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On January 21, Ambassador Larry André hosted a lunch in honor of, Fatimata M’baye, the 2016 Mauritanian Woman of Courage Award winner, and a nominee for the United States Department of State International Woman of Courage Award.
M’baye was Mauritania’s first ever female attorney and she is the president of local human rights NGO Association Mauritanienne des Droits de l’Homme. She has spent her career courageously for advocating and defending human rights, equality, and justice in Mauritania.
The lunch was attended by notable leaders from Mauritanian civil society, especially women and human rights leaders, and is a part of the American Embassy’s on-going efforts to engage in a dialogue with government and civil-society on shared priorities.
source/content: mr.usembassy.gov / US Embassy in Mauritania (headline edited)
Al-Qasimi Hall at the Council of the Arabic Language in Mauritania hosted a scientific symposium entitled “Feature of verbal harmony in the construction of the Qur’anic surah: an authentic pause,” in which Dr. Muhammad Safi Al-Mustaghanemi, Secretary-General of the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah, spoke via video communication technology, in the presence of Dr. Allah Al-Washmi, President of the King Salman International Academy for the Arabic Language, and an elite group of scholars, researchers and linguists, and it was moderated by Dr. Al-Bakai Abdel Malik, Secretary-General of the Council of the Arabic Language in Mauritania.
Dr. Khalil Al-Nahwi, Chairman of the Arabic Language Council, said that the Council recently launched the “Hadith Al-Tayef” program as part of its research and scientific initiatives with the aim of hosting an elite group of scholars and researchers through audio-visual communication technology from various parts of the world, and Dr. Ahmed Safi Al-Mustaghanemi was chosen, who represents the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah – the Knowledge Edifice. The main partner of the Arab Linguistics Council, he will be the first guest to lecture in this pioneering scientific program.
Mosteghanemi highlighted the unique characteristics that distinguish the surahs of the Holy Qur’an, pointing to the wonderful harmony and precise linguistic organization that reflects unparalleled precision and miracle. He explained that each surah in the Holy Qur’an follows its own axis while adopting studied linguistic choices that are in harmony with this axis.
Al-Mustaghanemi provided illustrative examples from the Holy Qur’an, such as Surat Al-Naba’ and Surat Al-Nazi’at, to highlight these features, noting that linguistic harmony is not limited to the vocabulary of each surah and its focus, but extends to include the relationship between the conclusion of the surah and the opening of the surah that follows it, which is what the scholars of interpretation have confirmed in their previous studies, in addition to the connection between the surahs. Different types that share similar vocabulary, structures, or stories.
The Academy will nurture the development of the language in Mauritania and beyond, bringing together an elite group of scholars dedicated to the cause.
The new headquarters of the Arabic Language Council in Nouakchott, Mauritania, was inaugurated on Monday under the patronage of Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, and through the contribution of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and Supreme President of the Arabic Language Academy (ALA) in Sharjah.
Development of the Arabic language
Ahmed Sid Ahmed Dié, Mauritanian Minister of Culture, Youth, Sports and Relations with Parliament, presided over the ceremony, expressing gratitude for the generous contribution from Sheikh Dr. Sultan. The Academy in Mauritania will nurture the development of the Arabic language in Mauritania and beyond, bringing together an elite group of scholars dedicated to this noble cause.
The ceremony was also attended by several senior diplomatic and media figures, as well as heads of Arab language academies.
During the event, Mohamed Hassan Khalaf, an ALA Board of Trustees member and Director-General of the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority, conveyed a message to the community of linguists and researchers in Mauritania from the Ruler of Sharjah. He also spoke about the importance of supporting major scientific projects and continuous efforts to empower the Arabic language in various countries worldwide, highlighting the strong relationship between the UAE and the Mauritania.
Championing Islamic and Arabic culture
Ahmed Sid Ahmed Dié presented a commemorative shield to the Ruler of Sharjah, and was received by Mohamed Hassan Khalaf in appreciation of Sheikh Dr. Sultan’s efforts in championing Islamic and Arabic culture and language, in various countries around the world.
Dr. Khalil Al Nahwi, Chairman of the Arabic Language Council in Mauritania, delivered a speech congratulating the attendees, the entire Mauritanian population and all guardians of the Arabic language. He also reviewed the council’’s achievements over the past five years, praising the support it receives directly from the Ruler of Sharjah and the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah.
