Training
The education system is under construction, and a general
literacy campaign was launched in 1986. However, there is
still a large shortage of schools and teachers. For the
nomads, there are mobile schools that can follow along as
they move. In 1977, only 1/6 of the adult population was
literate. In 2009, this figure had almost quadrupled;
literacy among the population over 15 years was estimated at
57% (64.5% for men and 50% for women). Even among young
girls, literacy has increased significantly; the proportion
of girls in primary school is slightly higher than the
proportion of boys. Today, the six-year primary school
reaches about three-quarters of the children (76% in 2009).
After graduation, there is a four-year “lower” secondary
school and then a three-year “higher” secondary school.
University (founded 1983) is located in Nouakchott. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Mauritania.
The authorities arrested in January 2015 a prominent
opposition politician and former presidential candidate as
well as two activists who conducted a peaceful demonstration
against slavery in Mauritania. At the same time, 3 other
prominent opponents of slavery were sentenced to 2 years in
prison.
In November, the country was subject to the UN's periodic
human rights review. It accepted 136 of the Human Rights
Council's recommendations but rejected 58. Including
removing the death penalty and punishment for converting
Islam from the law. Also in November, former Colonel Oumar
Ould Beibacar was arrested at a demonstration in Nouakchott,
where he talked about the execution of officers without a
sentence in the 1990s. He was released after 6 days in jail
and remained under surveillance.
In May 2016, the Supreme Court reduced the punishment of
the two anti-slavery activists Biram Ould Dah Abeid and
Brahim Bilal and demanded them be released. They had been
incarcerated since November 2014. That same month, the
Special Tribunal for Slavery opened in Nema. It passed
judgment on two slave owners who were given 1 year
unconditional and 4 years conditional imprisonment,
respectively, and ordered to pay compensation to two female
victims.
It created controversy when Prime Minister Hademine in
June 2016 called the president of the employers' union Ahmed
Baba Ould Azizi a terrorist, "worse than al-Qaeda and IS
together".
Mauritania is one of Africa's poorest countries, yet has
one of the world's richest fishing waters in the Atlantic
off its coast. Floating fish factories from the EU and Japan
are preying on the rich resources. In addition to being a
military dictatorship that grossly suppresses human rights,
10-20% live in slavery. Together with Pakistan and Haiti, it
is the country where slavery is most prevalent.
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