On Tuesday, January 28, a group of unemployed young people organized a demonstration in front of Mauritanian prime ministry in Nouakchott. They demanded the government to provide the unemployed with job opportunities, especially those with degrees. Protesters also denounced favouritism in public assignments and official selection processes currently organized by the government.
As reported by “Alaraby Aljadid”, the demonstration that was organized by the “Enough Unemployment” movement included participants who are higher education graduates from fields such as: Engineering, economics, IT and literature, who have been unemployed for years. According to the same source, protesters chanted slogans demanding immediate employment and called on the government to take serious steps to reduce unemployment.
Protesters denounced the marginalisation and favouritism policies as well as the widespread corruption. They raised slogans such as: “Enough Unemployment” and “We want our right to employment”. They also stressed the fact their protest activities will continue until their employment demands are met.
“Alaraby Aljadid” website also mentioned that the last 2018 International Labor Organization report confirmed that the unemployment rate in Mauritania stands at 31 %, while the latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics on the situation of unemployment and the unclassified sector indicates that the current unemployment rate in Mauritania could be estimated at 11.6 %.
The same website added that the difference between official statistics and those made by international organizations is due to the nature of approaches used in conducting surveys.
For instance, some surveys consider those working for one hour a day or one day a week as ineligible to be considered unemployed.
Protesters demanded the authorities to stop underestimating the issue of unemployment as real life data confirms that the majority of Mauritanian youth are suffering from unemployment.
They also called on official authorities to adopt transparency measures in official employment competitions and to conduct a comprehensive survey on the level of unemployment, which could be relied upon in setting the economic policies of the country.
Participants in the demonstration also demanded the merging of all employment programs into one body that would be charged with developing and implementing the state’s general policy in the field of employment.
#Mauritania #Unemployment #Protest #Demonstration
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