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Mauritania - Twenty Third Session - 2015
Tuesday 3 November 2015 - 9:00 - 12:30
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National Report
Compilation of UN Information
Stakeholder Information
Accepted and Rejected Recomendation
National Report
The institutional framework for human rights
6. Scope of international obligations
29. The Government published in a special edition of the Official Gazette, No. 1326 bis of 9 December 2014, the main international human rights legal instruments that Mauritania has ratified, with the support of the OHCHR Country Office. The instruments published are:...
- Convention on the Rights of the Child;..
III. Promotion and protection of human rights on the ground
Work of national institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
4. Work of civil society organizations
40. Policies relating to children’s rights are implemented with civil society involvement, especially with regard to children at risk and/or with special needs.
44. In this context, a joint commission has been established, composed of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Children and the Family and the Mauritanian Federation of National Associations of Persons with Disabilities.
47. In order to strengthen cooperation with the treaty bodies, the Government presented its reports to the Committee against Torture and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2012, the Human Rights Committee in 2013 and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2014. It has submitted its combined third to fifth reports under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
IV. Follow-up to the previous review
60. In rural areas, a plan of action for the advancement of women aimed at promoting their rights, improving their health and their access to education and employment, and strengthening the capacities of the structures established for their development is being implemented.
61. Family policy was updated in 2013 to reflect the central role of mother and child. The Government has established family dispute units in all wilayas.
63. Family dispute services registered and dealt with 5,440 family disputes between 2010 and 2014 of which 3,357 were related to child welfare.
64. The adoption of Act No. 2012-003 of 1 February 2012, repealing and replacing some provisions in Act No. 61-016 of 30 January 1961, which established the rules governing civilian pensions under Mauritania’s Retirement Fund, as amended by Act No. 65-074 of 11 April 1965, has corrected a provision involving discrimination against women by introducing the right to survivors’ benefits for widows and children.
2. Rights of the child
66. Concerning the protection and promotion of the rights of the child, the following measures have been taken:
- Implementation of a national child protection strategy;;
- Drafting of a plan of action to combat child labour with the support of ILO, adopted by the Council of Ministers on 31 March 2015, the goal of which is t o contribute to the elimination of all forms of child labour;;
- Establishing regional councils in 10 wilayas to deal with child protection issues, in particular those affecting children with disabilities.
67. Establishing a plan of action for voluntary cessation of FGM in wilayas where the the practice is widespread.
68. Adoption of a national strategy for the cessation of FGM with the aim of creating a national plan for promoting voluntary and permanent cessation of the practice of female genital cutting/mutilation by means of formal and public statements.
69. Its aim is to:
- Create an institutional environment that is favourable to the promotion of voluntary and formal cessation of female genital cutting/mutilation;;
- Strengthen the capacity of stakeholders;; Design an integrated communication plan for the elimination of FGM;;
- Promote action research leading to the design and implementation of more targeted measures.
70. Special measures attention is paid to early childhood, as reflected in the following:
- Creation of a national council on children;
- Promotion of nurseries and kindergartens;
- Provision of equipment and supplies on a yearly basis for 8 public kindergartens in Nouakchott and 40 kindergartens in the wilayas of the two Hodhs, Assaba, Gorgol, Brakna, Tagant and Guidimagha;;
- Conducting a “train the trainers” programme for preschool teachers;;
- Including a module on preschool education in the national programme for
development of the education sector;;
- Continuing training for 200 kindergarten teachers each year;
- Recruitment of 60 schoolteachers by the State in 2013;
- Conversion of schools for deaf and blind children into public administrative institutions.
78. An action plan for implementation of the road map was adopted on 30 September 2014 and the following action was taken:
The introduction of a cash transfer programme to help finance the enrolment of school-age children from poor families and/or those affected by the legacy of slavery;;
Approval of a plan of action to combat child labour;
The development of educational infrastructures (schools, boarding schools) in priority education zones;;
80. Thanks to this funding, it has been possible to carry out projects in education, vocational training, health, water, agriculture, livestock farming, fisheries, environment, affordable housing and small trades, particularly in priority areas (Adwabas). In addition, the agency is authorized to intervene as a third party in criminal proceedings in cases involving slavery.
