The US State Department, in a bipartisan effort, granted $4.5 million to help victims of slavery in Mauritania, where estimates state that 10 percent to 20 percent of the population is enslaved. While the practice was officially abolished in 1981 and criminalized in 2007, Mauritania government officials have refused to acknowledge that slavery still exists within its borders, much less made efforts to eliminate it. Despite the illegality of slave ownership, the government does not bring slave owners to justice.
The US State Department funding is helping people in Mauritania acquire freedom, self-sufficiency and dignity. . For more information, see The Abolition Institute website at www.stoppingslavery.org.
