Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review: Mauritania

Published: 9/Jul/2020
Source: Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion

UPR 37th Session; 3rd Cycle; January/February 2021

Joint submission by:

Association des femmes chefs de Famille
Anti-slavery International
Minority Rights Group International
Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights
Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion


Based on the above information, the co-submitting organisations urge reviewing States to make the following recommendations to Mauritania:

I.Amend nationality law provisions that discriminate on the basis of gender to ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights to confer nationality, in particular to ensure that Mauritanian women are able to confer nationality on children born abroad and spouses on the same basis with men;

II.Amend nationality laws to ensure every child’s right to a nationality, including by introducing a comprehensive safeguard against statelessness, where the parents may themselves be stateless or unable to pass on their nationality to the child;

III.Ensure that all children born in Mauritania are registered at birth by providing access to birth registration without discrimination; and enact reforms to guarantee each parent’s independent and autonomous right to obtain a birth certificate for their child regardless of the parent’s sex or marital status;

IV.Review legislation to eliminate legal obstacles inhibiting access to civil documents required to obtain birth certificates, and to facilitate access to birth certificates for children born to asylum seekers, refugees, those in slavery or to former slaves and those lacking civil documents, as well as minority and marginalised communities;

V.Facilitate registration procedures for former slaves and returnees from Senegal and Mali, to ensure their right to nationality is protected;

VI.Accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;

VII.Provide valid residency documents and access to fundamental rights to protracted refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia who reside in Mauritania;

VIII.Implement social assistance and administrative assistance programmes for minority and refugee communities, particularly in rural areas of the country.

IX.Facilitate access to decent housing for populations with precarious incomes or without fixed incomes.

X.Promote an inclusive approach towards civil society in identifying, programming and helping the vulnerable, including in particular the victims slavery and former slaves.

Download submission from Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion:

Themes: Acquisition of nationality, International standards, Discrimination, Ethnic/Racial/Religious, Gender, Birth Registration, ID Documents and Passports, Loss and Deprivation of Nationality, Nationality and Refugees, Statelessness
Regions: Mauritania
Year: 2020