Ahmed Sid Ahmed Dié, along with Mohamed Hassan Khalaf and Dr. Mohamed Safi Al Mosteghanemi, Secretary-General of ALA, unveiled a commemorative plaque marking the opening of the building before the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon, and was followed by a tour of the impressive building, designed in the Mauritanian architectural style.
Built with eco-friendly materials, the new headquarters consists of two floors and includes several administrative offices, study halls, meeting rooms, and an expansive library. The main building is accompanied by a hall named Al Qasimiya Hall to be used for seminars and events. The headquarters also houses a mosque that can accommodate more than 300 worshippers.
Situated in the University district on land provided by the Mauritanian government, the entire construction and furnishing of this significant establishment were funded by the Ruler of Sharjah.
Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick has been the mayor of a district of the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott for 14 years. She is living proof that women can make it to the top even in conservative Muslim societies. Elisa Rheinheimer introduces a courageous Mauritanian.
Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick has a warm, maternal demeanour and a firm handshake. Keen eyes sparkle behind her glasses. A petite woman in a traditional flowing robe and a blue headscarf decorated with pink flowers, she doesn’t look like a politician in charge of a 60,000-strong community – at least not to Western eyes.
She is mayor of a district of the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott – and has been for 14 years. That makes her not only a pioneer in her own country, but also a role model for many African women. “I never actually wanted to go into politics,” she says with a laugh, “but I have a very social vein and it was a kind of calling. I wanted to change things in my city for the better.”
Now 57, she originally studied computer science in Belgium. It was during her time there that her eyes were opened to women’s opportunities. Years later, in 2001, she ran for mayor in a district in her home city of Nouakchott – and won at the first attempt. During her first period in office, she was still the only woman mayor in the country. “216 men – and me,” she says, her voice betraying well-earned pride.
Opening the door to politics for other women
In Tevragh-Zeina, the district of the capital of Nouakchott for which she is responsible, everyone knows her. She has achieved a great deal there, improving school education – particularly for girls – reforming the administration, reorganising refuse disposal and investing in infrastructure. Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick wanted to build car parks, playgrounds and football pitches – and she did.
It sounds so easy when she talks about it now, but it certainly wasn’t quite that simple: “To begin with, I found the responsibility and the expectations people placed on my shoulders a burden,” she says. “After all, I had to be successful so as to open the door for other women and enable them to get into politics.”
She has had some success in this respect. There are now three other women mayors in Mauritania. She herself has never felt uncomfortable in her country’s male-dominated political arena. “Women have a very good status in our society,” she explains, “that made it easier for me.”
Development and religion hand in hand
And religion? What role does faith play in her life? Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick looks rather perplexed, cocking her head in surprise as if she considers the question superfluous. “A very important one,” she says after a pause, “I am a Muslim.”
Development and religion, she says, are not mutually exclusive but belong together. She rejects the idea that Islam oppresses women and makes it hard for them to have a career of their own. In the Mauritanian religious tradition, she says, Islam virtually demands that women play an active role in society.
A mother of three grown children, Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick is not only a local politician but also president of the Network for Locally Elected Women of Africa. She is invited to conferences and panel discussions all over the world, flying from one continent to the next. “Being up in the air is perfectly normal for me,” she says. Sometimes 24 hours are not enough to get everything done that she wants to do.
Raising awareness of environmental issues in Mauritania
One reason for that lack of time is that she also feels responsible for environmental protection and catastrophe management in her country. Mauritania has to deal with water shortages, sandstorms and desertification.
She organises workshops in schools, for instance, to raise awareness of environmental issues among children and young people. She has launched campaigns for the protection of dunes, planted date palms in the city with women’s groups, and called on local people to clean up the country’s beaches.
Her calm, relaxed demeanour is certainly part of her recipe for success. Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick was recently re-elected for her third term in office, and has enough plans and projects in mind for the next 20 years. Mauritania is at No. 158 on the Human Development Index, close to the bottom of the ranking.
This hardworking mayor has a lot of work ahead of her. She currently has more than 3,000 fans on Facebook; in real life, there are no doubt many more than that.
A longtime supporter of women’s rights in Mauritania, Aminetou Mint El-Moctar is currently focusing her efforts on confronting the barriers that deprive young women and members of vulnerable communities of university education.
