that the Government will provide replies to these points with its next report.