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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Mauritania (RATIFICATION: 2001)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Slavery or slavery-like practices and penalties. 1. Child victims of slavery. Regarding the measures taken to ensure effective application of Act No. 2015-31 of 10 September 2015 criminalizing slavery and suppressing slavery-like practices, the Committee refers to its detailed comments on the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).

2. Forced or compulsory labour. Begging. The Committee previously noted that section 42(1) of Ordinance No. 2005-015 for the protection of children under criminal law provides that any person who causes a child to beg or directly employs a child to beg shall be liable to imprisonment of one to six months and a fine. It again notes with regret the lack of information on investigations and prosecutions of marabouts who force children to beg. Recalling that even the best legislation is only effective if it is enforced, the Committee again urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure the effective application of section 42(1) of Ordinance No. 2005-015 for the protection of children under criminal law. The Committee urges the Government to provide information on this matter, including, for example, the number of marabouts identified as using children for purely economic purposes, the number of prosecutions and the criminal penalties imposed.

3. Sale and trafficking of children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, under section 78 of Act No. 2018-024 of 21 June 2018 issuing the General Child Protection Code, any person who subjects a child to trafficking shall be liable to imprisonment of 10 to 20 years.

The Committee notes from the information available in the Government’s report submitted in respect of Convention No. 29, that the new Act No. 2020-017 of 6 August 2020 on the prevention and repression of trafficking in persons and the protection of victims, defines and includes all forms of human trafficking that were not provided for under Act No. 2015-031 criminalizing slavery and suppressing slavery-like practices. It provides adequate sanctions for all forms of trafficking to which persons may be exposed, including forced labour, slavery and slavery-like practices. It also aims to promote national coordination and international cooperation in the field of combatting trafficking in persons. The Government also supplies detailed information on the action undertaken since the entry into force of Act No. 2015-031, including the annual organization of training and awareness-raising activities by the Justice Department, aimed at strengthening the capacities of magistrates, and of the actors in the criminal justice system, including judges, prosecutors, judicial police officers, attorneys, registrars and civil society actors. Moreover, the Committee notes, still according to the Government’s report on Convention No. 29, the data concerning the cases considered by the Supreme Court, the appeal courts and the judicial authorities related to trafficking for the purpose of slavery. The Committee notes however that this data do not include the other forms of trafficking and are not disaggregated by age. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to strengthen the capacities of the entities responsible for the application of legislation to combat the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age, including through training and the provision of adequate resources. It also requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 78 of Act No. 2018-024 of 21 June 2018 issuing the General Child Protection Code and of Act No. 2020-017 on the prevention and repression of trafficking in persons and the protection of victims, indicating the number and nature of the violations identified, the prosecutions filed and the penalties imposed, in cases specifically concerning child victims of trafficking under 18 years of age.

Articles 3(d) and 4(1). Hazardous work and determination of hazardous types of work. The Committee previously expressed the firm hope that the Government would adopt the list of hazardous types of work prohibited for children under 18 years of age in the very near future. It notes with satisfaction the adoption of Ordinance No. 0066-2022 of 7 January 2022 concerning the list of hazardous work prohibited for children, which prohibits the employment of children in hazardous work detrimental to their physical or mental health, in any public or private establishment, whether agricultural, commercial or industrial in nature, including where such establishments impart religious or occupational education or are charitable institutions, family enterprises or private households. In this regard, the Ordinance contains a detailed list of the types of hazardous work prohibited to children. Moreover, section 7 provides that the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Labour, the Director-General of Labour and the labour inspectors, as the case may be, are responsible for application of the Ordinance. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of Ordinance No. 0066-2022 concerning the list of hazardous work prohibited for children. In particular, it requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of the violations identified by the labour inspection and to indicate what sanctions are provided and applied in such cases.

Article 7(2) Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and integration into society. Forced or compulsory labour. Begging. The Committee previously noted the persistent presence of children engaged in begging and requested the Government to continue to indicate the number of child victims of begging who have been removed from the streets and rehabilitated and integrated into society, including by social protection and rehabilitation centres, and to inform the Committee of any other measure taken to identify and remove talibé children from being obliged to beg.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of relevant information in the Government’s report. It notes from Mauritania’s national report of 9 November 2020, presented under the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, that a programme has been launched to tackle the practice of begging, and a project for the integration and education of child beggars helping to put an end to this practice is under way (A/HRC/WG.6/37/MRT/1), paragraph 119). The Committee requests the Government to intensify its efforts to remove children under 18 years of age from begging, rehabilitate and integrate them socially. It urges the Government to communicate information in this regard, including on the number of talibé children taken into care by the social protection and rehabilitation centres or rehabilitated within the framework of the programme to tackle the practice of begging.

Clause (c). Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted that while access to basic education has been improved in primary education, with virtual parity between boys and girls, it remained concerned at the poor quality of the teaching, the low transition rates to secondary school, insufficient monitoring of private and Koranic schools, overcrowding and understaffing in schools and the very high school drop-out rates among girls who are descended from persons subjected to slavery or among black African girls.

The Committee notes with regret that the report lacks information in this respect. It notes the information provided by the Government in Mauritania’s national report of 9 November 2020, submitted under the Universal Periodic Review to the Human Rights Council, concerning the implementation of the education policy, the principal aim of which is to guarantee for all children on the Mauritanian territory a complete and good quality education, by improving educational opportunities, eliminating disparities of all kinds, raising the quality of teaching and introducing a results-based management approach. Within this framework, the measures taken include: (i) increasing the budget allocated to education; (ii) expanding the network of primary schools, particularly in rural areas, and increasing the numbers of teachers; (iii) introducing nutrition programmes and fitting sanitary installations, specifically for girls; (iv) providing school buses for female students in rural areas; (v) granting cash transfers to poor families, subject to sending their children to school (30,512 poor family beneficiaries); and (vi) granting of monthly scholarships to nearly 2,400 girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. Considering that access to free basic education and school attendance are essential to prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system in the country, including by increasing the secondary school enrolment and completion rate. It again requests the Government to continue to take the necessary steps to improve access to education in public schools, the quality of teaching, and to combat school drop-outs. Lastly, the Committee urges the Government to provide statistical information on the school enrolment and completion rates at both primary and secondary levels, disaggregated by age and gender.

Clause (e). Particular situation of girls. Domestic work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that more than half of all domestic workers in Mauritania are children, the majority of them girls, separated from their families and exposed to economic exploitation, violence, discrimination and abuse, including sexual abuse. The Committee noted that the Government explained that contracts for domestic work must be in written form and that abuses in this area are severely punished. The Committee requested the Government to communicate statistical information on the number and nature of penalties imposed on persons who exploit girls in domestic work, and to provide copies of standard employment contracts for domestic workers.

The Committee once more notes with regret that the Government provides no information in this respect in its report. However, the Committee notes that, under the new Ordinance No. 0066-2022 of 7 January 2022 concerning the list of hazardous work prohibited for children, domestic work is included in the sectors of activity prohibited to children under the age of 18 years. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective implementation of Ordinance No. 0066-2022, thereby putting an end in practice to the exploitation of girls under 18 years of age in domestic work. In this regard, it again requests the Government to provide statistical information on the number and nature of penalties imposed on persons who exploit girls in domestic work and to send copies of standard employment contracts for domestic workers. Lastly, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to identify and remove girls under 18 years from hazardous domestic work and to provide information on the number of girls removed and rehabilitated and socially integrated.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request made directly to the Government.