Gabon implements new labor code to remove gender-based inequalities, discrimination

DOUALA, Cameroon

Gabon implemented a new labor code Thursday that intends to remove gender-based inequalities and discrimination on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

"Our mothers, women and daughters do not have to suffer,” President Ali Bongo Odimba said on social media. “This day corresponds to the publication in the Official Gazette of the new Labor Code whose provisions guarantee better protection for women while ensuring strict equality between them and men,".

The new code affirms women's equal access to work, removes obstacles to access to the labor market and recognizes sexual and moral harassment as a condemnable and justifiable practice, according to the Ministry of Employment.

The document obtained by Anadolu Agency includes the fight against discrimination that prevents access to work, professional equality between men and women, the right of access of women to any job in a company, affirmation of equal pay between men and women and in the development of their careers.

The code is "proof" that Gabon is "one of the countries that fights the most against violence against women and for gender equality," Jessye Ella Ekogha, special adviser to Odimba wrote on Twitter.

The bill was passed June 25 in the National Assembly despite protests from several national labor unions.

In the Central African country with a population of more than 2 million, the female labor force participation rate for those aged 15 to 64 is 45% compared to nearly 64% for men in the same age group. according to the International Labor Organization.