Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Mauritania (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It also notes the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the following points.

Article 2, paragraph 3, of the Convention and Part V of the report form. Compulsory schooling and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the indications of the ITUC to the effect that the Ministry of Labour, without exception, authorized work by 13-year-old children in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. The ITUC also indicated that, according to UNICEF statistics for 2000, the total number of child workers aged between 10 and 14 was 68,000, which represents a slight decrease over previous years. The Committee noted that the Government, in its initial report submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in January 2000 (CRC/C/8/Add.42, paragraphs 327 and 328), stated that, in order to tackle the economic exploitation of children, it had adopted important measures including the implementation of a national employment policy and a national plan for the promotion of the child.

The Committee notes that the ITUC indicates in its comments that Mauritania is witnessing a large-scale expansion of child labour, mostly involving precarious conditions. It notes that, according to the Government’s 2004 study on child labour in Mauritania, undertaken in collaboration with UNICEF, some 90,000 children under 14 years of age work in the country, slightly over 40 per cent of whom are girls. The study shows that poverty is one of the factors in child labour. The Committee notes the Government’s information that sectoral studies will be conducted in the informal sector in Kiffa and in some areas of Nouakchott to identify children who are working and seek, with the employers, to establish possibilities for training, education and integration.

The Committee notes that, according to UNICEF information, the Government has implemented a ten-year development plan for education, the aim of which is to increase the school attendance rate of young persons in the first cycle of secondary education and establish remedial courses for children who have never been to school or who have abandoned their studies. The Committee notes that, according to UNESCO statistics, 72 per cent of children, both girls and boys, attend primary school whereas only 14 per cent of girls and 17 per cent of boys are in secondary education. It notes that the Government has drawn up a national employment strategy and also a plan of action in this field.

The Committee notes that the number of child workers increased from 68,000 to 90,000 between 2000 and 2004. Moreover, despite the Government’s efforts, the Committee is deeply concerned at the persistence of low school attendance rates. It observes that poverty is one of the prime causes of child labour and when it combines with a deficient education system, it hampers children’s development. In view of the fact that compulsory schooling is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, the Committee urges the Government to renew its efforts to improve the working of the education system, particularly by increasing the school attendance rate and reducing the school drop-out rate, especially among girls. It also asks the Government to step up its efforts to combat child labour by reinforcing the measures enabling child workers to be integrated in the school system, whether formal or informal, or in apprenticeships or vocational training as long as minimum age requirements are met. Moreover, the Committee hopes that the studies mentioned by the Government will be conducted as soon as possible. It requests the Government to supply information on the results of the studies, once they are completed, by providing, for example, statistical data disaggregated by sex and age group on the nature, extent and trends of child labour and the employment of young persons working below the minimum age specified by the Government at the time of ratification, as well as extracts from reports of the inspection services.

The Committee is also raising a number of other matters in a direct request to the Government.