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16 November 2000
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CESCR
24th session
16 November 2000
Morning
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning continued its review of a fourth periodic report of Finland on the measures that country had undertaken to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts, the Finnish delegation said that job segregation was a characteristic of the Finnish labour market and that only some 16 per cent of the labour force had a balanced participation of women and men. The delegation said that job segregation was partly due to the fact that the women's rate of employment was high -- 63.5 per cent; and unfortunately, women were paid less than men for similar work performed.
Committee Experts continued to pose questions on such issues as the right of Sami and Roma peoples; the situation of migrant workers; employment opportunities; and administrative detention of asylum-seekers, among other things. Towards the end of the meeting, an Expert asked the delegation if psychological assistance was provided for victims of domestic violence. According to the Finnish report, violence had proved to be a surprisingly common problem with 40 per cent of women reporting that they had at some time in their life after the age of 15 experienced physical or sexual violence.
Finland is among the 143 States parties to the Covenant and as such it must submit periodic reports to the Committee on its accomplishments regarding the implementation of the provisions of the treaty. Finland also sent a government delegation to present the report and answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it is expected to conclude its consideration of the report of Finland.
Discussion
In response to a number of questions raised by Committee Experts, the Finnish officials said that the Sami land ownership issue still had to be resolved and that for the time being, the Sami were actually enjoying the form of leasing they were provided with by the Finnish Government. The Government was also studying the implementation of International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 on indigenous and tribal peoples in relation to the problem of land transfer to the Sami people.
With regard to the optional protocol to the Covenant, the Finnish delegation said no substantive discussion had been carried out concerning that issue. However, the trend was for the establishment of a collective complaints mechanism rather than resolving cases individually. More discussion on the issue was scheduled for next year.
A question was asked on the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) devoted to overseas development assistance. The delegation said that the Government had not yet reached the the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent; and the level of contribution to international development in next year's national budget would be increased to 0.34 per cent.
Concerning placement of asylum-seekers at reception centres, the delegation said that the measure to disperse asylum-seekers throughout the country was to facilitate their integration. At present, there were 18 such reception centres run by the State, municipalities, the Finnish Red Cross and by a Swedish-speaking welfare society. Many of the asylum-seekers were placed in a centre near the point of their arrival, and not all centres were located in the rural areas. The measure to place them in different municipalities was to their advantage in finding jobs and housing facilities.
Administrative detention of asylum-seekers was applied only to those who were involved in criminal activities, the delegation said. In order to facilitate the task of security of such groups of people under detention, the Government would regroup them in Helsinki in a new centre under the guardianship of civil officers instead of the police.
According to a survey conducted by the Roma training centre, 57 per cent of Roma who were interviewed said they had no jobs and the rest said they wished to be trained in order to have better jobs, the delegation said. In addition, uncompleted information had been filed on the situation of Roma children and it was hoped that next year an in-depth survey would be carried out on the issue. An advisory body on Roma affairs had been constituted to improve Roma participation and representation in local affairs. About 95 per cent of the Roma population were Finnish citizens and spoke the language.
Minimum wage was fixed by outside collective agreements by a government bill on the subject, the delegation said. However, binding collective national agreements were also applied in circumstances where the employer was organized in union. Minimum wage was normally bargained and fixed in collective agreements between the trade unions and organized employers. One in three employees in the country were engaged in part-time employment relationships.
Job segregation was a characteristic of the Finnish labour market, the delegation said. Only some 16 per cent of the labour force had a balanced participation of women and men. It was estimated that job segregation was partly due to the fact that the women's rate of employment was high -- 63.5 per cent. Unfortunately, the gender pay gap still remained to be a problem.
Because of the ageing of its population and the decrease in the birth rate, Finland would continue to encourage migrant workers to settle on its territory, the delegation said. An Expert commented on that situation by saying that if Finland accepted 400,000 workers from Latvia, that country would have no workforce remaining at home for the population of one million.
At the end of the meeting, an Expert raised a question about the situation of domestic violence in Finland, asking if victims of violence were provided with psychological assistance. The Finnish report said that violence had proved to be a surprisingly common problem in the country: 40 per cent of women had reported that they had at some time in their life after the age of 15 experienced physical or sexual violence or threats from a man.
