Maternity Protection

Peru ratifies the Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183)

News | 19 May 2016
By depositing, on 13 May 2016 the instrument of ratification of the Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183) Peru became the 32nd ILO member State to ratify this essential instrument for equality which guarantees protection for women workers during maternity. This ratification is the fourth from the Latin American and the Caribbean region and Peru thus joins the limited group of countries which have ratified all four core Conventions regarding gender equality, i.e. along with convention no. 183, the Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100) , the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No. 111) and the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention (No. 156) .

Upon transmitting the instrument of ratification, His Excellency Mr Luis Enrique Chavez Basagoitia, Ambassador of Peru to the United Nations Office in Geneva, stated that “this new commitment to ILO standards is important, as it signifies Peru’s will to act on its commitment to optimal social conditions and to encourage women to enter the labour market”.

Upon receiving the instrument of ratification, ILO Director General Guy Ryder stated that “by ratifying the most advanced international standard on the subject, Peru recognizes the importance of maternity protection for equality between men and women in a world where more and more women carry out an occupational activity and where their contribution to the family income is rapidly rising”.

Despite much progress having been achieved worldwide, the vast majority of women workers - or around 830 million people mainly in Asia and Africa – still do not benefit from adequate maternity protection. In addition, discrimination against women on grounds related to maternity and the need to guarantee the effective application of legislation in practice remain very widespread problems. Convention No. 183 aims precisely at establishing, at the international level, a reference for national maternity protection schemes and ILO actively promotes its ratification.