81. TADAMOUN carried out the following activities in 2014 as part of efforts to eradicate the consequences of slavery:
- Construction of 20 comprehensive schools in the wilayas of Hodh Chargui, Hodh El Gharbi, Assaba, Brakna, Tagant, Gorgol, Guidimakha, Trarza and Adrar;
- Construction of 20 school canteens (one for each comprehensive school);
- Construction of seven mosques and seven mahadras...
9. Food security and poverty eradication
91. Implementation of the Strategic Framework for Poverty Eradication (phase III) led to the achievement of a growth rate of 6.7 per cent.
92. The national strategy on food security and the strategy for the rural sector helped to increase the resilience of vulnerable populations.
93. The aim is to make growth more inclusive, to reduce inequality and to promote sustainable solutions to the problem of food security and the emergence of a modern and competitive agricultural sector.
94. These strategies have made it possible to:
- Supply 105 collective feeding centres for malnourished children under 5 years of age and for nursing mothers and pregnant women;
- Distribute supplementary feeding for 9,600 children attending the 233 kindergartens in 7 wilayas;
- Provide nutrition, health, psychosocial, educational and vocational training services through a child protection and social rehabilitation centre for 457 children from deprived backgrounds, 31 of whom had no family support;..
- Monitor and screen 18,000 children under 5 years of age in community feeding centres;
- Deworm 12,348 children;; Transfer 1,854 malnourished children to care facilities;
10. Repatriation of Mauritanian refugees from Senegal
8. 107. Significant measures have been taken to facilitate the economic and social reintegration of the returnees, including:..
- Construction of basic facilities (schools, health stations, markets, mosques, boreholes, dykes and embankments) and improvements to farmland;;
12. Health
114. Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality is one of the major pillars of the country’s public health policy.
115. The main health indicators are as follows:
- The mortality rate of children under 5 stands at 114 per 1,000 live births;;
116. The State has taken significant measures to improve the health of the population and to reduce maternal and infant mortality, including:
- Creation of training schools for health-care personnel (Nema, Aioun, Kiffa, Kaédi, Sélibaby, Rosso);;
- Expansion of health-care coverage and improvements in the quality of and access to services;;
- Construction of health-care facilities;
- Redeployment of personnel to outlying areas;
- Revamping of the office responsible for procurement of medicines and supplies;
- Establishment of an institute for viral diseases;
- Creation of a sectoral coordination unit in 2012 to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals related to health.
120. In order to reduce maternal and infant mortality, efforts have been deployed in the following areas:
(a) Human resources
- Recruitment of 840 staff across all categories in 2014;;
- Roll-out of a new database, together with measures for a staff restructuring;;
- Availability of continuing education, the retraining of staff and the training of specialists abroad;;
- Training of 14 temporary laboratory technicians;; 25 ultrasound technicians;; 60 staff specialized in the integrated management of childhood illness in Nouakchott;; and 120 staff specialized in basic emergency obstetric and newborn care;;
(b) Health-care facilities
- Construction of the Sélibaby School of Public Health, the children’s wing of the Mother and Child Hospital, 13 health centres, 21 health stations and 2 hospitals in Kaédi and Boghé;;
- Start of construction work on two hospitals, in Kiffa and Nema, each with a capacity of 150 beds;;
- Refurbishing of premises intended for use by the haemodialysis services in the hospitals of Rosso, Zouerat, Kaédi, Aleg, Tidjikja, Akjoujt and Atar;;
- Increasing the capacity of the dialysis centres of four hospitals (the National Hospital of Nouakchott and the hospitals in Sélibaby, Aioun and Kiffa) by adding 26 generators, two treatment rooms and dialysis beds;;
- Setting up dialysis centres in all hospitals located in the provincial capitals;;
- Improving the technical facilities of health centres.
