Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Gabon (Ratification: 1961)

Article 1(1) of the Convention. Definition of discrimination. Legislation. In response to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government indicates in its report that section 9 of Act No. 022/2021 of 19 November 2021 issuing the Labour Code now provides that: (1) all discrimination in respect of job vacancies, selection, recruitment, working conditions, career development and termination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin is prohibited; and (2) the term discrimination is understood as “any distinction, exclusion or preference which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation”. The Committee takes note with satisfaction of this information, which answers to its previous request.

Article 1(1)(a) and 3. Discrimination on the basis of sex. Legislation. The Government indicates that Act No. 004/2021 amending certain provisions of Act No. 15/72 of 29 July 1972 issuing the Civil Code, was adopted on 15 September 2021 and that, following this revision of the Civil Code, provisions promoting gender equality have been introduced. Under the new section 253 of the Civil Code, “the family is managed jointly by the spouses”. Under the new section 254, “the family home is chosen by common accord of the spouses”. In conformity with new section 261, “each spouse shall exercise the occupation of his or her choice”. The Committee notes this information with satisfaction, as it answers to its previous request.

Moreover, the Government indicates that the provisions of the new Labour Code in general prohibiting night work for women have been removed. On the other hand, new sections 209 and 210 of the Labour Code have introduced measures to protect women during pregnancy and postnatal leave. The Committee also notes this information, which answers to its previous request, with satisfaction.

National policy on equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction on grounds of sex. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes, from the description of the United Nations Population Fund Country Programme for Gabon, that the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Gabon 2023–2027 highlights the strong political will to address gender inequalities and promote concrete policies and programmes aimed at improving the conditions of women and girls, but gender inequalities remain a challenge due to dominant patriarchal structures that negatively influence women’s decision making capacity and their access to resources and basic social services (DP/FPA/CPD/GAB/8, 2 December 2022, paragraph 5). In this regard, the Committee notes from the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) for Gabon 2024–2027 that, in light of such key labour market indicators as access to employment, access to vocational training, unemployment and underemployment, women are generally in a less favourable position than men. The Committee notes that one of the DWCP’s priorities is to ensure, by 2027, the participation of populations, in particular young persons and women, in the sustainable management of natural resources. The objective of this priority is to engage these populations in entrepreneurship and innovation in the green and blue sectors of the economy, and also in the rural economy on the basis of transition to the formal economy. The DWCP also indicates that the support system for the private sector and for youth entrepreneurship and women should be strengthened and streamlined (Gabon National Agency for Investment Promotion) (ANPI-GABON), Directorate-General for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (DGPME), National Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (PromoGabon), (Centre for Enterprise Development, etc.). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all measures taken or envisaged to implement the objectives for developing women’s entrepreneurship figuring in the DWCP 2024–2027. Noting that the Decade of the Women of Gabon (2015–2025) is drawing to a close, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the results obtained in respect of women’s empowerment, as well as the results of the national collection of data on the situation of Gabonese women undertaken by the National Advisory Commission of the Decade of the Women of Gabon, and the remaining challenges. Finally, noting that the transitional Government in place since January 2024 no longer has a Minister for Equal Opportunity, the Committee requests the Government to indicate which ministry is now responsible for promoting the principle of equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women in employment and occupation, and to provide information on the strategy for promotion of this principle at the highest level of the State.

Promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction on grounds other than sex. The Committee notes that in response to its previous comment, the Government again indicates that it continues to expend efforts to bring its legislative framework into conformity with the Convention and to raise the populations’ awareness of current legal changes and the adoption of behavioural change, but that it is a lengthy process. Consequently, the Committee is obliged to recall that: (1) the primary obligation of ratifying States is to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation with a view to eliminating any discrimination in this respect; and (2) the implementation of such a policy presupposes the adoption of a range of specific measures, which generally consist of a combination of legislative and administrative measures, collective agreements, public policies, affirmative action measures, dispute resolution and enforcement mechanisms, specialized bodies, practical programmes and awareness-raising (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraphs 841 and 848). The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to lead eventually to the formulation of a national policy on equality of opportunity and treatment without distinction on grounds of race, colour, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin, and to provide information on any progress achieved in this regard. The Committee firmly hopes that this policy will be rapidly formulated.

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