OBSERVATORY OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA

OBSERVATORY OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF MAURITANIA

Mauritania, in its Constitution, is defined as an Islamist, indivisible, democratic and social republic. It is based on the Constitution of 1991. Islam is the official religion of the country, and Arabic its official language; French is one of the administrative languages. The President of the Republic has executive power. He is elected for a 5 year mandate by direct universal suffrage. He designates his Prime Minister, who then designates its government. The Parliament, which has legislative powers, includes two houses: the National Assembly, where representatives are elected for a 5 year mandate by direct suffrage, and the Senate, where representatives are elected by indirect suffrage for a six year mandate. ////////////////////////////// OVERVIEW OF DECENTRALISATION A decentralisation limited to the municipal level In Mauritania, decentralisation mainly rests on municipalities, which are the only decentralised level. Mauritanian decentralisation is relatively new, with the state opting for centralisation at independence. According to Title X of the Constitution on local authorities, "The territorial districts are the municipalities as well as other entities that the law designates as such. These districts are administered by councils, elected under the conditions established by law." From 2008, a draft legislation on the code of territorial authorities was developed. This draft legislation reforms Mauritanian administration by giving decentralisation a more important place: Wilayas and groups of territorial authorities have legal personality and are financially independent. This draft legislation hasn't been implemented yet: it is still with the Parliament. Therefore, municipal administration is still regulated by Ordinance No 87-289 of the 20th of October 1987, repealing and replacing the Ordinance of the 13th of August 1986, establishing municipalities. Therefore, the 216 municipalities have legal personality and are financially independent. These are administered by municipal councillors elected by direct universal suffrage. Municipalities have the duty to provide public services to fulfil the needs of the local population, including: - Local road network - Construction, maintenance and equipment of school buildings dedicated to basic education - Construction, maintenance and equipment of clinics and centres for the care of mothers and infants - Water supply and street lighting - Urban, medical and school transportation - Hygiene - Domestic waste removal In this regard, their budget is made up of duties, rates, taxes, revenues, donations and legacies, and rates and taxes for service rendered. Two state funds also contribute to the budget of local governments: the Regional Development Fund and the Communal Solidarity Fund. 1

ADMINISTRATION OF MUNICIPALITIES MUNICIPAL COUNCIL Deliberating body of municipalities Elected by direct suffrage MAYOR Municipality executive power Elected by the municipal council among the councillors of the list which received the highest The municipal council manages municipal affairs and especially exercises the following powers : - Municipal budget vote, administrative and management account review and approval - Municipal resources assessment - Drawing up of implementation conditions for development actions when it is necessary to coordinate municipal and state action - Decision to establish, organise and manage municipal public services - Manage fiscal affairs within its powers - Advice on all affairs of local interest, when this advice is required by law or requested by the supervisory authority. The mayor is in charge of implementing municipal council's deliberations : - Prepares and implements the budget of the municipality he is liable for - Draws up the administrative account - Draws up municipal levies, taxes and fees - Maintains and manages assets of the municipal private and public domain Approval by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finances with regard to : - Municipal budget - Loans to be contracted, guarantees to be approved - Acceptance or rejection of donations or legacies including charges or special acceptance - Setting, within the framework of existing laws and regulations of the collected rate, fees and duties mode on behalf of the municipality Approval by the Ministry of the Interior : - Transactions exceeding a rate to be set by joint decision of the Ministers of the Interior and Finances. - Global road network, construction and hygiene regulations within the framework of existing laws and regulations - Rules of procedure of the municipal council The Urban Community of Nouakchott: a specific status Since Law 2001-51 of 19th of July 2001, Nouakchott (considered as a Wilaya) is established as an urban community and divided into 9 municipalities. Its President is elected from among the 37 municipal councillors (from the 9 municipalities, the number of councillors being proportional to the number of inhabitants, their political stripes being proportional to the number of votes gathered by the list of the candidate mayor), including the 9 mayors of the member municipalities, upon presentation of the party gathering the highest number of seats during the election of municipal councils. Reform projects in favour of a stronger decentralisation Besides the powers entrusted to municipalities, Mauritanian administration has been subjected to reforms in favour of a more advanced decentralisation. Therefore, this applies to the General Directorate of Local Governments within the Ministry of the Interior, as well as the Ministry of Decentralization and Land Management. This was dissolved in 2008 following the coup d'etat. Despite reinstating the pre-2008 constitutional order from 2009, and statements in favour of a stronger decentralisation ( 2010 policy statement decentralisation and local development), status quo in Mauritania has been maintained: municipalities are the only decentralised territorial level, and other Mauritanian territorial bodies (13 Wilayas and 52 Moughataas) are de-concentrated bodies. 2

