Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries

 

PART III. RECRUITMENT AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Article 20

1. Governments shall, within the framework of national laws and regulations,
and in co-operation with the peoples concerned, adopt special measures to ensure
the effective protection with regard to recruitment and conditions of employment
of workers belonging to these peoples, to the extent that they are not
effectively protected by laws applicable to workers in general.

2. Governments shall do everything possible to prevent any discrimination
between workers belonging to the peoples concerned and other workers, in
particular as regards:

(a) admission to employment, including skilled employment, as well as measures
for promotion and advancement;

(b) equal remuneration for work of equal value;

(c) medical and social assistance, occupational safety and health, all social
security benefits and any other occupationally related benefits, and housing;

(d) the right of association and freedom for all lawful trade union activities,
and the right to conclude collective agreements with employers or employers’
organisations.

3. The measures taken shall include measures to ensure:

(a) that workers belonging to the peoples concerned, including seasonal, casual
and migrant workers in agricultural and other employment, as well as those
employed by labour contractors, enjoy the protection afforded by national law
and practice to other such workers in the same sectors, and that they are fully
informed of their rights under labour legislation and of the means of redress
available to them;

(b) that workers belonging to these peoples are not subjected to working
conditions hazardous to their health, in particular through exposure to
pesticides or other toxic substances;

(c) that workers belonging to these peoples are not subjected to coercive
recruitment systems, including bonded labour and other forms of debt servitude;

(d) that workers belonging to these peoples enjoy equal opportunities and equal
treatment in employment for men and women, and protection from sexual
harassment.

4. Particular attention shall be paid to the establishment of adequate
labour inspection services in areas where workers belonging to the peoples
concerned undertake wage employment, in order to ensure compliance with the
provisions of this Part of this Convention.

PART IV. VOCATIONAL TRAINING, HANDICRAFTS AND RURAL INDUSTRIES

Article 21

Members of the peoples concerned shall enjoy opportunities at least equal to
those of other citizens in respect of vocational training measures.

Article 22

1. Measures shall be taken to promote the voluntary participation of members
of the peoples concerned in vocational training programmes of general
application.

2. Whenever existing programmes of vocational training of general
application do not meet the special needs of the peoples concerned, governments
shall, with the participation of these peoples, ensure the provision of special
training programmes and facilities.

3. Any special training programmes shall be based on the economic
environment, social and cultural conditions and practical needs of the peoples
concerned. Any studies made in this connection shall be carried out in
co-operation with these peoples, who shall be consulted on the organisation and
operation of such programmes. Where feasible, these peoples shall progressively
assume responsibility for the organisation and operation of such special
training programmes, if they so decide.

Article 23

1. Handicrafts, rural and community-based industries, and subsistence
economy and traditional activities of the peoples concerned, such as hunting,
fishing, trapping and gathering, shall be recognised as important factors in the
maintenance of their cultures and in their economic self-reliance and
development. Governments shall, with the participation of these people and
whenever appropriate, ensure that these activities are strengthened and
promoted.

2. Upon the request of the peoples concerned, appropriate technical and
financial assistance shall be provided wherever possible, taking into account
the traditional technologies and cultural characteristics of these peoples, as
well as the importance of sustainable and equitable development.

PART V. SOCIAL SECURITY AND HEALTH

Article 24

Social security schemes shall be extended progressively to cover the peoples
concerned, and applied without discrimination against them.

Article 25

1. Governments shall ensure that adequate health services are made available
to the peoples concerned, or shall provide them with resources to allow them to
design and deliver such services under their own responsibility and control, so
that they may enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health.

2. Health services shall, to the extent possible, be community-based. These
services shall be planned and administered in co-operation with the peoples
concerned and take into account their economic, geographic, social and cultural
conditions as well as their traditional preventive care, healing practices and
medicines.

3. The health care system shall give preference to the training and
employment of local community health workers, and focus on primary health care
while maintaining strong links with other levels of health care services.

4. The provision of such health services shall be coordinated with other
social, economic and cultural measures in the country .

PART VI. Education AND MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

Article 26

Measures shall be taken to ensure that members of the peoples concerned have
the opportunity to acquire Education at all levels on at least an equal footing
with the rest of the national community.

Article 27

1. Education programmes and services for the peoples concerned shall be
developed and implemented in co-operation with them to address their special
needs, and shall incorporate their histories, their knowledge and technologies,
their value systems and their further social, economic and cultural aspirations.

2. The competent authority shall ensure the training of members of these
peoples and their involvement in the formulation and implementation of education
programmes, with a view to the progressive transfer of responsibility for the
conduct of these programmes to these peoples as appropriate.

3. In addition, governments shall recognise the right of these peoples to
establish their own educational institutions and facilities, provided that such
institutions meet minimum standards established by the competent authority in
consultation with these peoples. Appropriate resources shall be provided for

this purpose.

Article 28

1. Children belonging to the peoples concerned shall, wherever practicable,
be taught to read and write in their own indigenous language or in the language
most commonly used by the group to which they belong. When this is not
practicable, the competent authorities shall undertake consultations with these
peoples with a view to the adoption of measures to achieve this objective.

2. Adequate measures shall be taken to ensure that these peoples have the
opportunity to attain fluency in the national language or in one of the official
languages of the country .

3. Measures shall be taken to preserve and promote the development and
practice of the indigenous languages of the peoples concerned.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Education, country.