Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

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

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 International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), according to which the Ministry of Labour authorized, without exception, 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. However, the Committee noted that, according to the study undertaken by the Government in 2004 in collaboration with UNICEF, entitled “Child Labour in Mauritania”, around 90,000 children under 14 years of age work in the country, signifying an increase of around one third over four years. The study shows that poverty is responsible for child labour. The Committee noted 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 to establish remedial courses for children who have never been to, or have dropped out of, school.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government to the effect that one of the methods to ensure the abolition of child labour is the adoption of Act No. 2001-054 of 19 July 2001, making basic education compulsory for children of both sexes from 6 to 14 years of age, signifying a minimum duration of schooling of six years. It also notes that, according to the Government, parents are now required, under penalty of penal sanctions, to send children aged between 6 and 14 years to school. The Committee also notes that, in its second periodic report submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in July 2008 (CRC/C/MRT/2, paragraphs 165–167), the Government indicates that there have been significant improvements over the past two decades in basic and secondary education as a result, among other measures, of the National Programme for the Development of the Education Sector, 2001–10 (National Ten-year Programme), the principal components of which include the reduction of regional disparities and the improvement of girls’ enrolment. Indeed, the Government’s total expenditure on education is increasing every year: between 2000 and 2004, there was a rise of one third in spending on education and basic education as a percentage of GDP, and an increase of 2.7 per cent in the investment budget for education (CRC/C/MRT/2, paragraphs 184 and 185). However, despite these efforts, “the capacity of the education system to look after, educate and train children remains a concern” (CRC/C/MRT/2, paragraph 174). In this respect, the Committee notes that the rate of transition from basic to secondary school is only 38.8 per cent for girls and 43.3 per cent for boys (CRC/C/MRT/2, paragraph 177). In this respect, the Committee notes that the Government is “endeavouring to find responses to the demands of young people who have been unable to complete their general education by offering them alternative means to continue their studies, find jobs and avoid marginalization and a precarious existence” (CRC/C/MRT/2, paragraph 194).

The Committee notes that, according to the Statistics in Brief 2006 of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 82 per cent of girls and 78 per cent of boys are in primary school, whereas only 15 per cent of girls and 16 per cent of boys are in secondary school. Despite the efforts and progress made by the Government, the Committee once again expresses deep concern at the persistence of low school attendance rates. It observes once again that poverty is one of the prime causes of child labour and, when combined with a deficient education system, hampers children’s development. Considering 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 secondary school attendance rate, especially among girls. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved. It also asks the Government to step up its efforts to combat child labour by reinforcing the measures to enable working children to be integrated into the school system, whether formal or informal, or in apprenticeships or vocational training, on condition that the minimum age requirements are respected, and to provide information in this respect.

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