(c) Medicines
The Government has taken significant measures to assure the quality of the medicines used, including:
- Granting the monopoly to import medicines, particularly antibiotics, psychotropic drugs and medicines for the treatment of diabetes, to the Medicines and Medical Equipment and Supplies Procurement Centre;;
- Creating two points of entry for medicines at the airport and the autonomous port of Nouakchott;;
- Requiring pharmacies to comply with applicable standards;;
- Purchasing 345,000 long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets;;
- Purchasing 500,000 rapid diagnostic test kits for malaria.
13. The right to education
121. With the aim of guaranteeing effective enjoyment of the right to education, education is free and compulsory for all children of school age.
122. Significant efforts have been made in this area:
Basic level
123. The number of children with access to schooling increased from 535,976 in 2010/11 to 552,591 in 2011/12, and then from 568,953 in 2012/13 to 592,249 in 2013/14, representing an annual average growth rate of 4.1 per cent.
124. The number of classrooms increased over the same period from 14,174 in 2011/12 to 15,200 in 2012/13. Meanwhile, the number of basic schools reached 4,290 in 2014, compared to 3,682 in 2010.
125. The gross intake rate, which measures the system’s capacity to accommodate children in the first year of basic education, rose from 105.3 per cent in 2010/11 to 108 per cent in 2011/12, and from 119 per cent in 2012/13 to 122 per cent in 2013/14.
126. A gender-based analysis shows that the gross intake rate for girls is higher than the rate for boys.
127. The gross enrolment ratio, which measures the total capacity of the system, rose from 98.7 per cent in 2012/13 to 100.9 per cent in 2013/14, representing a 2.2 point increase. As in the case of the gross intake rate, a gender -based analysis of the gross enrolment ratio indicates that the ratio has been higher for girls than for boys over the last three years across the different provinces. Thus, the parity index is greater than or equal to unity.
128. Basic education retention capacity was a major priority during the first phase of the National Development Programme for the Education Sector. An increase of 12.1 percentage points was registered during the implementation period for phase one of the National Development Programme (2001-2010), during which time the rate increased from 46.5 per cent to 58.6 per cent.
129. The basic education completion rate decreased from 73.66 per cent in 2010 to 73.08 per cent in 2011, and then to 70.24 per cent in 2012 before rising to 72.58 per cent in 2013;; in 2014, the rate fell to 72 per cent.
Secondary level
130. The progress made in basic education has placed a great strain on secondary education. The Government is responding to this challenge by recruiting more teachers and building more educational facilities.
131. Between 2012 and 2014, the number of educational institutions increased from 402 to 485. The number of students rose from 151,454 in 2011/12 to 171,265 in 2012/13 and then to 177,267 in 2013/14, representing a growth rate of 8 per cent over that period.
132. The transition rate between the sixth year of basic education and the first year of secondary education increased from 36.7 per cent in 2010 to 51.9 per cent in 2014, representing an average annual growth of 3.8 points over that period. The analysis of this indicator reveals marked disparities between regions and between girls and boys. Accordingly, the Government has attached considerable importance to the construction of schools in rural areas.
133. In 2013 and 2014, the gross enrolment ratio at the lower secondary level stood at 37.6 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively. The national gross enrolment ratio at the
upper secondary level stood at 21.5 per cent in 2014, compared to 20.90 per cent in 2013, 18.98 per cent in 2012, 14.32 per cent in 2011 and 1 5.09 per cent in 2010.
134. A programme establishing education priority zones has been introduced with the aim of achieving universal primary enrolment. The programme targets the rural and impoverished areas where the out-of-school and dropout rates are considered to be too high.
Tertiary level
135. There have been substantial quantitative and qualitative changes in higher education since 2010. Several higher education institutions have been created, namely the University of Science, Technology and Medicine;; the University of Islamic Sciences, the Polytechnic Institute, the National Institute of Public Works, the School of Mining, the Naval Academy, and the Higher Institute of Languages, Translation and Interpreting.
