# Madagascar - United States Department of State

- Madagascar HomeReportsBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices&#8230;Madagascar				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Madagascar																																					Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor																																																																																							Download Report																																																							Translations																																																																 In this section										/																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																																													EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																															Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person																																																									a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings																																																																											b. Disappearance																																																																											c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses																																																																			Prison and Detention Center Conditions																																																																																																																		d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention																																																																			Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees																																																																																																																		e. Denial of Fair Public Trial																																																																			Trial Procedures																																																								Political Prisoners and Detainees																																																																																																																		f. Transnational Repression																																																																											h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence																																																																																	Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties																																																									a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media																																																																			Internet Freedom																																																																																																																		b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association																																																																			Freedom of Peaceful Assembly																																																																																																																		c. Freedom of Religion																																																																											d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country																																																																											e. Protection of Refugees																																																																											f. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)																																																																											g. Stateless Persons																																																																																	Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process																																																									Elections and Political Participation																																																																																	Section 4. Corruption in Government																															Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights																															Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses																																																									Women																																																																											Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination																																																																											Children																																																																											Antisemitism																																																																											Trafficking in Persons																																																																											Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, Or Sex Characteristics																																																																											Persons with Disabilities																																																																											Other Societal Violence or Discrimination																																																																																	Section 7. Worker Rights																																																									a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining																																																																											b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor																																																																											c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment																																																																											d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																																																											e. Acceptable Conditions of Work																																																																																																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY				There were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Madagascar during the year.Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by government agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political prisoners or detainees; punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including unjustified arrests or prosecutions of social media activists, censorship, and enforcement of criminal libel laws to limit expression; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly; serious government corruption; extensive gender-based violence; and trafficking in persons, including forced labor.The government took credible steps to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights abuses. Impunity, however, remained a problem.																														Section 1.													 