The 65-year-old human-rights activist works through the Association of Women Heads of Households, which she founded in 1999, to support women’s issues in Mauritania and to renounce the various forms of discrimination against them.
In an interview with Al-Fanar Media, she recounted how her personal experience of being deprived of university education and forced into early marriage motivated her activism.
The right to education is inseparable from women’s aspirations to play a greater role in socio-economic and political life, she said.
The basic right to education opens the door to all other rights, she added. “Our homeland will not be able to achieve economic growth or political development without promoting the right of both sexes to education and raising education quality in all levels.”
Early Marriage and Activism
Aminetou Mint El-Moctar grew up in a middle-class family in the capital, Nouakchott. Her father was a merchant and her mother passed away early after her birth, so she lived with her grandmother. She started her education at a young age. At secondary school, she was forced to drop out to get married at the age of 13.
At that time, El-Moctar was becoming active in political demonstrations, but her father prevented her from taking part in them by “tying her with chains,” she said.
She told Al-Fanar Media: “I rebelled against early marriage and the traditions that exclude women and make them a mere tool for the traditional and patriarchal iron fist that sets them a binding path, without regard to their personal choices.”
She added: “Human-rights activism helped me rediscover myself, refined my skills, and made me more aware of the conditions of marginalised women who are forced to drop out under the pressure of outdated social traditions.”
In her struggle, El-Moctar has won several awards and medals. In 2006, she was awarded the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic. Academics at Georgetown University, in the United States, nominated her as one of the 500 most influential people in the Islamic world. In 2015, she was shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Education of Girls in Mauritania
According to statistics, girls’ education in Mauritania faces many problems, including a high dropout rate. Some 47 percent of girls do not make the transition from primary to secondary school. Moreover, only 17 to 20 percent of university students are female.
Mauritania has made efforts to increase girls’ participation in education, but El-Moctar thinks these efforts are deficient in light of traditions that hinder many young women from joining the university. Economic deprivation is also a factor for many Mauritanians. In addition, El-Moctar says, some government policies “place restrictions on women’s access to leadership positions in all sectors.”
The women who do enrol in higher education run into additional problems, El-Moctar said. These include discriminatory educational curricula and practices, gender-based violence, government interventions in curricula and teaching methods, and a decrease in the number of teaching staff.
Other challenges that make it difficult for many girls to continue their education include high rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancy. Additional factors affect boys and girls alike, including poverty and living at a distance from schools. El-Moctar explained that children of rural families who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are unable to travel to urban areas where schools are located.
Empowering People with Disabilities
With about 18,000 volunteers, the Coalition of Mauritanian Organisations for Education is working in partnership with international organisations on several programmes to increase access to education. Its projects include efforts aimed at improving the integration of graduates into the labour market, supporting vulnerable girls’ enrolment in universities, and enabling people with disabilities to continue their education, along with designing educational programs commensurate with their capabilities and needs.
El-Moctar also criticised what she sees as discrimination against young women in government scholarships to study abroad. She said scholarships were awarded primarily to children from officials’ families.
She called on international donors to increase the number of scholarships they offer to those who wish to complete their studies abroad. Mauritania has only one public university and it is unable to accommodate all students, she said.
A Long Activism Journey
Since 1999, El-Moctar has been supervising the activities of the Association of Women Heads of Households, to support Mauritanian women in the face of discrimination and physical violence, and to encourage them to play a greater role in society and the economy.
Women in her country are “victims of traditions reflected in government policies or university admission policies,” El-Moctar said.
However, she asserted: “I will continue my path until women get the highest levels of education as a natural right, not as an exception, and enjoy full legal equality without reservations.”
Forced into early marriage and deprived of a university education herself, Aminetou Mint El-Moctar embarked on a lifelong struggle to improve women’s lives in her country.
The Mauritanian is a 2021 legal drama film based on the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian man who was held for fourteen years (from 2002 to 2016) without charge in the Guantanamo Bay detentian camp, a United States military prison.
Awards / Nominations :
– 78th Golden Globe Awards the film received two nominations; Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (for Rahim), with Foster winning Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
At the 74th British Academy Film Awards the film received five nominations, including Best Film, Outstanding British Film , and Best Actor for Rahim.
