The 3rd round of consultations on the Elimination of Discrimination in Mauritian Laws took place today at the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment. This meeting was chaired by the Attorney General Rama Valayden, in presence of Minister Jean-François Chaumière and representatives of private organizations such as the MEF, the JEC, MEXA, AHRIM, BACECA and the MSPA.
The Attorney General explained the purpose of the consultation, which is to make the private sector aware of what is being undertaken by government in view of harmonizing existing laws so as to make them more gender-neutral. Minister Chaumière explained that it was a national process which requires the input of all stakeholders.
Input
This initiative of meeting the private sector was welcomed by all present. Raj Makoond from the JEC explained that it was important to apply a sensitization strategy so as to bring about the desired change of mindset with respect to gender issues. Jean Li from the MSPA for his part gave examples of his organization's endeavours to integrate the notion of ‘equal work equal pay’. Mr. Pellegrin from the Insurers' Association suggested a working group was set up to make recommendations to the Ministerial committee, while Mrs. Danielle Wong from MEXA spoke of the need to ensure gender-neutrality leads to job creation.
The way forward
Jean-François Chaumière reminded that it’s a matter of human dignity and equal opportunity that the harmonization process in view of eliminating discrimination in laws be carried out successfully. Therefore, he said, an extensive educational action would have to be carried out at all levels to achieve the desired mentality and paradigm shift. Rama Valayden for his part stated the Committee would meet the private sector in a month to take cognizance of their proposals.