Respect for the Integrity of the Person												    																																																a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings										There were reports some government agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings of criminal suspects. Most killings occurred during security force operations to stem cattle rustling by armed criminal groups in the central west, and southwest areas as well as during police raids to combat insecurity in urban areas.Between January and September, media reported at least 200 deaths during security force operations, including members of the security forces and civilians, as well as those suspected of crimes. The security forces involved were usually composed of police and gendarmes, but occasionally they included military personnel.On September 20, gendarmes in Marolambo shot and killed a man, age 32, with a mental disability. According to his relatives with whom he was staying, he went out at night to buy cigarettes and somehow arrived in another community several miles away where gendarmes arrested him for dressing like security forces. The next day, his relatives identified his body, which was badly bruised and riddled with bullet wounds. The gendarmes defended their conduct, claiming the man tried to escape, but the family accused the gendarmes of battering and killing him in custody. The investigation into their conduct continued through the regional Gendarmerie Department of Judiciary Police. The incident was publicized in a community Facebook page.																																				b. Disappearance										There were no reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities.																																				c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses										The constitution and law provided for the inviolability of the person and prohibited such practices, but security forces subjected prisoners and criminal suspects to physical and mental abuse, including torture during coerced confessions, according to the National Independent Human Rights Commission (CNIDH). Security personnel reportedly used beatings as punishment for alleged crimes or as a means of coercion. There were reports off-duty and sometimes intoxicated members of the armed forces assaulted civilians. Investigations into these incidents by security officials rarely resulted in prosecutions.The death of prominent Malagasy singer and human rights activist Nini Donia (Eliane Virginie Bezara) on November 19, while serving a prison sentence for advocating for land rights of villagers in Nosy Be, was characterized as a violation of the convention against torture by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for failing to facilitate a medical furlough for her deteriorating health condition.Impunity remained a problem in the army, the police, and the gendarmerie; however, due to lack of police cooperation, it was difficult to obtain official information on the outcomes of cases reported in media. A few cases, especially those reported on social networks, led to investigations and legal sanctions.																Prison and Detention Center Conditions						Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening due to inadequate food, overcrowding, poor sanitation, and insufficient medical care.Abusive Physical Conditions: Lengthy pretrial detentions, inefficiencies in the judicial system, and poor prison infrastructure created an overcrowding problem. After their visit in May, the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture characterized the gross overcrowding in prison facilities as cruel, inhuman, and degrading and stated these standards were contrary to those set by international law, with some prisons filled at 1,000 percent of capacity. In October, the Ministry of Justice recorded 30,530 detainees in the 82 prisons and detention facilities nationwide with a combined official capacity of 11,000. Based on a study it performed during the year, in March the Pasteur Institute of Madagascar reported the rate of malnutrition among prisoners was 18 percent (16 percent moderate and 2 percent severe). The government provided one daily meal of approximately 11 ounces of manioc, supplemented by food brought in by the family. The same study noted the health impacts of overcrowding, including poor hygiene, limited access to water and medical care, and insufficient infrastructure.Administration: While a formal process existed to submit complaints to judicial authorities, few detainees used it due to fear of reprisal and lack of knowledge of the law. Authorities did not often investigate complaints they received.Independent Monitoring: Authorities generally permitted independent monitoring of prison conditions by local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and some diplomatic missions.Improvements: During the year, the Ministry of Justice strengthened efforts to accelerate the processing of criminal cases in all jurisdictions to address the large number for detainees in pretrial detention.The government coordinated training sessions for penitentiary nurses to provide better medical assistance for detainees.The government also utilized farmland near the penitentiaries in eight regions to grow crops to improve the detainees’ conditions.Through the support of foreign donors, the government provided services and care for young children living in prison with their incarcerated mothers, while also facilitating their placement outside the prisons. Other donor-supported programs trained penitentiary agents to educate detainees on their fundamental rights in detention centers and how to accelerate the judicial process for pretrial detainees.Several NGO-funded programs continued during the year to improve prison conditions. Those programs included supplementing detainees’ diets; renovating prison facilities including kitchens, dormitories, and sanitation facilities; and preparing detainees for socio-professional reintegration through education and cultural activities and vocational training. The NGO programs also worked to prevent the spread of COVID-19, tuberculosis, and HIV, as well as working to address psychological distress and promote reproductive health for women and girls. Some organizations such as Grandir Dignement (Grow up with Dignity) conducted more targeted programs for juvenile detainees.																										d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention										The constitution and law prohibited arbitrary arrest and detention and provided for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of their arrest or detention in court, but authorities did not always respect these provisions. Authorities arrested persons on vague charges and detained suspects for extended periods without trial.																Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees						The law required arrest warrants in all cases except those involving “hot pursuit” (the apprehension of a suspect during or immediately after a crime was committed), but authorities on several occasions detained persons based on accusations and without judicial authorization. The law required authorities to charge or release criminal suspects within 48 hours of arrest; however, they held some individuals for longer periods before charging or releasing them. Defendants had a right to counsel, and the law entitled those who could not afford a lawyer to have one provided by the state. Many citizens were unaware of this right, and few requested attorneys. Defendants had the right to know the charges against them, but authorities did not always respect this right. NGOs and members of the Bar Association reported authorities frequently denied bail without justification, and some suspects were held incommunicado. There were instances when magistrates resorted to a mandat de depot (retaining writ) under which defendants were held in detention for the entire pretrial period. The law limited the duration of pretrial detention to eight months and regulated the use of the writ, although it was reported that authorities exceeded this limit.Arbitrary Arrest: Security forces were accused of arbitrarily or spuriously arresting political opponents of the government, demonstrators, human rights activists, and other civilians.On July 5, court bailiffs within the national chamber took part in a general strike after the arrest of their colleague Kanto Rakotonantoandro in Mahajanga, an arrest they deemed abusive and arbitrary. As a court bailiff, Rakotonantoandro assisted a woman in collecting alimony ordered after her divorce. When the woman’s husband refused to pay, Rakotonantoandro warned the court would seize his belongings. Angered, the husband sued the bailiff for abuse of power.Until her death on November 19, human rights activist and artist Nini Donia (Eliane Bezara), convicted and imprisoned in 2022 for criminal association, remained in prison in Nosy Be for advocating for land rights of villagers and denouncing high-level corruption. Although her six-month sentence ended in December 2022, authorities kept her detained on additional charges filed by the state-owned National Water and Electricity Company (JIRAMA), the national utility company. In April, a court sentenced her to 18 months in prison for conviction of criminal association and disruption of public order, considered by many fellow political activists as political repression. In August, the president pardoned her after a fellow artist advocated for her release. According to her family, however, she was not released because she lacked official documentation of the pardon. Bezara died while serving her sentence due to a deteriorating medical condition. Authorities previously denied all requests for a medical transfer.Pretrial Detention: As of October, approximately 47 percent of inmates nationwide were in pretrial detention, according to the Ministry of Justice. The detention period ranged from several days to several years, according to the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. Poor recordkeeping, an outdated judicial system, insufficient numbers of magistrates, and too few courts of first instance contributed to the problem. The length of pretrial detention often exceeded the maximum sentence for the alleged crime.																										e. Denial of Fair Public Trial										Although the constitution and law provided for an independent judiciary, the government did not always respect judicial independence and impartiality. The judiciary was viewed as susceptible to outside influence at all levels, and corruption remained a significant problem. There were instances in which the outcome of trials appeared predetermined, and authorities did not always enforce court orders.On March 15, the newspaper La Gazette reported the minister of justice ordered the Anti-Corruption Court to suspend prosecution of the mayor of Vavatenina for public funds embezzlement and forgery. The prosecution continued regardless, and the court placed the defendant in pretrial detention in Antananarivo. The newspaper stated the mayor pleaded guilty during a hearing. A few days later, the defendant was released after the minister reportedly weighed in on her case.Court bailiffs reported during their strike in July that they were often pressured or threatened by high-ranking government officials or their representatives seeking to prevent them from enforcing court judgements.																Trial Procedures						The law provided for the right to a fair and public trial, but courts had the authority to direct that a trial be closed to protect the victim or to maintain public order. Trials were often delayed. The law provided for the presumption of innocence, but authorities often ignored this right.Defendants had the right to legal counsel at every stage of the proceedings. Many citizens, however, were unaware of their right to counsel and authorities did not routinely inform them of it. Defendants who did not request or could not afford counsel generally received very limited time to prepare their cases. Defendants had the right to be present at their trials, to present and confront witnesses, and to present evidence. Authorities generally respected such rights only if defendants had legal representation. The law provided the right to an interpreter for the judicial police, examining magistrate, and the defendant’s legal advisor but did not mention any such right for the defendant. The law stipulated, however, that the defendant had the right to refuse an interpreter. If an interpreter had to be hired, it was at the defendant’s expense. Legislation outlining defendants’ rights did not specifically refer to the right not to be compelled to testify or confess guilt.The law gave traditional village institutions authority to protect property and public order. In some rural areas, a community-organized traditional judicial system known as dina resolved disputes among villagers concerning such problems as alleged cattle rustling. Dina procedures sometimes conflicted with national laws by imposing harsh sentences without due process or by failing to protect the rights of victims.						