Media advisories Special Procedures

UN expert on sale and exploitation of children to visit Mauritius

17 June 2022

GENEVA (17 June 2022) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Mama Fatima Singhateh will conduct an official visit to Mauritius from 21-30 June 2022.

The expert has been mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to conduct country visits and promote strategies to prevent and combat the sale and sexual exploitation of children.

The Special Rapporteur’s 10-day visit will focus on several issues including the protection of children against sexual exploitation, child marriage, child-trafficking for sexual exploitation, the exploitation of children living in the streets, and the sale of children through illegal adoptions. Singhateh will travel to Port Louis and Rodrigues where she will meet representatives of the executive, legislature and judiciary, local and municipal authorities, civil society organisations, members of the international community, and children.

The visit will also assess the progress made by Mauritius in combating and preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children since the last country visit by the mandate in May 2011.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference to share her preliminary observations with the media at 15h00 local time on 30 June 2022 at the Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

She will present a comprehensive report on her visit at a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council.

Ms. Mama Fatima Singhateh (The Gambia) was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2020. She is a trained lawyer with over 20 years of experience. Ms Singhateh has held a number of high-level positions in public service in the Gambia. She holds a master’s degree in International Business Law from the University of Hull and has undergone numerous trainings in child rights programming, arbitration and mediation, and legislative drafting. She has drafted laws, organized and conducted numerous training sessions, delivered presentations at both national and international fora and written articles and reports on issues relating to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

Country Page – Mauritius

For more information and media requests, please contact: In Mauritius (during the visit): Ms. Shushan Khachyan (+ 41 79 444 3993 / shushan.khachyan@un.org). In Geneva (before or during the visit): Ms. Antara Singh (+41 22 917 93 28 / antara.singh@un.org) or write to hrc-sr-saleofchildren@un.org.

For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Renato de Souza (+41 22 928 9855 / (renato.rosariodesouza@un.org ) or Dharisha Indraguptha (+41 79 506 1088 / dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

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