Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1962)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. Noting that a new Labour Code was enacted in 2008, the Committee hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

Article 2 of the Convention. Equality between men and women. The Committee notes that the national policy for the promotion of women focuses on six strategic objectives including reduction of poverty among women, improving their health, level of education and legal status, and also strengthening institutional mechanisms to enable these objectives to be achieved. Moreover, it notes that, in the context of Strategic Objective No. 3 on the promotion of education and the strengthening of women’s abilities and skills, action is contemplated for examining cases of discrimination on grounds of pregnancy, observance of labour standards by all employers, and access to employment and vocational training for disabled girls and women. The Committee notes that the Ministry for the Advancement of Women is undertaking action on behalf of women, particularly those in rural and informal settings, to improve their conditions of work by, for example, providing technical resources tailored to their needs. The Committee appreciates the information sent by the Government on the scope of the policy for the advancement of women and asks it to supply information on the implementation of its strategic objectives and its priority areas of action. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information concerning the implementation of the statement of intent on decentralized agricultural development and on the progress made on the draft law aimed at promoting the role of women in rural areas. The Committee reminds the Government to send a copy of its national policy for the advancement of women and of Parts I and II of the strategic framework for the promotion of employment and vocational training in Burkina Faso.

National policy on equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction on the basis of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. The Committee again draws the Government’s attention to the importance of adopting and implementing a national policy on equality of opportunity and treatment in order to eliminate discrimination on the basis of all the grounds set out in the Convention. The Committee repeats its request to the Government to provide information on specific measures adopted to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation for all, irrespective of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. The Committee again requests the Government to send a copy of the amendment to the Penal Code, which provides that racial discrimination is a crime, and also information on the application of this amendment in practice, including on any court decisions delivered in this respect.

Application in practice of the legislation. In its previous comments, the Committee shared the concern expressed by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/BFA/CO/4-5, July 2005, paragraph 21) that the Government has not ensured observance of the labour legislation designed to eliminate discrimination with regard to employment. Noting that the Government’s report does not contain information on this point, the Committee urges the Government to send information on the following: (a) the application of the labour legislation to eliminate discrimination, including on the application of the Act of 28 April 1998 guaranteeing equal access to employment in the public sector; (b) the number and results of complaints based on the labour legislation for the elimination of discrimination; and (c) the activities conducted by the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and of the National Committee for Combating Discrimination in order to ensure effective implementation of this legislation.

Part V of the report form. Statistics. The Committee notes that the Government does not provide any statistical information in its report and wishes to remind it of the importance of these statistics for evaluating progress made and for enabling better promotion of the principles contained in the Convention. It hopes that in its next report the Government will supply recent statistical information, disaggregated by sex and, if possible, by race and ethnic origin, on the distribution of the population in the various sectors of the economy and occupations.