COMMITTEE: THE UNITED NATIONS WOMEN

TOPIC: PROTECTING AND PROMOTING WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AFGHANISTAN:

ADDRESSING THE ONGOING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
PROGRESS
COUNTRY: MAURITANIA

Throughout the centuries women around the globe have undergone various challenges such as violence,
discrimination, segregation from political and economic decision-making processes, lack of access to
decent work, occupational segregation, gender wage gaps and lack of access to basic education and
health care among other numerous challenges which likely lead to lack of progress in women with
Afghanistan being the leading country in this context. Recently, various countries, NGOs and the UN
have come up with programmes, policies, agreements such as the UN women’s Strategic plan 2022-
2025, The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Beijing
Declaration and platform for action, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, Peace and Security
among others and standards to combat the challenges faced by women and make more and more
opportunities for the progress of women.

Women in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania have significantly influenced the country’s social,
economic, religious, political, and artistic realms. How they have done so has been affected by the
country’s nomadic past, severe droughts, history with slavery, and rapid urbanization following
independence. Women have participated in trade, influenced politics, made decisions for their families,
shaped their marriages, and contributed to religious scholarship. Mauritanian women have also
exercised significant power as compared to some of their counterparts elsewhere in the Muslim world,
being able to initiate divorce, speak publicly, and act as heads of household. Despite such influence,
their gender has also disadvantaged them, making it difficult to access many of the opportunities that
are available to men. Mauritania has had a dark history when it comes to the rights of women. The
women in our country used and are still going through various challenges a few of them being:
 Lack of access to education; Education in Mauritania was strongly influenced by the French
educational system. Girls' education is still valued less than boys', and women's literacy rate (age
15 and over) is lower than that of men: in 2015, the female literacy rate was 41.6%, compared
to the male rate of 62.6%
 Female genital mutilation; Female genital mutilation has been prevalent in Mauritania. 71% of
all women aged between 15 and 49 had undergone FGM in 2001. A 2007 demographic cluster
study found no change in FGM prevalence rate in Mauritania, this is so because about 57% of
Mauritania women believe FGM is a religious requirement.
 Slavery; Mauritania abolished slavery in 1981 and criminalized it in 2007. However, adults and
children from traditional slave castes in the Haratine and Afro-Mauritanian communities remain
exposed to hereditary slavery practices such as forced labor without pay as domestic servants or
 farm laborers; the OECD reports women and girls from these communities are vulnerable to
sexual violence and rape.
Despite all this, we are collaborating with various NGOs; and the UN; UN Women to fight for the rights
of women in the country even though it is at a slow rate, and by doing so we are encouraging countries
such as Afghanistan to follow our footsteps.
In order to protect and promote women’s rights in Afghanistan as well as to address the ongoing
challenges and opportunities for progress various actions are taken, a few of them being;

1. Fighting violence against women by putting up agreements and policies; woman’s right to live
free from violence is upheld by international agreements such as the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the 1993 UN Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women.
2. Supporting and fostering of peace and security; War, violent conflict, terrorism and violent
extremism have differential and devastating consequences for women and girls. A good
example is Afghanistan where war has caused increase in challenges of women.
3. Developing better humanitarian action; In humanitarian coordination spaces, UN Women has
promoted gender-responsive humanitarian action through the Inter-Agency Standing
Committee (IASC), the highest-level humanitarian coordination forum in the UN system,
including by development of the IASC Gender Policy and an accompanying monitoring
mechanism on Gender Accountability Framework. UN Women also leads the IASC Reference
Group on Gender and Humanitarian Action.
4. Enhancing of governance and national planning by the various countries; various agencies
advocate transparent and adequate public financing for gender equality, including through the
adoption of gender-responsive budgets that channel adequate resources to both women and
men. Engagement with gender equality advocates helps strengthen their skills to influence
public decision-making and hold governments accountable. At the UN General Assembly, the UN
Commission on the Status of Women and elsewhere, we play central roles in supporting a
stronger normative framework for financing for gender equality, and strengthened public sector
capacity and accountability.
5. Economic empowerment; Many international commitments support women’s economic
empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women and a series of International Labour Organization
conventions on gender equality. UN Women supports women’s economic empowerment in line
with these, and with the growing body of evidence that shows that gender equality significantly
contributes to advancing economies and sustainable development.

Reference
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/peace-and-security
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/humanitarian-action
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/governance-and-national-planning
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/2030-agenda-for-sustainable-development
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation