On Friday 25 July 2025 in Nouakchott, the Ministry of the Civil Service and Labour, in cooperation with the National School of Administration, Journalism and Magistracy, launched the training sessions of the priority programme to strengthen human resource capacity, as part of the government’s efforts to train administrative staff and improve public service performance.
The sessions are aimed at seven ministries: Vocational Training, Handicrafts and Trades; Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad; the Interior, Promotion of Decentralisation and Local Development; Economy and Finance; Health; the Civil Service and Labour; and Social Action, Children and the Family.
Participants will receive theoretical and practical instruction delivered by national experts, to get the most out of the courses scheduled in the various specialisations.
Speaking at the event, the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Civil Service and Labour, Mr El Bekaye Ould Lekhou, said that investing in human resources is not an administrative luxury but the foundation of any genuine reform, and that competent civil servants are the real driving force of the administration.
He explained that the programme is part of the national strategic plan for continuing training recently adopted by the government. It was preceded by a review of the legislative framework for continuing training, a diagnostic study covering 1,000 administrative units and an assessment of the training needs of 1,000 public employees.
He added that these training sessions, which will run for twelve months and cover staff of the ministries assessed, are a first step in a series of reforms to build the capacity of public employees and improve the administration’s performance, in line with the general civil service statute, which enshrines the right to continuing training as a means of career advancement and knowledge renewal.
For his part, the Director General of the National School of Administration, Journalism and Magistracy, Mr Mohamed Yahya Ould Saïd, stressed the importance that the President of the Republic, Mr Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, attaches to developing human capital and reforming public administration, a commitment made in his election programme “My Ambition for the Nation”.
He noted that the national strategy to build the capacity of State employees is now being put into practice through this ambitious programme, which will train and develop dozens of civil servants and State employees, with a positive impact on their performance and on the quality of public services.
He affirmed that the School will rise to the task entrusted to it, praising the success of the first edition of the continuing training programme launched in 2021, which trained more than 5,000 public sector employees. Opening the official ceremony, the Director General, Dr Mohamed Yahya Ould Saïd, said that the President of the Republic, Mr Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, attaches special importance to raising the level of human capital; that he has placed the development of professional and technical skills and the reform of public administration at the top of his priorities; and that he pledged in his 2024 election programme, “My Ambition for the Nation”, to “put in place intensive continuing training plans for public employees”.
The Director General noted that the Prime Minister, Mr El Moctar Ould Djay, has made “developing well-trained and qualified human capital” one of the key pillars of his government’s general policy statement.
He added that these major policy directions have been translated into the national strategy to build the capacity of State employees, overseen by the civil service department, and that today’s event embodies it through this ambitious programme, which will train and develop dozens of civil servants and State employees, improving their performance and the quality of public services in general.
He stated that the School will live up to its mission, as shown by the success of the first edition of the continuing training programme launched in 2021, which trained more than 5,000 employees in 24 specialisations, including public procurement, administrative writing, reception and guidance, human resources management, audit and inspection, archives and documentation, strategic management of public projects, accounting and payroll, library science and languages. Some training sessions were held in the Hodh Ech Chargui, Trarza and Dakhlet Nouadhibou regions.
The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister’s adviser for the civil service and administrative modernisation, the Chairman of the School’s Board of Directors, several secretaries general, the School’s administrative and teaching staff and a number of civil-servant trainees.
