Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2011, Publicación: 101ª reunión CIT (2012)

Convenio sobre la discriminación (empleo y ocupación), 1958 (núm. 111) - Gabón (Ratificación : 1961)

Article 1 of the Convention. Discrimination based on sex. With regard to the provisions that discriminate against women set out in sections 253, 254 and 261 of the Civil Code, the Committee notes that according to the Government’s report, two bills to repeal and amend Act No. 19/89 of 30 December 1989 issuing the Civil Code were adopted by the Council of Ministers on 16 February 2011 and were forwarded to the State Council prior to examination by Parliament. The Committee trusts that the Government will take the necessary steps to ensure that the two bills to repeal and amend Act No. 19/89 of 30 December 1989 issuing the Civil Code are submitted to Parliament in the near future and will be adopted shortly. It asks the Government to provide a copy of these texts as soon as they have been adopted.

Sexual harassment. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that sexual harassment is prohibited in employment and occupation by ethics and by policy measures. It notes, however, that in its previous report the Government stated that legal provisions would be adopted to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The Committee also notes that the Labour Code provides that collective agreements liable to be extended must include provisions on the protection of workers against sexual harassment (section 126(19)). The Committee asks the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure the adoption of legal provisions defining and expressly prohibiting sexual harassment in employment and occupation. It asks the Government to provide information on the content of the measures prohibiting sexual harassment at the workplace to which it refers in its report, the preventive measures (leaflets, meetings and information campaigns, etc.) and the means of redress available to workers subjected to such practices. Please also provide extracts of any collective agreements containing clauses to ensure protection for workers against sexual harassment, specifying whether the agreements concerned have been extended.

National policy on equality. Equality between men and women. Noting the adoption on February 2010 of the “National Strategy on Equality and Gender Equity”, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the National Strategy together with detailed information, in its next report, on measures already implemented to promote equality for men and women in employment and occupation, including in education and vocational training.

Equality between men and women in the public service. The Committee notes the data, disaggregated by sex, on numbers in the public service according to job category (status as at December 2006). It notes that women are under represented in all public service categories and that they account for only 30 per cent and 35 per cent respectively of staff in the top two categories, A1 and A2. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to promote equality between men and women in the public service, in particular to increase the number of women in the top categories (A1 and A2), and to continue to provide statistical data, disaggregated by sex, on numbers in the public service by category.

Equality between men and women in the private sector. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the measures taken to promote access for girls to technical education and to raise awareness of the gender approach and equality between men and women. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to promote equality between men and women in the private sector, in particular under the National Strategy on Equality and Gender Equity, and on the results obtained.

Discrimination based on national extraction. With regard to the policy of “Gabonization” of jobs, the Government states in its report that the aim is in fact to promote employment for nationals without this being treated as discrimination based on national extraction. As the Committee pointed out in earlier comments, the notion of discrimination based on national extraction covers distinctions made according to place of birth, ancestry or foreign origin. The information provided by the Government indicates that the policy to “Gabonize” employment does not seek to discriminate against workers on grounds of national extraction. Nonetheless, the Committee considers that such a policy may have the effect of generating discriminatory practices, in particular by creating obstacles to employment, vis-à-vis Gabonese nationals of foreign origin, or by depriving them of employment. The Committee accordingly asks the Government to monitor the risk of discriminatory practices based on national extraction in the context of implementing the “Gabonization” policy, and to ensure that in practice the policy does not lead to such discrimination, in particular the refusal to hire or the dismissal of Gabonese nationals of foreign origin who would be treated as non-nationals.

Promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction on grounds other than sex. The Government indicates in its report that equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction on grounds other than sex is a reality in Gabon, and refers in this connection to the provisions of section 8 of the Labour Code which prohibit all forms of discrimination on the grounds set forth in the Convention. While noting this information and observing that such provisions are an important factor in the national policy on equality, the Committee would like to stress that formulating and implementing a national policy on equality, in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention, consists in adopting and applying a range of legislative and administrative measures, public policies, and specific programmes intended not only to prohibit and prevent discrimination but also to remedy de facto inequalities affecting the most vulnerable groups in society. The Committee accordingly asks the Government to take the necessary steps to examine inequalities existing in the country so as to determine the measures needed to remedy them, and to provide information on the measures taken to formulate and apply a national policy on equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction based on race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.

Discrimination based on race or ethnic origin. Indigenous peoples. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the situation of “Pygmies” in employment and occupation, more particularly as regards access to education, the conduct of their traditional activities and their subsistence activities.

Part V of the report form. Statistics. Noting the Government’s statement that with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Government has undertaken to conduct a demographic and social (second generation) survey, the Committee trusts that it will take the necessary steps to collect data on the status of men and women in employment, by sector of activity, and asks it to provide such statistical information as soon as it becomes available.