In Mauritania, the speech on women is becoming more and more plentiful because of her distinct role in the national development. Indeed, taking the speech on women is usually branded with the philosophy and beliefs of the speaker. Thus, the speaker may raise her position to the ideal or crash her face with his obscene words as he does with his dirty shoes. At least in Mauritania, there is a mutual respect; the speaker never minimizes the woman because she can be his mother, sister, wife or daughter. Moreover, the Mauritanian woman has done what to be honoured and respected for it.
In fact, the Mauritanian woman has proved her complete and unconditional predisposition for going ahead side by side with the Mauritanian man in order to build the country on a solid soil for the sake to get rid of colonization's remainders and the underdevelopment. The Mauritanian woman has disrobed the mask from her countenance in order to struggle for the life, which was a sphere encompassed of the risks of unacquaintance and retardation. She had to stand up assiduous inherent in the teaming with the ideologic tendencies that have marked the society. This goes back to the period of drought that has raged more than one decade and half during which a feminist consciousness appeared for the first time as a participant member in the national development. They have created informal women groupings that helped distribute donations, organized saving plans and collected goods.
To say the truth, women's role in the national development is unlimited because all their activities are related in some way with the well being and growth of the nation. For instance, women's major role as householders is timely to be considered as an active role in the national development. It is not to make little educating the future generations who will work and participate in the building of the nation. In addition the Mauritanian women have many activities in the variety of sectors that have finalities for development. Indeed they participate widely with an attractive attention in the economic, social, cultural, and political development because no law or rule hinder them from participation, above all Islam which is the religion of justice and equality has given them all the human rights that let them to be promoted. Actually they are active in the rural development such as agriculture and breeding animals. This activity has a great profitability for individuals as well as for the nation. Moreover, the Mauritanian woman is occupying the first rank in the field of commerce, if we don't say she dominates the local market. This can be seen in Capital Market and Chinguity Center where they sell and buy for improving their situation and making revenues for their families as well as for the state. Also, the Mauritanian woman women are industrious and the National Exposition of Feminine Products, which is yearly done on the Women's Day and supervised by the Secretary of State for Women's Affairs, demonstrates women's role and participation in the building and growth of the nation. This is clearly evident through the handwork and genius production of women. In addition, what demonstrates women's consciousness today is her presence with an attractive attention in the election campaign. Of course, that is because she recognizes what the political development can do for her emancipation from all the oppressions due to the closed mentalities and illiteracy. In spite of the decrease of their proportion in the list of municipality, the women never hang their arms and participate widely in politics for developing the political thoughts. Also, women's framework can be added to the list of developmental factors. As the woman is being active, the machinery of development will never stop marching; in contrast, it will hasten the circulation. They are widely present in education and health; we can find them as doctors, professors, teachers, nurses, and writers. The most important feature of development in women's role is her break off against illiteracy, which characterizes the underdeveloped nations. We remark their rush upon the classes of literacy and their longing for knowledge. That is nothing else but the right way for developing themselves as well as the nation.
In short, in our country the woman participates widely in the national economic, political, and social development and nothing hinders her from being developed except the will. Yet, I am about to say that the Mauritanian women's role distinguishes her from the rest of the women in the world in developed countries as well as the third world. The only things that lack her are attention, ambition, and cooperation. All of us have to recognize that without women's participation a nation cannot develop. Thus it is necessary taking care of women particularly in our country where women represent more than half of the society. That fact pushes us to come in help for women's promotion and framing all our feminist energies. It is timely for all the intellectual women to recognize that they are concerned more than any other one of the problems that are facing the women in our country. We need their attention for these problems because none knows the real problems of women more than women themselves. We don't accept any more their absence and their negligence for their role in the national development. They have to recognize that they are indebted to this nation.