214. The enforcement of the respect for the rights at work contributes to poverty elimination, strengthens social justice and maintains peace. Hence, discrimination among workers, in particular in the training and employment of vulnerable groups is avoided. But effort has been made to empower victims of war and vulnerable persons such as demobilized combatants, refugees and displaced persons so as to become productive. In addition, the participation of women in economic activities and employment and retraining opportunities for youth has also been stepped up. The National Confederation of Eritrean Workers (NCEW) also promotes vocational and technical training programmes to upgrade workers‟ skills and ascertain employment opportunities. Age restrictions and enforcement 215. The elimination of child labour is dealt both legally and administratively through the judiciary oversight and labor inspection. If any crimes relating to child labour are committed in violation to the Transitional Penal Code, the Police and Prosecutors are actively involved and bring the case to the court. In line to to Article 143(1) of the labour proclamation, the labour inspection service also continuously supervises the workplaces, monitor the execution of the labour proclamation, enforce corrective measures and bring any offenders to justice. 216. It is to be noted that the government introduced a policy to expand Basic Education of 8 years (was 7 years until 2002) that is gradually made available to all children. In this context, Article 9 of the Labor Proclamation No. 118/2001 indicates that any person in the age of 14 years has the capacity to enter into a contract of employment. If it is determined to be prejudicial to the interests or against the schooling of the individual, however, the above mentioned contract is not enforced against a person below the age of 18, pursuant to Article 69 of the Labor Proclamation. This is strictly supervised and monitored by labor supervision and monitoring in collaboration with the local administrations. Remuneration and progress Primarily, the term “Remuneration” includes the ordinary, basic or minimum wage and any additional direct or indirect payables, whether in cash or in kind, by the employer arising out of the worker's employment. According to article 41(2) of the Labor Proclamation wages shall not be less than the minimum wage fixed by collective agreement and enforces the maximum 8 hours of work and consecutive 24 hours of rest in a week time. The labor code is also aligned to the ILO equal remuneration convention No 100. Hence, the starting wages do not only apply for the same type of work, but require equality of remuneration for different types of work, which are of equal value. 217. 218. In this context, collective agreements made between trade unions and employers have been applicable under the Labor Proclamation. It is believed that it is one way of securing the principle of equal pay for work of equal value accomplished by Eritreans. The current Page 52 of 100

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