To Mr Biram Ould Dah ould Abeid Exercised by Mr Ahmed Ould Moctar BOUSSEIF Deputy Head of Mission ****** Point 4 : Égalité d’accès à une éducation de qualité pour les minorités Ge nè ve , le 15 dé ce mbre 2008 Thank you, Madam President I would like to reply to the statement made by Mr Biram Ould Dah ould Abeid about Mauritania, and on behalf of my government I would like to clarify the followings: 1) Albeit he pretends he did not have the same access to educational opportunities as other Mauritanians, Mr Biram graduated from university. He is a trained clerk of the court and works as an adviser to the President of the National Commission for Human Rights. Contrary to what Mr Biram affirms, there is no ethnic discrimination in the access to education in my country. 2) The Haratins, to which the speaker referred, is not a minority group. They make up the majority of the Mauritanian people together with the white Maures. In Mauritania, ethnic minorities consist of Halpulaars, Soninkés and Wolofs. Besides, it is wrong to claim that the percentage of this group is 45 to 50% of the total population. This alleged but incorrect percentage reflects the confusion and exaggeration surrounding this statement.