In practice, decentralisation is seldom implemented While decentralisation is entrenched in the Mauritanian Constitution, implementation is limited. According to the Mauritanian Mayor's Association, the central state is still very present, and especially intervenes in areas supposedly under municipalities' jurisdiction. Also, the control of power by the Ministry of the Interior being substantial, there are some barriers to the powers of local elected representatives. As an example, municipalities are not the owners and/or (co)managers of the land. Therefore, their land planning policy is subjected to the will of the central public power. Also, according to the report on Assessing the Institutional Environment of Local Authorities in Africa, produced by Cities Alliance and UCLG Africa, only 4% of all investments on the territory of municipalities. And with the framework of the powers given to them, go through municipal channels. As a consequence, central administrations and their de-concentrated services implement 90% of local public expenditure. Inter-municipal cooperation: important exchanges that are not institutionalised? The draft legislation on the Code of Territorial Authorities includes a chapter on cooperation between territorial authorities (Chapter VII). According to the Code, territorial authorities could initiate cooperation relationships with each other, as well as decentralised international cooperation. Public interest grouping could be established between territorial authorities, the state, and public corporations or any natural or legal person in view of a public use work or service, or in view of ensuring promotion and coordination of development actions in specific areas. Such public interest groups would have legal personality. Since this legislation hasn't yet been implemented, and the Ordinance establishing municipalities (1987) don't make reference to municipal cooperation, these are not governed by law. For its part the Mauritanian Mayor's Association (AMM) established in 1987 gathers decentralised territorial authorities, with the following objectives: - Foster a fruitful exchange between its members and foster international solidarity - Be used as a forum for discussion between municipalities, inter-municipal cooperation structures and public authorities - Promote a good representation of Mauritanian municipalities and inter-municipal cooperation structures on a national and international level - Foster collaboration with national or international organisations sharing the same objectives - Support all the projects aiming at improving the development of municipalities An old decentralised cooperation and multiple partners Decentralised cooperation has been in operation for a number of years in Mauritania. According to AMM, twinnings existed before 1986 as has the implementation of municipalities as a decentralised level. Today, there are numerous decentralised cooperation efforts. In particular, there are a lot of partnerships between French and Mauritanian authorities (63 decentralised cooperation projects are listed by the French Atlas of Decentralised Cooperation). Also, AMM is in partnership with various organisations, including the Mayor's Associations of Mali and Congo, the Association of French Mayors, as well as United Cities and Local Governments Africa. 3

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////// CIVIL SOCIETY A strong momentum, with little relay by authorities According to the various studies on Mauritanian civil society, civil society is characterised by its strong vitality, sometimes challenged by poor consideration by the authorities. Mauritanian civil society is indeed characterised by an important momentum for a few years now, especially in terms of the associative sector and NGOs. Thanks to the strong mobilisation of women, these are increasingly visible. Women's claims especially lead to proclamation of new rights in the political arena, and their participation in the country's institutional life is made stronger by the newly implemented quotas. However, despite a great number of stakeholders, civil society doesn't have the expected impact on the country's development. This can be explained by limited means on the one hand, and by a poor relay by local and national powers on the other hand. Women in Mauritania: influential stakeholders and new rights Ordinance 2006-029 of the 22 August 2006 on the organic law concerning promotion of women's access to electoral mandates and electoral functions introduced new quotas regarding women's representation in administrative bodies. 20% (minimum) of municipal seats are reserved for them since then. Parliamentary houses also need to comply with the quotas specified in the Ordinance. For lack of having obtained equality guaranteed by law, women still demand a stronger representation in the political sphere. They now demand a 33% quota within municipal councils and Parliament. The new government that came into power in February 2014, includes six female ministers, a first in the history of the country. Also, the election of the previous female Minister of Public Service and Administration Modernisation, and head of the Nouakchott Urban Community in 2014, also testifies to the rise of women in Mauritanian political life. Mauritanian youth: between a high unemployment rate and difficult professional insertion Mauritanian youth suffers from a high unemployment rate (40% according to IMF): over half of the youth under 25 (60% of the population) is jobless according to the 2014 report on Social and professional integration of the youth in Sub-Saharan Africa published by the French Committee for International Solidarity (CFSI). Among these youth, women are the most affected. The quality of education received, the lack of training and professional integration structures as well as the lack of adequacy between trainings and company's needs are the major causes of this high unemployment rate. This is the reason why the improvement of the quality of training and a better understanding of companies needs, are the two main objectives of the Ministry of Employment, Professional Training and New Technologies. Since 2004, the GRET also conducted professional training activities in three areas of the Urban Community of Nouakchott within the framework of the "CAP Insertion" project. The objective of this project is to help the youth to get training and to try to build relationships between them and companies, or institutions offering employment. It has now been taken over by the State and the Urban Community of Nouakchott. 4

