Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1999, publiée 88ème session CIT (2000)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It 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 matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes from the Government's report that the Constitution is currently being amended and that the reforms will remedy the omission of the prohibition against gender discrimination in section 24 of the Constitution. Noting also from the Government's comments to the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/SR.1623/Add.1) that a preliminary draft bill regarding the amendment of Chapter III of the Constitution includes the right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex, the Committee requests the Government to report on the progress made in bringing the constitutional provision on discrimination into conformity with Article 1, paragraph (a), of the Convention and to supply a copy upon adoption of the amended Constitution.

2. The Committee notes that intra-ministry committees have been established to track the progress of the 1987 National Policy Statement on Women. It asks the Government to provide information on any obstacles as well as advances that have been identified in this process in regard to the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women in employment and occupation. The Committee also notes that the Strategic/Corporate Plan 1997-2000 of the Bureau of Women's Affairs has identified training and education as one of the priority areas for action through encouraging measures, among others, for training over the full range of occupational choices of non-traditional careers for women and men. Other more general intersectorial programming strategies of the plan relate to ensuring a gender balance in governmental bodies and committees, public administrative entities and in the judiciary. In this connection, the Committee draws the attention of the Government to the findings in the report of the Jamaica Employers' Federation Symposium, 1995, on "Optimizing the Contribution of Women to the Jamaican Workplace" that despite similar qualifications men still outnumber women at the three top levels of management, while women are concentrated in bottom-level occupations. The Government is requested to supply information on the specific activities undertaken to implement the Strategic/Corporate Plan 1997-2000, particularly as regards equal opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, and the progress made in this regard, including the promotion of women in employment at middle, senior and executive management levels in the private as well as the public sector.

3. The Committee also notes with interest the announcement by the Prime Minister of the establishment of the Commission on Gender and Social Equity and the establishment of a steering committee in the Policy Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister to recommend a framework for which gender equity can be achieved as a social policy goal through an empowerment process. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the policy framework and the mandate and activities of the Commission, including its linkages with the existing national machinery on the status of women and the manner in which it will assist in the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation.

4. The Committee welcomes the efforts by the Government to increase women's access to vocational training in non-traditional areas and to encourage employers to employ more women, particularly in non-traditional occupations, such as through the tax rebate system used in the School-leavers' Training Opportunities Programme. It nonetheless observes, from the data provided in the 1995 annual report on enrolments and outputs of the Human Employment and Resources Training (HEART)/National Training Agency (NTA), the rather marginal enrolment of men in non-traditional areas such as commercial skills, apparel and sewn product skills and hospitality skills training. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide, in its next report, information on the progress made in promoting equal access between men and women in educational and vocational training, as well as information on their post-training experience in terms of finding employment, and to indicate whether any measures are taken or contemplated to encourage male as well as female students to enrol in non-traditional skills training. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government could indicate whether any non-formal education or training programmes exist allowing more disadvantaged groups of men and women to have equal opportunities in educational and vocational training.

5. The Committee notes the Government's statement that although no legislation has been passed on sexual harassment in the workplace, the topic has received much attention through awareness-raising activities which are aimed at improving the treatment of women in employment. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information on measures taken to address the problem of sexual harassment, including the adoption of any policy or legal provisions.

6. The Committee notes the Government's statement that there are no specific examples of redress on the basis of gender discrimination being sought under section 25 of the Constitution because the current Constitution does not contain any provision prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex. The Committee also notes that the Government is remedying this omission through constitutional reform and through the adoption of a new Legal Aid Act which should ensure wider and easier access to the courts for persons seeking redress. The Committee recalls that Article 1, paragraph (a), of the Convention also includes prohibitions against discrimination based on grounds other than sex, notably race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government, in its next report, will provide information on any actions taken by labour inspectors and on any decisions taken by the courts, the labour tribunal and the Ombudsman, regarding discrimination in employment and occupation on the basis of any of the grounds referred to in Article 1, paragraph (a), of the Convention.