Vocational Education and Youth

USAID supports activities that provide important job and life skills to vulnerable youth in Mauritania in order to help them find jobs and ensure their professional success.  USAID focuses on training youth in market-driven technical and vocational skills and helping them integrate into the local job market.  USAID also promotes exchanges through dialogue and arts and convene stakeholders from government and the private sector to coordinate approaches to positive youth programs in the country.

Humanitarian Assistance

As of March 2019, Mauritania continued to host more than 56,000 Malian refugees, the majority of whom reside in food-insecure southeastern Bassikounou region, where already-scarce host community resources are strained by the presence of additional families.  The United States’ humanitarian assistance, delivered through USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and Office of Food for Peace (FFP), support initiatives to improve health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions for vulnerable households in the country.  USAID works through partners in the Brakna, Gorgol, and Guidimaka regions to deliver humanitarian assistance that builds resilience in local communities.

Global Health

USAID supports regional efforts to expand the demand for, access to, and use of family planning services, information, and supplies in Mauritania.   USAID is also part of Family Planning 2020, a platform of donors, civil society organizations, and government stakeholders increasing access to family planning in Mauritania.   In addition USAID is one of the donors committed to improving access to family planning through the Ouagadougou Partnership.  USAID also helps the Government of Mauritania conduct the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), a nationally representative household survey to support policy development, planning, monitoring, and impact evaluation in population, health, and nutrition.

Governance

USAID supports West African regional bodies and civil society organizations to more effectively counter violent extremism in the Sahel region.  In Mauritania, USAID is assisting the government to develop effective and sustainable programs to improve security, reduce conflict, and serve at-risk communities.  In addition, USAID activities also provide support to the Mauritania electoral commission to facilitate a credible, peaceful, and inclusive electoral process.

For more information about USAID’s efforts across the Sahel, please visit: http://www.usaid.gov/sahel-regional.