Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Mauritania (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes the observations made by the Free Confederation of Mauritanian Workers (CLTM), received on 12 June 2019, and the Government’s reply, received on 21 October 2019.

Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention. Discrimination on the basis of race, colour, national extraction or social origin. Former slaves and their descendants. In its previous request, the Committee requested the Government to take steps to combat discrimination, including discrimination based on social origin, and the stigmatization suffered by certain segments of the population, particularly former slaves and descendants of slaves, in terms of access to education, training and employment, and to ensure the effective promotion of real equality and tolerance among the population. The Committee notes that, in its observations, the CLTM reports discrimination in access to well-paid and leadership posts to the advantage of only one part of the population, Arab Mauritanians, and the existence of an exclusion policy against black Haratine and Afro-Mauritanian workers from certain activity sectors, despite them being the majority in the population. The Committee notes that the Government’s report is silent on this point, but observes that, in its response to the CLTM’s observations on the application of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), the Government contests the allegations of a discriminatory employment policy regarding the Haratine and Afro-Mauritanian communities. The Committee further notes that general information on measures taken to combat discrimination and stigmatization as vestiges of slavery was provided by the Government in its response to the CLTM’s observations on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). The Government indicates that, at the instigation of religious leaders and with the participation of civil society organizations, information and awareness-raising measures have been adopted on the illegitimacy of slavery and on the dissemination of Act No. 2015-031 of 10 September 2015, repealing and replacing Act No. 2007-048 of 3 September 2007, criminalizing slavery and punishing slavery-like practices. Awareness-raising caravans also travelled throughout the territory to inform those affected by the vestiges of slavery of their rights. The Government adds that positive training and integration actions for young graduates of Haratine and Afro-Mauritanian origin have been implemented to assist them find a job, particularly through the establishment of three funds for the beneficiaries of these targeted actions. The Committee notes the report of the high-level mission that visited Mauritania in April 2018 and recommended the adoption of an action plan to combat forced labour and slavery to, inter alia, institutionalize and coordinate action to raise awareness of slavery and its vestiges, including discrimination. In addition, the Committee notes, according to a communiqué of the President of the Republic, the establishment by a decree of November 29 2019 of a General Delegation for national solidarity and the fight against exclusion (“Taazour”), the objective of which is to extend social protection, eliminate all forms of inequality, strengthen national cohesion, combat poverty and coordinate all interventions in the target areas. It notes that this ministerial-level Delegation is mandated over the next five years to implement a programme for the economic and social promotion of populations which have been victims of inequality and marginalization, by strengthening the means of production, and improving the purchasing power, and access to education, health, drinking water, decent housing and energy of the poor population. Lastly, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed its concern at the fact that “certain traditional social structures and cultural prejudices continue to stoke racial discrimination and to marginalize the Haratine community, particularly in terms of access to education, employment, housing, health care and social services” and at the “very limited representation of the black African (Halpular, Soninke and Wolof) and Haratine communities in political and public affairs, including in leadership and decision-making positions in public administration, the army and the police, in elective office at the national level and in the private sector and the media” (CERD/C/MRT/CO/8-14, 30 May 2018, paragraphs 11–12). The Committee also refers to its comments on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), concerning awareness-raising activities on issues relating to slavery and its vestiges, particularly discrimination and stigmatization. Noting the willingness of the Government to actively fight against the vestiges of slavery, particularly the discrimination faced by former slaves and their descendants, the Committee requests it to intensify its efforts to raise awareness among all parts of the population of the illegitimacy of slavery and its vestiges, and to eliminate stigmatization and discrimination, particularly social prejudices, and to promote equality without distinction of race, colour, national extraction or social origin in employment or occupation. It also requests it to continue, including within the framework of the Taazour Delegation, its positive actions relating to education, training and employment of persons affected by stigmatization and discrimination based on race, colour, national extraction or social origin and to provide information on the measures taken to this end and the results achieved.

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