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24th session
16 November 2000
Morning
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning continued its review of a fourth periodic report of Finland on the measures that country had undertaken to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts, the Finnish delegation said that job segregation was a characteristic of the Finnish labour market and that only some 16 per cent of the labour force had a balanced participation of women and men. The delegation said that job segregation was partly due to the fact that the women's rate of employment was high -- 63.5 per cent; and unfortunately, women were paid less than men for similar work performed.
Committee Experts continued to pose questions on such issues as the right of Sami and Roma peoples; the situation of migrant workers; employment opportunities; and administrative detention of asylum-seekers, among other things. Towards the end of the meeting, an Expert asked the delegation if psychological assistance was provided for victims of domestic violence. According to the Finnish report, violence had proved to be a surprisingly common problem with 40 per cent of women reporting that they had at some time in their life after the age of 15 experienced physical or sexual violence.
Finland is among the 143 States parties to the Covenant and as such it must submit periodic reports to the Committee on its accomplishments regarding the implementation of the provisions of the treaty. Finland also sent a government delegation to present the report and answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it is expected to conclude its consideration of the report of Finland.
Discussion
In response to a number of questions raised by Committee Experts, the Finnish officials said that the Sami land ownership issue still had to be resolved and that for the time being, the Sami were actually enjoying the form of leasing they were provided with by the Finnish Government. The Government was also studying the implementation of International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 on indigenous and tribal peoples in relation to the problem of land transfer to the Sami people.
With regard to the optional protocol to the Covenant, the Finnish delegation said no substantive discussion had been carried out concerning that issue. However, the trend was for the establishment of a collective complaints mechanism rather than resolving cases individually. More discussion on the issue was scheduled for next year.
A question was asked on the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) devoted to overseas development assistance. The delegation said that the Government had not yet reached the the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent; and the level of contribution to international development in next year's national budget would be increased to 0.34 per cent.
Concerning placement of asylum-seekers at reception centres, the delegation said that the measure to disperse asylum-seekers throughout the country was to facilitate their integration. At present, there were 18 such reception centres run by the State, municipalities, the Finnish Red Cross and by a Swedish-speaking welfare society. Many of the asylum-seekers were placed in a centre near the point of their arrival, and not all centres were located in the rural areas. The measure to place them in different municipalities was to their advantage in finding jobs and housing facilities.
Administrative detention of asylum-seekers was applied only to those who were involved in criminal activities, the delegation said. In order to facilitate the task of security of such groups of people under detention, the Government would regroup them in Helsinki in a new centre under the guardianship of civil officers instead of the police.
According to a survey conducted by the Roma training centre, 57 per cent of Roma who were interviewed said they had no jobs and the rest said they wished to be trained in order to have better jobs, the delegation said. In addition, uncompleted information had been filed on the situation of Roma children and it was hoped that next year an in-depth survey would be carried out on the issue. An advisory body on Roma affairs had been constituted to improve Roma participation and representation in local affairs. About 95 per cent of the Roma population were Finnish citizens and spoke the language.
Minimum wage was fixed by outside collective agreements by a government bill on the subject, the delegation said. However, binding collective national agreements were also applied in circumstances where the employer was organized in union. Minimum wage was normally bargained and fixed in collective agreements between the trade unions and organized employers. One in three employees in the country were engaged in part-time employment relationships.
Job segregation was a characteristic of the Finnish labour market, the delegation said. Only some 16 per cent of the labour force had a balanced participation of women and men. It was estimated that job segregation was partly due to the fact that the women's rate of employment was high -- 63.5 per cent. Unfortunately, the gender pay gap still remained to be a problem.
Because of the ageing of its population and the decrease in the birth rate, Finland would continue to encourage migrant workers to settle on its territory, the delegation said. An Expert commented on that situation by saying that if Finland accepted 400,000 workers from Latvia, that country would have no workforce remaining at home for the population of one million.
At the end of the meeting, an Expert raised a question about the situation of domestic violence in Finland, asking if victims of violence were provided with psychological assistance. The Finnish report said that violence had proved to be a surprisingly common problem in the country: 40 per cent of women had reported that they had at some time in their life after the age of 15 experienced physical or sexual violence or threats from a man.
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