Political Prisoners and Detainees						There were reports of political prisoners and detainees. Authorities arrested and imprisoned political leaders and activists, ostensibly on charges unrelated to their political positions or for offenses against the public order. It was widely reported in media that the number of political detainees increased during the lead-up to the presidential elections to at least a dozen. They generally received the same protections as other prisoners and detainees. The government permitted access to them by humanitarian and human rights organizations.On February 14, the Court of Antananarivo sentenced former Minister of Communication under former President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, Harry Laurent Rahajason (known as Rolly Mercia), to 30 months in prison and a two million ariary ($440) fine for conviction of false testimony and slanderous allegations. In 2019, prominent businessman Mamy Ravatomanga filed a complaint against the former minister for having testified against him at the National and Financial Court of Paris. Rolly Mercia had been in prison since 2020, serving a 44-month sentence for organizing an unauthorized demonstration in Antananarivo. His lawyer maintained the prosecution was politically motivated as Mamy Ravatomanga was a close advisor to President Rajoelina and a major donor to his 2023 re-election campaign.On October 2, security forces arrested Ny Rina Randriamasinoro, Secretary General of the major opposition party Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM-I Love Madagascar) during a political movement led by a coalition of 11 presidential candidates contesting the candidacy of the former president and the electoral process. Two weeks later he was charged with disturbing the peace, a charge considered by media outlets and NGOs to be politically motivated, and released under judicial supervision pending trial. He was convicted and, on December 5, a court ordered a two-year suspended sentence on the condition he committed no further infractions.As of September, four of the five individuals convicted on questionable evidence in 2021 for a coup attempt and plot to assassinate the president remained in prison. The convicted individuals included former security agents in charge of protecting former President Rajaonarimampianina, and their prison sentences ranged from five years to 20 years with hard labor. In June, the newspaper L’Express reported a bilateral agreement with the French government allowed the transfer of one of the prisoners – a French national – to France.																										f. Transnational Repression										Not applicable.g. Property Seizure and RestitutionIn December 2022, the government began construction of a highway linking the capital city to Toamasina, home to the largest port in the country. The government seized rice fields of inhabitants of the northern part of Antananarivo to start the construction. The inhabitants complained several times during the year that they had not received any compensation. In December, a private television network reported several owners of levelled rice fields and of rice fields affected by mudslides due to the construction testified the government had not provided any compensation for the loss of their lands and of their crops.																																				h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence										The law prohibited such actions, and there were reports the government failed to respect these provisions.In some southern localities with high rates of cattle rustling, authorities sometimes held the children, wives, or mothers of suspected bandits in detention to compel their male relatives to surrender.																																					Section 2.													 Respect for Civil Liberties												    																																																a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media										The constitution provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, but stipulated that this “may be limited by respect for the freedoms and rights of others, and by the imperative of safeguarding public order, national dignity, and state security.” The government sometimes restricted this right. The law included several provisions limiting freedom of speech and expression, including broad powers of the government to deny media licenses to political opponents, seize equipment, and impose fines. The law contained several articles limiting press and media freedom. The law gave the Ministry of Communications far-reaching powers to suspend media licenses and seize property of media outlets if one of their journalists committed two infractions of the law. The law allowed only state-owned radio and television stations to broadcast nationally, although this limitation was not always enforced.Freedom of Expression: In accordance with the constitution, the law restricted individuals’ ability to criticize the government in public. There were cases of government intimidation and harassment of individuals for their online activities criticizing the government.The government arrested journalists and activists who criticized public figures. On September 15, the gendarmerie arrested Sylvia Randriatsotsy and accused her of inciting rebellion for a post on her Facebook page. While she spoke in general terms, her post was perceived as a call for military action against the government during a time of increased political tension before the presidential election. Randriatsotsy was a well-known social network blogger who regularly published posts criticizing the government and had during the year alleged irregularities in the electoral process. After 48 hours in custody, she appeared in court and was subsequently released temporarily. The Court of Antananarivo placed her under judicial supervision, so she was unable to leave the capital. The Court of Antananarivo convicted her of inciting rebellion and sentenced her to a one-year prison term, but she remained free as she appealed the ruling, and the court did not issue any arrest warrant when rendering the judgement. The court also ordered her to pay a four million ariary ($900) fine for another Facebook publication related to the government’s COVID-19 response.Violence and Harassment: There were reports of journalists being harassed for criticizing the government and public services.On March 25, the court of Antananarivo placed Lola Rasoamaharo, chief