136. The opening of the new university campus in 2014, which includes, in addition to two universities and two higher education institutes, a university library and a distance-learning centre, will improve the quality of instruction.
137. In the area of governance, academic freedom has been strengthened by providing for the election of members of the establishments’ decision-making bodies and faculty deans, and the appointment of university presidents on the basis of a competitive selection process.
138. Equal access to higher education is guaranteed by article 57 of Act No. 2010-043 of 21 July 2010 on higher education and scientific research.
139. Positive discrimination in favour of women is provided for in the regulations in force. Under the decree passed on 26 September 2011, 6 per cent of overseas scholarships are to be reserved for girls.
140. In order to consolidate these achievements, the year 2015 was declared the Year of Education.
B. Challenges and constraints
147. Certain recommendations from the first cycle have not yet been acted upon.
148. The main challenges facing Mauritania are those relating to the implementation of an action plan to combat trafficking in persons and the withdrawal of its general reservation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It has also encountered difficulties in giving effect to other recommendations. A prime example is the slow pace of action for the adoption of legislation on, inter alia, female genital mutilation and gender-based violence.
VI. Priorities, initiatives, national commitments, difficulties and constraints
A. Priorities
149. National priorities revolve around strengthening the rule of law, democracy and national cohesion;; security and the fight against terrorism;; poverty eradication;; good governance;; anti-corruption efforts;; the eradication of the legacy and contemporary forms of slavery;; education, health and the advancement of women and young people.
C. Constraints and challenges
Challenges
153. The main obstacles preventing the country from achieving the full enjoyment of human rights include:..
- The absence of a human rights component in school curricula...
VII. Expectations and assistance needs
155. This support should be aimed at building the capacity of the institutions responsible for human rights, primarily the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights and Humanitarian Action, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Children and the Family, the National Human Rights Commission and the interministerial technical committee responsible for monitoring the implementation of the country’s international human rights obligations.
Compilation of UN Information
I. Background and framework A. Scope of international obligations
International human rights treaties
4. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended that Mauritania ratify the Convention against Discrimination in Education.
A. Equality and non-discrimination
28. The Special Rapporteur on racism noted that many individuals did not have equal opportunities with regard to education, employment, busi ness opportunities, or access to justice and government services.66 He recommended that Pular, Soninke and Wolof should be given constitutional status as official languages.
29. UNHCR stated that the nationality law failed to guarantee the right of every child to acquire a nationality.
30. The Special Rapporteur on racism indicated that it was paramount that the Government addressed the issues the census process had highlighted so that individuals, and consequently their children, were not unduly deprived of their right to identity and nationality. In 2012, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights urged Mauritania to facilitate birth registration.
33. UNHCR recommended that Mauritania ensure issuance of nationality documents to all returnees from Senegal, including birth certificates for children;; review local integration and livelihood assistance policies for the returnees;; and cooperate with UNHCR on implementing the voluntary repatriation of an additional 800 Mauritanian refugees. The country team made similar recommendations.
B. Right to life, liberty and security of person
48. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was concerned about the vulnerable conditions of children who lived in the street and those who were engaged in labour. It recommended that Mauritania strictly enforce existing legislation against child labour, expedite the adoption of the draft law on the prohibition of child labour and address the root causes of child labour.
49. Concerned about the exploitation of girls in child labour under slave-like conditions, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended that Mauritania fully dismantle the caste-based system of enslaving women in domestic work.
50. The Committee against Torture urged Mauritania to develop a comprehensive national strategy for combating traditional and modern forms of slavery and discrimination, including early and forced marriage, servitude, forced child labour, human trafficking and the exploitation of domestic workers, in line with the commitment it had made during the universal periodic review in 2010.
G. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living
83. While recognizing that the development of a comprehensive action plan on nutrition represented significant progress, the country team took the view that Mauritania should, inter alia, ensure that canteens/cafeterias were available in all public primary schools and strengthen programmes for dealing with acute malnutrition.
