Minister of Public Service at the International Labor Conference: Mauritania is committed to improving workers’ Conditions and Promoting Social Justice
Geneva
The Minister of Public Service and Labor, Mr. Mohamed Ould Soueidat, participated in the 113th session of the International Labor Conference (ILC), held in Geneva, Switzerland.
In his speech to the participants, he stressed the commitment of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to improve the conditions of workers and promote social justice, in implementation of the vision of H.E. President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, which aims to build a cohesive and solidarity society.
The Minister reviewed the most prominent reforms achieved by Mauritania in recent years, such as the unprecedented 50% increase in the minimum wage, doubling the pensions of pensioners, improving the conditions of access to social security, raising the ceiling of contributions by 110%, establishing a national advisory council and advisory committees at the level of institutions, and expanding the services of the National Office of Labor Medicine to cover all institutions throughout the national territory.
He added that these reforms included activating the National Council for Social Dialogue as a permanent platform for consultation on wage policies and protection of rights, launching a process to determine trade union representation, reviewing labor legislation to align it with international standards, and increasing financial support for trade union organizations by 150%.
He said that as part of the ongoing efforts to improve the living conditions of workers, public forums for social protection are currently being prepared through a number of studies, mainly revising the minimum wage, improving pensions in the public sector, modernizing the pension fund for employees to ensure its financial sustainability and adapt it to demographic and economic changes, modernizing the social security system, developing services provided to beneficiaries by digitizing procedures and expanding coverage, diagnosing the reality of occupational health and safety, developing a national policy to improve the work environment and raise the level of occupational safety, as well as updating the load data
The Minister of Public Service and Labor spoke about the important steps taken by Mauritania to regulate migration and transform it from a random phenomenon into a developmental opportunity that serves the individual and society by strengthening bilateral and regional agreements to regulate labor flows and protect the rights of migrants, launching reintegration programs for returnees, providing decent job opportunities for them in the most affected areas, and modernizing judicial systems to fight human trafficking networks.
The Minister stressed that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires global solidarity, which our country seeks to contribute positively through active participation in global summits to exchange experiences on facing the effects of digital and climate change on the labor market, calling for support for international funding initiatives for social protection programs due to their critical importance in development and the promotion of workers’ basic rights and principles.
He added that our country’s next strategy will focus on building an economy based on efficiency and justice, by reforming the vocational training system through training in emerging digital and industrial skills, organizing the unclassified sector and transforming it into an organized economy in partnership with the private sector and social partners, and promoting economic inclusion by empowering women and youth through financing small projects and improving credit opportunities.
The Minister expressed Mauritania’s solidarity with Palestinian workers and support for their legitimate struggle to achieve all their rights to decent work and decent living under their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
He also expressed his sincere thanks to ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo for the robust report presented on the occasion of this session, which dealt in depth and sober analysis with the accelerating interlinkages between jobs and rights, economic growth and technological progress, demographic shifts, climate change and trade dynamics, as well as the fundamental issues it raised regarding social actors, power balances, and institutional frameworks, considering these insights of great importance in guiding future policies and strengthening the collective response to the challenges of the era.