executive officer of La Gazette, in pretrial detention after a businesswoman sued him for defamation, extortion, and death threats. The plaintiff announced to the press that Rasoamaharo had tried to extort her into paying a large sum of money, threatening to smear her name publicly if she refused. A few days later, JIRAMA seized the equipment of La Gazette for unpaid bills from 2016, preventing the outlet from printing newspapers. La Gazette was known to be critical of the government. Members of a federation of journalists denounced Rasoamaharo’s arrest as politically motivated. The Court of Antananarivo sentenced him to five years in prison and ordered him to pay a 10 million ariary fine ($2,280) and 20 million ariary ($4,560) in damages to the plaintiff for threatening defamation and attempting extortion. La Gazette’s equipment was not returned and print versions of the newspaper remained unavailable as of September, although it continued to publish articles online.Censorship or Content Restrictions for Members of the Press and Other Media, Including Online Media: Journalists practiced self-censorship due to retaliation from those targeted by their publications. Authors generally published books of a political nature abroad.Many radio and television stations shifted to live call-in shows in recent years to distance themselves from editorial responsibility for content. Organizers of official events often invited only state-owned or ostensibly progovernment media outlets.In September, several media outlets reported security forces prevented their journalists from accessing the Prime Minister’s Office compound to cover a meeting of the security authorities. Only journalists from proregime media companies could cover the event. MBS, a private television channel belonging to leading opposition figure and former President Marc Ravalomanana, remained unavailable on satellite television channels. This prevented the television channel from broadcasting nationally. In January, another private television channel reported it was removed from another satellite television company network. Other private television channels also struggled to obtain airtime through satellite television companies.Libel/Slander Laws: Although defamation was not a criminal offense in the communications code, a separate cybercrime law allowed for the charge of criminal defamation for anything published online. It was unclear whether the cybercrime law, which provided for prison sentences for conviction of online defamation, had precedence over the communications code, since all newspapers were also published online. Fines allowed for offenses under the communications code were many times higher than the average journalist’s annual salary.There were several reports of government authorities using libel, slander, or defamation laws to restrict public discussion. Citizens faced police investigation and legal prosecution for defamation and infringement of public order for posting criticism of government performance and public services on social media.On January 27, the gendarmerie of Mananjary arrested teacher Jeannot Randriamanana after the local penitentiary administration sued him for defamation. On January 30, the Court of Mananjary placed him in pretrial detention. On February 16, he was tried; no reports were available on the outcome of the trial or on his status.On January 31, the Court of Antananarivo sentenced Mahery Lanto Manandafy to 18 months in prison and a 600,000 ariary fine ($140) for conviction of defamation. In September 2022, he denounced on his Facebook page a foreign national for providing ammunition to cattle rustlers in collaboration with a member of the president’s staff.National Security: On November 25, the Court of Antananarivo placed two union leaders under judicial supervision after they were held in custody for 48 hours at the gendarmerie. The government accused union leaders Sammy Gregoire Ravelonirina and Barson Rakotomanga of endangering national security for signing a statement issued by a group of civil society organizations calling for the army to take action against the government following the outcome of presidential elections.Nongovernmental Impact: On July 3, a prominent journalists’ union issued a communiqué that stated demonstrators around the QMM mining site in Tolagnaro accosted three journalists who were covering the demonstration. Armed demonstrators reportedly were arrested after sequestering the journalists for an hour. They accused the journalists of attempting to supply the security forces with ammunition.																Internet Freedom						The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content.The law prohibited insulting or defaming a government official online. According to Reporters without Borders, “the law’s failure to define what is meant by ‘insult’ or ‘defamation’ leaves room for very broad interpretation and major abuses.” The law provided for punishment of two to five years’ imprisonment and fines for conviction.																										b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association										The constitution and law provided for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, but the government did not equitably apply the right of peaceful assembly.																Freedom of Peaceful Assembly						The constitution and law provide for freedom of peaceful assembly, but authorities often restricted this right. The government required all public demonstrations to have official authorization from municipalities and police prefectures, but these authorities rarely gave authorization to requests by political opposition parties. Security forces regularly impeded opposition gatherings throughout the country and used excessive force to disperse demonstrators.Security force members several times during the year used tear gas and discharged their weapons into the air to disperse demonstrations by university students, supporters of political opponents, vanilla farmers, inhabitants of several urban areas protesting frequent power outages and water shortages, and other groups. When criticized for the security force members’ use of tear gas, government officials stated it was the only form of crowd control at their disposal.On March 31, the minister of the interior issued a decree prohibiting all outdoor political gatherings in the run-up to the presidential election, which he justified as a necessary measure to preserve public order. He stated the ban would remain