Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

United Republic of Tanzania

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) (Ratification: 2002)
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) (Ratification: 2002)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of ratified Conventions on equality under examination this year, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 100 (Equal Remuneration Convention) and 111 (Discrimination in Employment and Occupation) together.

Convention No. 111 National policy to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation

Equality of opportunity and treatment irrespective of sex. The Government refers to the 2023 National Gender and Women Development Policy which sets out, among other objectives to promote gender equality in accessing economic and financial opportunities and envisages a range of proactive measures in this respect, such as: (1) strengthening systems for accessing capital that will enable women to engage in productive activities; (2) enhancing the participation of both men and women in identifying and utilizing opportunities that will enable them to achieve economic empowerment; (3) strengthen investment aimed at reducing the workload for women and girls, including access to water services, energy, and childcare facilities; (4) promote equal participation of women and men in decent work within both the formal and informal economies; (5) improve systems and implementation to enhance access to and ownership of productive resources for women; and (6) promote gender consideration in inclusive economic and financial planning. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government about: (1) initiatives undertaken by the social partners to provide training, including leadership skills, to women and girls; (2) the courses on Professional Skills to Domestic Workers conducted by the Government in collaboration with Comunitá Volontari Per IL Mondo (CVM) and Tanzanian Conservation, Hotels, Domestic and Allied Workers’ Union (CHODAWU); (3) loans dedicated to women in the informal economy issued, since March 2023, by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, including the provision of 1008 boats for fishing activities; (4) five per cent of the annual revenue set aside to finance loans to women through the local government authorities; and (5) radio and TVs sensitization and public awareness programmes to combat discriminatory stereotypes. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that it will be able to provide updated statistical information on the participation of men and women in employment and occupation, once the next integrated Labour Force Survey is completed.

Welcoming the measures envisaged in the National Gender and Women Development Policy, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on their implementation in practice and the results achieved in terms of enhanced equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation between men and women, including in respect of: (i) reducing vertical and horizontal occupational gender segregation, (ii) increasing women’s access to formal employment, (iii) addressing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by women and girls because, among others, of their social origin, religion, race, colour or national extraction, (iv) enhancing access to and ownership of productive resources for women, and (v) promoting the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities, including a fairer distribution of family responsibilities between men and women. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on public-awareness initiatives to combat stereotypes regarding women’s professional aspirations, preferences and capabilities and their role and responsibilities in the family and society; and updated statistical information on the participation of men and women in employment and occupation, if possible disaggregated by occupational categories and positions.

Access of women to education and vocational training. In response to the Committee’s request to prohibit pregnancy testing as a condition for school admission and to ensure the readmission of students expelled due to pregnancy, the Government states that there is currently no pregnancy-related precondition for accessing education. Medical examinations are conducted solely to assess general health needs, such as eyesight and other minor health issues, to support students with special needs. However, the Committee observes that the Government does not confirm that it has reviewed the Education Regulations to explicitly exclude pregnancy as a moral ground of expulsion or to ensure immediate readmission of schoolgirls expelled due to pregnancy or wedlock. The Government however states that it commits to explicitly prohibit pregnancy testing as a precondition for admission to all levels of education. The Committee acknowledges the measures taken to enhance access of girls and women to vocational training and higher education, including the: (1) construction of 26 new girls’ secondary schools in 2023/2024 countrywide with the aim of providing more opportunities to girls to access formal education and join science studies; (2) implementation of re-entry programmes under Education Circular No. 2 of 2021 and its February 2022 Guidelines, allowing pregnant girls to return to school post-childbirth; (3) provision of dormitories accommodation for girls from vulnerable groups, such as pastoral communities, to prevent early and forced marriages; and (4) launch of the “Samia Scholarship” programme, supporting high-performing female students (418 scholarships have been awarded to date). Additionally, the Committee remarks the 2023 revision of the Basic Education Curriculum to introduce Vocational Training/Education (“ELIMU ya AMALI”) in 96 secondary schools among which 26 are government owned and that the Government plans to expand vocational schools across the country. As of December 2023, enrolment in Vocational Education and Training Authority Colleges included 5,019 male and 2,752 female students – an increase in female enrolment from 2,116 in 2020 to 2,752 in 2023.

The Committee requests the Government to: (i) monitor and report on the education access of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers, including data on dropouts, expulsions, re-admissions, and enrolment in re-entry programmes; (ii) provide updates on efforts to improve access for girls and women to vocational training and higher education, especially in fields where they are under-represented; and (iii) submit current data on male and female enrolment in vocational education, including gender distribution across different fields of specialization.

Convention No. 100 – Principle of equal remuneration between men and women for work of equal value

Article 1 to 4. Assessing and addressing the gender wage gap. The Committee recalls that the underlying causes of the gender pay gap are closely related to equality of opportunity and treatment between men and women in employment and occupation, and in particular to matters such as women access to education and vocational training, employment and occupation, occupational segregation, an unbalanced distribution of family responsibilities, and gender roles and stereotypes. The Committee refers, in this regard, to its comments above on Convention No. 111. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated statistical data on the earnings of men and women in all economic sectors and occupations to monitor any progress achieved in reducing the gender pay gap, once the next integrated Labour Force Survey mentioned by the Government is completed.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.