H. Right to health
88. Noting with concern that maternal and infant mortality remained high in spite of improvements in maternal health services, the Committee called on Mauritania to expand the provision of obstetric and neonatal care
I. Right to education
92. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called on Mauritania to address obstacles to education, including the distance to school, the cost of education and the social and cultural factors involved, such as girls’ duties at home. 160 The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women made similar recommendations.
93. Although the enrolment rate at the primary level of education had increased,162 the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted with concern that more than half of the female population was illiterate. It urged Mauritania to ensure girls’ access to secondary and higher education.
94. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women remained concerned about the marginalization of non-Arab and rural girls in the education system. It recommended that Mauritania strengthen its adult literacy programmes, especially for non-Arab women, Afro-Mauritanian women and women living in rural areas and facilitate their access to school.
95. Concerned about the risk of sexual harassment and abuse by teachers in schools, that same Committee recommended that Mauritania adopt preventive strategies and ensure that perpetrators were punished.
96. Concerned at the high school dropout rate and the poor quality of education, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called on Mauritania to reintegrate in school children who had dropped out. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had similar concerns.
97. The country team took the view that Mauritania should develop a strategy to integrate human rights into the school system, improve the quality of education, keep children in school, in particular girls, and re-enrol school dropouts.
Stakeholder Information
I. Information provided by the national human rights institution of the State under review accredited in full compliance with the Paris Principles
C. Implementation of international human rights obligations
10. The National Human Rights Commission recommended that the authorities take steps to enable all families to obtain civil identities for their children
II. Information provided by other stakeholders
A. Background and framework
1. Scope of international obligations
19. The Mauritanian Observatory for Human Rights and Democracy (OMADHD) recommended that Mauritania should ratify the optional protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 23 the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
37. JS2 recommended adopting legislation to prohibit child labour and to establish a compensation mechanism.
B. Implementation of international human rights obligations
1. Equality and non-discrimination
52. JS3 underscored the disparities that existed between men and women with regard to the transmission of nationality to their spouses and children and with regard to access to rights.
72. JS1 stated that despite the prohibition of forced marriage and the fact that the age of marriage was set at 18 years old under the Personal Status Code, early marriage was still widely practised.
73. JS3 recommended that Mauritania should enforce the provisions of the Personal Status Code and respect the legal age of marriage — 18 years — for girls.
74. Noting that since the first UPR, corporal punishment of children remained lawful in all settings;; 124 Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children (GIEACPC) recommended that Mauritania clearly prohibit all corporal punishment of children in all settings.
75. UNPO stated that a large number of children were enslaved, often from birth an d were expected to work more than 14 hours a day, in domestic servitude, begging, herding and manual labour.
76. JS3 recommended that Mauritania should remedy the fact that there was no national strategy to provide for children at risk, including Talibé children, whose working and living conditions could be equated with slavery-like practices.1
7. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living
114. JS4 recommended that Mauritania should open education and learning centres for at-risk children and set up a solidarity fund and food bank for children with disabilities and child victims of sexual abuse.
8. Right to education
115. JS4 pointed out that there was little public awareness of the law on compulsory schooling. According to official figures, the gross primary school enrolment rate was 96 per cent in 2011 and included a higher number of girls, but female students were clearly in the minority in higher education.
116. JS4 stated that there was one kind of school for the rich and another kind for the poor, and that the education received depended on the community: Arabs were taught in Arabic and black Mauritanians were taught in French.
117. JS4 recommended that Mauritania should declare all national languages as official and promote them as languages of instruction and employment.
118. OMADHD explained that education remained an ongoing challenge, namely because of economic, safety-related and geographic reasons and issues related to the quality of teachers.
119. OMADHD recommended that Mauritania should continue efforts to ensure access to preschool education throughout the country, to build large schools in each commune, to make the schools safer and to train teachers. JS3 recommended that human rights education should be promoted in schools.
120. JS1 recommended that Mauritania adopt policies to facilitate equal access to education and employment opportunities for those of slave -descent.
