Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Mauritanie (Ratification: 2001)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and penalties. Child victims of slavery. The Committee notes, from the report submitted by the Government in respect of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the detailed statistics on the judicial processing of slavery offences, and that numerous sentences have been handed down. However, this information is not disaggregated by age of victim.

The Committee notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), that important progress has been made in combating slavery, as well as contemporary forms of slavery, in particular through strengthening the legal framework. Nevertheless, the CESCR noted with concern: (1) the inadequate implementation of the legal framework, partly due to the limited resources available, as well as to the social and cultural acceptance of slavery-like practices that persists in the country; and (2) that despite the measures adopted to combat child labour, many children, especially those descended from slaves and those most affected by poverty, are often victims of economic exploitation or subjected to the worst forms of child labour (E/C.12/MRT/CO/2, 19 March 2024, paras 26 and 32). While noting certain steps taken by the Government, the Committee requests it to intensify its efforts to ensure the effective application of Act No. 2015-031 of 10 September 2015 criminalizing slavery and punishing slavery-like practices, and to provide information on measures taken in this regard, and on results obtained. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions filed, and sentences handed down, and the penalties imposed.

Forced or compulsory labour. Begging. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has taken measures to ensure the effective application of section 42(1) of Ordinance No. 2005-015 for the protection of children under criminal law, which punishes any person who causes a child to beg or directly employs a child to beg. It notes, from the report submitted by the Government in respect of Convention No. 29 that: (1) in 2023, three persons were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, with five years without parole, for exploitation of minors for the purpose of begging (57 boy victims are concerned); and (2) three files for exploitation of minors for the purpose of begging are currently being processed, and concern three presumed perpetrators.

The Committee observes that the CESCR, in its concluding observations of 2024, notes with concern that a significant number of children, in particular talibé children and street children, are subjected to forced begging (E/C.12/MRT/CO/2, para. 32). The Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure the effective application of section 42(1) of Ordinance No. 2005-015 for the protection of children under criminal law, and to continue to provide information in this regard, including, for example, the number of marabouts using children for purely economic purposes, the number of prosecutions filed and the criminal penalties imposed.

Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in the framework of applying Act No. 2020-017 on the prevention and repression of trafficking in persons and the protection of victims, a National Plan to combat trafficking in persons has been drawn up for the 2024-2026 period and is implemented by the national board to combat trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling. The Government indicates that the Plan has six principal objectives: prevention, strengthening capacities of the actors, protection of victims, repression, partnership and coordination and monitoring/evaluation.

The Committee notes, from the report submitted by the Government in respect of Convention No. 29, that the Justice Department continues to organize annual training and awareness-raising activities on trafficking, aimed at the actors of the penal system, including judges, prosecutors, judicial police officers, lawyers, court registrars and civil society actors. Still with relation to its report under Convention No. 29, the Government provides information on the judicial processing of offences for trafficking in persons, but the Committee observes that only one case concerns the trafficking of a minor, and that the case was dismissed. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take the necessary measures 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. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on: (i) measures taken to that effect; and (ii) the application in practice of the legislation concerning 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, with regard to the trafficking of children under 18 years of age.

Articles 3(d) and 4(1). Determination of hazardous types of work. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that implementation of the measures to protect children from hazardous work faces several challenges, including lack of information and awareness-raising among the communities and employers. In this context, the Government indicates that the Department of Labour included under its 2024–25 plan of action the diffusion of the List of Hazardous Work (contained in Ordinance No. 0066-2022 of 7 January 2022) through the organization of awareness-raising campaigns to inform the public, employers and the children themselves of the hazards associated with certain types of work and the legal protections in place. The Committee also notes that, according to the Government, the second National Action Plan for the elimination of child labour (PANETE-RIM II, 2022-2026) considers that child labour should combated more intensively at sectoral level, for example in livestock farming and dairy production, small-scale fisheries, mining and domestic work, to ensure that children are not exposed to hazardous working conditions. The Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts to prevent the employment of children in hazardous work. It requests the Government to provide information on: (i) concrete measures adopted in this regard and results obtained, including within the framework of the above-mentioned action plans; and (ii) the application in practice of Ordinance No. 0066-2022 concerning the list of hazardous work prohibited for children, in particular the number and nature of the violations identified by the labour inspection and indicating the penalties imposed in such cases.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee once again notes with regret the absence of information in response to its previous comments. It notes from the UNICEF Annual Report for 2024 that the Government has adopted the third component of its National Development Programme for the education sector (PNDSE III) 2023-2030, which aims to improve access, quality and inclusivity in education, particularly for marginalized groups, but which is encountering obstacles to its effective implementation. The Committee notes, from reading the PNDSE III, that: (1) the primary school attendance rate increased between 2016 and 2023, but that progress achieved must be viewed against early drop-outs and the high number of children excluded from the formal system (around 6 per cent of children have received no education); (2) in 2023, the primary education completion rate was at 61.2 per cent; and (3) the gross lower-secondary school attendance rate rose from 39 per cent in 2016 to 50 per cent in 2023.

The Committee notes that the CESCR, in its concluding observations of 2024, was concerned about the many challenges that remain with regard to the effective exercise of the right to education in the country, and in particular by: (1) (a) The high rates of children not enrolled in school and of drop-outs; (2) the low enrolment rate among girls and the persistent difficulties in keeping them in school; (3) the poor quality of education, which is due in part to the lack of sufficient resources and the inadequate number of teachers; (4) the lack of adequate educational infrastructure, characterized by inadequate access to drinking water and sanitary facilities; and (5) obstacles to the realization of the right to education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as child victims of slavery, migrant children and children with disabilities (E/C.12/MRT/CO/2, para. 54). Considering that access to free basic education is essential to prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue to implement the PNDSE III to improve the functioning of the education system in the country, including by increasing the lower-secondary school enrolment and completion rates. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken in this regard and on results obtained, particularly through communicating statistical information on the enrolment and completion rates for primary and secondary education, disaggregated by age and sex.

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 notes that the Government refers to the ILO Global Accelerator Lab (GALAB) project, launched in 2024, but of which the financing was interrupted, and which was to concentrate on improving working conditions, promoting prevention of forced labour, particularly in domestic work and in begging. The Committee notes that the Government provides no information on the project for the integration and education of child beggars mentioned previously. The Committee again requests the Government to intensify its efforts to remove children under 18 years of age from begging, and to rehabilitate and integrate them socially. It requests 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 (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, ill-treatment, discrimination and violence, including sexual abuse.

The Committee notes with concern that the Government once again provides no information in response to its previous comments. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective implementation of Ordinance No. 0066-2022 prohibiting the employment of children under 18 years of age as domestic workers. 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. Lastly, the Committee again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to identify and remove girls under 18 years of age 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 addressed directly to the Government.