Building the labour inspectorate capacity to promote compliance with Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

The Government of Mauritania ratified the ILO governance Convention on Labour Inspection and is therefore bound to uphold the principles defined in this Convention in law and practice. Nonetheless, several issues make compliance with Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) difficult. For instance, employing forced labour is by nature a crime often occurring in the context of hidden and informal activities. The overwhelming prevalence of child labour is also outside traditional employment relationships, in the context of family-based undertakings, domestic work, in agriculture, small- scale mining and in generally informal settings, where labour inspection has limited capacity. In addition, many forced labour violations occur in workplaces difficult to reach for the labour inspectorate such as private homes, small-scale agriculture, at sea, or involve international and cross-border operations, requiring cooperation among different national and transnational institutions. In addition, violations are embedded in traditionally accepted practices, such as some systems of debt bondage or child marriage, making the advocacy for change, the legal coverage and the enforcement of relevant provisions even more challenging. Also, the involvement of the judicial authorities is often very inadequate and does not facilitate the enforcement of labour inspectors' coercive powers, with the result that employers' infringements fail to lead to sanctions, thus undermining labour law. Last, employers and workers’ organizations often have a misconception of the role of the labour inspectorate and do not fully collaborate to promote compliance with FPRW. In July 2023, the ILO conducted a tripartite workshop in Nouakchott aimed at discussing the role of labour inspection and its added value to improve workplace compliance and worker protection. The ILO also presented the integration of a safe and healthy working environment as the fifth Fundamental Principle and Right at Work. Using this activity as a starting point, the proposed Project will enhance the labour inspectorate capacity to promote compliance with Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work through three main interrelated pillars: 1. strengthening the government and social partners understanding and acceptance of the role of the labour inspectorate to promote the realization of FPRW; 2. Building the capacity of the labour inspectorate to develop and implement evidence-based strategies; 3. supporting the roll out of an inspection campaign in pilot sectors/regions. It is expected that following this pilot, the labour inspectorate and social partners will be stronger advocate for the promotion of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work leading to an increase in compliance with labour laws in Mauritania.

Project symbol

MRT/23/02/USA

Admin unit

CO-Algiers

Start date

29/09/2023

End date

31/03/2025

Total allocation

130236

Total expenditure

Status

Active

130236

Development Partners

USA, Department of State

Country/Countries

Mauritania

Outcomes

Outcome 2: Strong, representative and influential tripartite constituents and effective social dialogue