122. UNPO stated that the Haratin were subject to economic dependency toward their masters, making their emancipation more difficult. They face discrimination in education, employment, bank loans, healthcare and land attribution. Furthermore, they lacked proper representation in decision-making bodies and were absent from the media. UNPO added that even when slaves were formally “set free”; they often did not have the skills or knowledge necessary to find a job.
Accepted and Rejected Recomendation
The recommendations formulated during the interactive dialogue/listed below enjoy the support of Mauritania:
126.12 Develop a National Action Plan to prevent and criminalise acts of sexual and gender based violence, including Female Genital Mutilation and sexual offences against children (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
126.18 Continue to make efforts to implement National Child Protection Strategy (Pakistan);
126.19 Strengthen efforts in human rights training and education and disseminate awareness of human rights (Morocco);
126.20 Increase efforts to develop a system of education in the area of human rights and to strengthen the culture of human rights in society (Uzbekistan);
126.24 Take more steps to deliver human rights education in schools, and conduct human rights awareness-raising activities for public servants, in particular law enforcement officers (Viet Nam);
126.25 Strengthen efforts in the area of integrating human rights education in school curricula (Sudan);
126.30 Submit its overdue reports to the treaty bodies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (Sierra Leone);
126.32 Step up efforts to facilitate administrative procedures so that all children are registered at birth (Turkey);
126.43 Intensify efforts to combat violence against women, including the elimination of female genital mutilation, by increasing resources for public awareness and educational campaigns, and by encouraging faster legislative action against gender-based violence (Philippines);
126.46 Develop a comprehensive national strategy for combating child, early and forced marriages (Montenegro);
126.48 Continue its efforts to implement a law to combat child labour by adopting a draft law on prohibition of child labour and tackling its main causes (State of Palestine);
126.49 Pursue its efforts to implement the plan of action for combatting child labour (Sudan);
126.50 Take all necessary measures to eradicate child labour and to enact and implement a suitable Action Plan (Italy);;
126.51 Implement laws combating child and early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation (Namibia);
126.52 Double its efforts in addressing the vulnerable conditions of children who live on the streets including by implementing existing legislation against child labour and its plan of action to combat child labour (Malaysia);
126.54 Investigate and deal with complaints in relation to slavery and similar treatments, and protect children from these practices (Mexico);
126.57 Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking and economic and sexual exploitation, particularly of women and children (Germany);
126.67 Consider further improving access to health and education with a focus on improving maternal and new born health facilities and expanding the secondary and tertiary education opportunities for all (Sri Lanka);
126.68 Continue to improve the education and healthcare systems in cooperation with relevant international organisations (United Arab Emirates);
126.69 Continue efforts to ensure universal access to quality education and health care (Uzbekistan);
126.71 Move forward with a policy of free of charge education (Saudi Arabia);
126.72 Continue its efforts in providing access and quality education for children, and implement programmes that would further encourage them, especially girls, to go to school (Malaysia);
127.15 Adequately train staff and well-resource judges, judicial personnel, and civil servants who work to fight child labour (Italy);
127.16 Pursue and intensify its efforts towards strengthening the rights of women and children (Bahrain);
127.20 Enact laws which fully abolish child, early and forced marriage (Sierra Leone);;
127.21 Adopt practical measures to combat violence against women and children, particularly female genital mutilation (Angola);
127.23 Strictly implement existing legislation against child labour and expedite the approval of the bill on the prohibition of child labour, in line with the recommendation made by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Argentina);
127.26 Continue its efforts to eliminate all traditional and modern forms of slavery, including forced child labour (Argentina);
127.41 Design a complete strategy against all forms of discrimination, including traditional and modern forms of slavery, which include practices of early and forced marriages, servitude, and forced labour of children (Turkey);
127.61 Improve access to education for marginalized groups in order to improve social and economic conditions for them. One group that may benefit from this are the Harratin (Germany);
127.62 Adopt policies to facilitate access of descendants of slaves to education and employment under conditions of equality (Congo);
127.63 Take further steps to ensure inclusive education and facilitate girls’ access to secondary and higher education (Armenia).