Mauritania

Brief description

A lack of reliable official data on Zakat (obligatory payment made annually under Islamic law on certain kinds of property and used for charitable and religious purposes) and its characteristics, coupled with a lack of understanding of its potential for the achievement of the SDGs hinders Mauritania's Government's capacity to make optimal use of these funds to effectively meet the development challenges. The Joint Programme intends to support the government in removing the existing major constraints and financing gaps to fully explore the opportunities offered by Zakat. 

Approach

The programme activities will include an in-depth knowledge of Zakat, a mapping of all the actors and the creation of favorable conditions for an effective management system able to reduce the income gaps within and between communities, to mobilize then direct financial resources towards the most needy and towards productive activities. Zakat recipients, including those excluded from the conventional banking system, especially vulnerable women and youth, will be enabled to use the funds to finance their own business projects and possibly in turn contribute to Zakat.