A/HRC/16/46
from these sectors in planning and policy committees of government. Domestic
workers, the majority of whom are women, would benefit from efforts by ILO to
establish new international standards for domestic workers, and Governments are
urged to ratify swiftly an expected international convention to this end. 3 Street
vendors should benefit from legislative and practical protection against harassment
and changes in urban planning to provide safe and productive zones for the delivery
of their services. National labour legislation in economic sectors where there is a large
presence of minorities, such as agricultural labour, should be reviewed and
strengthened to ensure equal protection to that afforded workers in other industries in
which there is a predominance of majority populations.
34.
Many persons belonging to minorities are self-employed in small businesses.
Governments should ensure that such businesses have equal protection before the law.
Business support agencies or business-related policy reforms should take steps to
ensure equal access for minority business owners and accommodation of cultural or
religious particularities. Governments should ensure that the impact on minority
businesses of the financial crisis and of fiscal, monetary or other policies to address
the crisis are monitored, and that steps are taken to ensure that such businesses are
not disproportionately harmed. Businesses in the informal economy, where many
minority businesses are concentrated, should have access to simplified licensing or
registration procedures to bring them fairly and without discrimination into formal
sector protections and social securities. Financial services, including credit services,
should be monitored to ensure non-discriminatory access to such services by
minorities. Special measures should be taken to ensure access by minority women to
bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit. Where applicable,
culturally or religiously appropriate lending practices should be encouraged.
35.
Regulatory agencies overseeing the financial services industries should review
practices by banks and similar financial institutions to ensure that these institutions
comply with standards on non-discrimination in access to credit and financial
services.
36.
Governments are urged to review legal and regulatory provisions regarding
migrant workers, as well as the practices of law enforcement agents and employers, to
ensure complete conformity with minority rights and the rights on non-citizens under
the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Migrant
workers belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minority groups
should be enabled to exercise their right to practice their culture, language and
religion in community with other members of their group and should be protected
from discrimination in all relevant domestic legislation. Access to basic social services,
education and labour rights, including social security, should be provided for all
migrant workers and their families in accordance with international standards.
Women migrant workers may be especially vulnerable to maltreatment in the form of
non-payment of wages and, in some cases, mental, physical and sexual abuse.
37.
Governments should take special measures to address disparities with regard to
the participation of minorities in economic life, including the effects of direct and
indirect discrimination. Robust programmes should be undertaken, especially in the
fields of employment, education and training, political representation, financial
3
ILO is working towards the adoption in June 2011 of a new international standard on domestic
workers.
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