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////// PROSPECTS Mauritania experienced a number of evolutions in favour of decentralisation of the last 20 years. In 2007, the country was geared towards more advance decentralisation projects, with levels that were, until now, de-concentrated. These projects have been suspended by the 2008 coup d'etat. As early as 2010, the will to deepen decentralisation was reasserted by the government statement on decentralisation and local development of the 22nd of April and the draft legislation on the Code of Territorial Authorities. However, this law hasn't yet been implemented, making it challenging to put these changes into practice. The increase in the number of associations and organisations testifies to the strong will of political involvement by society, within which women show a strong vitality. However, the relay by authorities is relatively poor, and as a consequence, civil society has a poor impact on the country's development despite strong mobilisation efforts. This being said, authorities are concerned by the high youth unemployment rate and challenges associated with training and professional integration. These are indeed the two main areas of work for the Ministry of Employment, Professional Training and New Technologies, allocating 12% of its budget to these efforts. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////// BIBLIOGRAPHY Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, 1991 Ordinance No 87-289 of 20 October 1987 repealing and replacing the Ordinance of the 13th of August 1986 establishing municipalities Policy statement decentralisation and local development, adopted by the government on the 22 April 2010 Draft legislation on the code of territorial authorities, 2008 Ordinance 2006-029 of the 22 August 2006 on the organic law concerning promotion of women's access to electoral mandates and electoral functions Law 2001-51 of 19 July 2001, on the establishment of the Urban Community of Nouakchott Study on the national legal framework in Maghreb countries, «Mauritanie», AIMF, 2014 White book on decentralisation in Mauritania, 2009 Assessing the Institutional Environment of Local Authorities in Africa, Cities Alliance and UCLG Africa, September 2013 Atlas français de la coopération décentralisée et des autres actions extérieures, and Bourse projets de la coopération décentralisée, Mauritanie https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/cncdext/dyn/public/atlas/rechercheatlasmonde.html?criteres.paysid48&crit eres.souscontinentid=14&criteres.continentid=2 General Directorate of Mauritanian Territorial Authorities (DGCT) website http://www.dgct.mr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86&itemid=96 5

Mauritanian Mayor's Association (AMM) website http://www.amm.mr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113:note-sur-lassociation-des-mair es-de-mauritanie-amm&catid=1:actus&itemid=2 United Cities France: Documents concernant la coopération décentralisée franco-mauritanienne http://www.cites-unies-france.org/spip.php?rubrique60 Insertion sociale et professionnelle des jeunes en Afrique subsaharienne, Capitalisation de deux initiatives non gouvernementales en Mauritanie et au Mozambique, Rapport of the French Committee for International Solidarity, April 2013 Mauritania Social Forum, December 2007http://www.liberationafrique.org/imprimersans.php3?id_article=2018&nom_site=Lib%E9ration%20Afr ique&url_site=http://www.liberationafrique.org «Chômage : quel avenir pour les jeunes en Mauritanie?» 13 February 2014, Mauritanievoxhttp://mauritanievox.com/chomage-mauritanie/ "Lancement d un nouveau projet de formation professionnelle en Mauritanie" B. Guèye, Magharebia, 09 November 2011, http://magharebia.com/fr/articles/awi/features/2011/11/09/feature-03 "Mauritanie : les femmes politiques se mobilisent pour plus de représentativité", J. Spiegel, Jeune Afrique, 2 August 2012, http://www.jeuneafrique.com/article/ja2689p054-055-bis.xml0/ "Mauritanie : un nouveau gouvernement plus féminin", Jeune Afrique, 13 February 2014 http://www.jeuneafrique.com/article/artjaweb20140213090351/ 6