Lesson-101355-6

Governments need to be ready to acknowledge that a problem (forced labor) exists if it is expected to collaborate on interventions designed to address the problem. Mauritanian society remains attached to traditional values and practices, distinguishing people according to their ancestry whether free or servile. Descent-based slavery, where people are born into slavery - lawful in ancient Islamic law - is rejected by the Constitution and punished by national laws. Nevertheless, many people, including politicians and government officials, have deeply entrenched attitudes about traditional slavery that has made collaboration with the Bridge project difficult.