Haratines in Mauritania are deprived of their respect, dignity, and rights and oppressed by an historic system of slavery. Although Mauritania is a signatory to many international agreements, these have had scant impact on the lives of Haratine communities. Female Haratines face discrimination both as members of the ‘slave caste’ and because they are women.

Our grant to Minority Rights Group International seeks to achieve systematic change for the Haratine community by supporting the organisations working with and on behalf of this community in their efforts to end impunity around slavery. The project also seeks to generate knowledge and understanding about how supporting frontline organisations in their litigation and advocacy efforts can actually lead to positive changes for the affected community.

A report that analyses the effectiveness of the project activities in securing an end to slavery in Mauritania will be published in December 2016.