Improving labor statistics as part of the roadmap towards full and productive employment and decent work

Mauritania faces significant decent work deficits, particularly in its informal economy, where a number of workers find themselves in employment relationships exposed to the risk of abuse or forced labor. Updated relevant quantitative data of child labour and forced labour is missing. To address these challenges, this project guides the Mauritanian Labor Administration (MFPT), the General Direction on Employment (MEFP) and the National Statistics Office (ANSADE) in developing innovative statistical add-on modules on child labor and eventually forced labor for the National Survey on Employment and the Informal Sector (ENESI). The project’s goal is to identify and understand decent work deficits in Mauritania, including labor relations at risk of forced labor, by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating reliable statistical information in partnership with ANSADE. The project aims to help the Mauritanian government, alongside employers' and workers' organizations, to identify root causes and risk factors, assess impacts on the informal economy, and propose systemic changes for effective policy responses within the Decent Work Country Program framework. The project has three key objectives: Objective 1: Build consensus among Mauritanian experts and tripartite stakeholders to establish national priorities for data collection, in terms of concepts, statistical definitions and methods for improving Labor statistics, adapted to specific national circumstances, in particular the characteristics of Labor relations and the informal economy in Mauritania. Objective 2: Support the national statistical office ANSADE to implement a Labor force survey with an add-on module relative to statistics on child labour based on the agreed priorities, concepts and updated indicator frameworks, and building on the standardized household-based national survey instrument “National Survey on Employment and the Informal Sector ENESI”. Objective 3: Based on the statistical information, develop a strategic plan through social dialogue including the Mauritanian labor inspection and support an intervention focusing on a region, a sector, and those trades with higher risk of forced labor, through an enhanced collaboration with workers’ and employers’ organizations and other relevant stakeholders. The project is funded by the US Embassy in Mauritania, Africa Regional Democracy Fund (ARDF). It builds on previous U.S.-funded efforts, such as the the United States Department of Labor (DOL) Bridge project and two projects of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs (DRL) within the United States Department of State. It also aligns with the outcomes of the African Development Bank's “Support for the Finalization of the National Employment Policy” project (2015–2019), which aimed to establish a sustainable labor statistics system. Additionally, it contributes to the ongoing US Embassy ARDF-funded project (2023–2025) for labor inspection capacity building.

Project symbol

MRT/24/03/USA

Admin unit

CO-Algiers

Start date

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End date

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Total allocation

269024

Total expenditure

Status

Active

143590

Development Partners

USA, Department of State

Country/Countries

Mauritania

Outcomes

Outcome 1: Strong, modernized normative action for social justice