In partnership with the European Union and the Mauritanian government, the International Labour Office (ILO), as the permanent secretariat of the International Labour Organisation, is developing decent work promotion programmes in Mauritania to increase employment opportunities for the poorest youth and refugee populations or those who have dropped out of school.

These programmes aim to promote vocational training, develop the private sector, create decent employment opportunities and improve worker protection in two key sectors of the Mauritanian economy: construction and public works and artisanal fishing.

This work is also backed by the French Development Agency to extend the methodology to other regions of the country. In addition, it is supported by the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM), in partnership with UNHCR, to address the needs of Malian refugees and host populations in the east of the country.