81272224-Elaboration d'une approche participative et d'outils innovants de sensibilisation sur les droits humains en Mauritanie

Mauritania has now enshrined in law the main African agreements on human rights, along with the United Nations' nine core human rights treaties, albeit with certain reservations based on Sharia. The country is also making considerable efforts to embed these international commitments in its national legislation, political strategies and policy guidelines. Mauritanian-German cooperation supports the efforts of state and civil society actors to implement and enforce these enshrined rights. The GIZ project ‘Promotion of human rights and human rights dialogue’, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), started its work in 2015 and is currently foreseen to run until February 2023. It aims to educate people about their rights, develop the capacity of key institutions to protect human rights, promote public dialogue on human rights and improve access to the law. Its overall objective is to improve the conditions for the realisation of human rights. The project comprises four complementary fields of activity: Working with its partner organisations, the project educates the Mauritanian population, especially women and young people in rural areas, about their human rights. The aim is to use information and education initiatives to increase the population's resolve to demand respect, protection and the realisation of their rights. To this end, the project advises state and non-state actors on developing and implementing culturally sensitive awareness-raising measures. Furthermore, the project provides specialist and organisational consultancy to equip state and non-state actors, for example the National Human Rights Commission or different human rights platforms, to carry out their mandate more effectively. The project's technical assistant works directly with a civil society network on its capacity development. Dialogue forums are also being organised to bring together civil society actors, religious leaders and policymakers. The aim is to develop joint strategies in response to current challenges to human rights. The project strengthens the role of the media and promotes public debate on human rights. Journalists receive training to improve their skills, support their work and reinforce their commitment to report on human rights issues. Another focus is on working with young people, showing them how to use journalistic tools and social media to make their voices and the voices of other young people heard. Recognised members of the community receive training as paralegals in order to improve access to legal advice in rural areas. In the event of human rights violations, they can provide information, mediate between those involved in a conflict or refer them to the appropriate authorities. Civil society organisations oversee the work of these paralegals to ensure that the advice they offer is of the right quality. As a result of the project's activities in the regions of Assaba and Gorgol, as well as in Nouakchott, more than 49,000 women, men and young people have learned about various human rights issues. 77 per cent say they now have a clearer knowledge of their rights. 41 journalists from Nouakchott and two provinces in the interior of the country took part in a series of further training courses. On completion, they were supported in publishing reports or articles on human rights in national media or online. More than 140 young people learned how to produce reports on human rights issues using their smartphones and to publish them online. 80 paralegals have so far been trained. In total, around 3,300 people have been advised, nearly 92 per cent of whom found the advice helpful. The project is part of a special initiative designed to stabilise and promote development in North Africa and the Middle East run by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).