E/C.12/BIH/CO/2 Covenant. The Committee also recommends that the State party take the necessary steps to eliminate differences in the amount of the minimum wage between the Entities. 20. The Committee is concerned about the interference by employers in the right of employees to form or join trade unions, as well as about the fact that employees are not protected from retaliatory action following union involvement (art. 8). The Committee recommends that the employees’ right to form and join trade unions, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the State party and by the Covenant, is duly ensured and monitored by the State party’s labour inspection units. 21. The Committee is deeply concerned that the allocation of benefits under the social welfare scheme is fragmented throughout the State party, leading to disparities in the level and amount of benefits between the Entities and within the Cantons of the Federation. The Committee is also concerned that the amount of the benefits is not sufficient to ensure an adequate standard of living for the beneficiaries. The Committee is further concerned that social welfare centres are still inadequately funded and understaffed to effectively carry out their functions (art. 9). The Committee urges the State party to take the necessary steps, including by adopting adequate laws and a national action plan, to ensure a comprehensive and harmonized approach to the social protection system at the State level in order to eliminate existing disparities in the available social protection and assistance benefits between the Entities and between the Cantons and to reduce poverty taking into account the real needs of beneficiaries. The Committee also reiterates its recommendation to ensure that adequate funds from the overall resources of the Entities, Cantons and municipalities are allocated to the social welfare centres and that these centres are adequately staffed in order to ensure effective functioning. 22. The Committee is concerned that the right to social assistance of certain categories of persons, such as war veterans, is established in ad-hoc laws that are not included within the group of general laws on social protection, thereby resulting in disparities in the level of protection and discrimination against other categories of victims. The Committee is also concerned that the existing legal framework has been deepening discrimination of persons with disabilities of all categories (art. 9). The Committee urges the State party to ensure a more equitable allocation of existing funds for social protection, in particular of disabled war veterans, civilian war victims and of persons with disabilities in general, with a view to reducing discrepancies between the allocated budgets for each of the categories mentioned. 23. The Committee is deeply concerned that wartime victims of sexual violence are not recognized as an eligible category for social assistance in the State party (art. 9). The Committee recommends that the State party amend all relevant criminal codes to include definition of wartime sexual violence, including rape, as a war crime and crime against humanity. The Committee urges the State party to grant, in the legislation on a social protection system at the level of State and the Entities, wartime victims of sexual violence the recognition and status of an eligible category of persons for social protection and various forms of social assistance as deemed necessary. 24. The Committee is concerned about the continuing absence of an inter-Entity agreement on pension rights and the failure of the Entities to implement the existing interEntity agreement on health insurance (art. 9). The Committee reiterates its recommendation that the State party promote the adoption of an inter-Entity agreement on pension rights and to ensure the 5