in place until the launch of presidential campaign season. Civil society observers and the international community criticized the measure as an abuse of fundamental rights and freedom of expression enshrined in the constitution. Political parties denounced the ban as a measure to suppress the opposition since the ban exempted government officials’ public meetings with citizens. Members of civil society said the president frequently held precampaign events which were characterized by the administration as part of his civic duties.This decree was enforced by security forces who prevented and interfered with political gatherings in several localities, particularly those led by potential presidential candidates.In early October, a coalition of 11 of the 13 presidential candidates increased efforts to contest incumbent president Rajoelina’s candidacy and the legitimacy of the electoral process. The government deployed security forces in the capital city to prevent the candidates’ political gatherings for several days, and stated they threatened public order. On October 2, approximately 800-1,000 demonstrators and multiple opposition presidential candidates organized a protest in downtown Antananarivo to demand government concessions related to the presidential election and to protest the government’s restrictions on political gatherings in public spaces. Authorities, which included a mix of police, gendarmerie, and military, ultimately fired several rounds of tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. Two presidential candidates suffered injuries and the secretary general of the main opposition party TIM was arrested. During the presidential campaign, authorities continued to use nonlethal force, primarily tear gas, to disperse protesters and prevent rallies by opposition candidates attempting to reach 13 May Square, where attempts to overthrow the government were historically launched.																										c. Freedom of Religion										See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at  https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.																																				d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country										The constitution and law provided for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, but the government did not always respect these rights.Foreign Travel: The law prohibited citizens from leaving the country to work abroad in countries deemed “risky,” intended to reduce the risks of exploitation abroad. While Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials stated these “risky” countries were all Middle Eastern countries where migrant workers have been exploited in the past, the destination countries were not specifically identified in the decree. Thus, citizens could be prevented from leaving the country to work abroad at the discretion of border agents.																																				e. Protection of Refugees										The government generally did not interfere with representatives of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations assisting the small number of refugees in the country.Access to Asylum: The law did not include provisions for granting asylum or refugee status, and the government had no established system for providing protection to refugees.Abuse of Refugees and Asylum Seekers: A domestic NGO that provided assistance to refugees stated that refugees were at risk of arrest by police who did not recognize their UNHCR-issued-asylum-seeker certificates and therefore regarded them as undocumented foreigners.Employment: Refugees and asylum seekers did not have access to employment, because they did not possess a resident visa or work permit. In September, police targeted Pakastani refugee families benefitting from an internationally-funded grant supporting income generating activities, preventing them from earning any income. The refugees’ modest financial success drew attention on social media and scrutiny from local authorities. Without any legal basis, the police issued a notice prohibiting refugee engagement in any income generating activities in the country.Access to Basic Services: Refugees and asylum seekers did not receive support from the government, but the government did not interfere with support provided by UNHCR via a local NGO. Refugees and asylum seekers complained the amount of support they received was insufficient. Absent UNHCR support, health care and education were generally unaffordable for refugees. Hospitals and service providers charged refugees higher rates than local nationals, treating them as foreigners.																																				f. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)										Estimates of persons in the southeastern region displaced by cyclones during the year ranged from an estimate of 53,000 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to the government’s estimate of 90,000 IDPs.Other predominant factors contributing to internal migration included drought-induced famine in the southern region and, to a lesser extent, economic migration to urban centers stemming from inflation and the already widespread poverty in that region. IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix recorded more than 100,000 IDPs who left the southern region to flee drought and insecurity; the main destinations were the southwest, west, and northwest regions.There were no reports of specific forms of abuse targeting IDPs during the year.For further information about IDPs in the country, please see the materials of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center:  https://www.internal-displacement.org .																																				g. Stateless Persons										The country contributed to statelessness through discrimination in nationality laws.Members of the South Asian Karana community, many who were of the Muslim faith, were not eligible for citizenship. The community numbered approximately 20,000 persons.The provisions of a previous law resulted in as many as 15,000 stateless persons from the Muslim community, most belonging to Karana-Muslim families that had lived in the country for generations. Yet because religion and ethnicity were often closely linked, it was difficult to categorize citizenship discrimination based solely on Muslim identity, as many citizens harbored suspicion of the Karana community and their political and economic influence in the country. Muslim leaders estimated the previous law affected as much as 5 percent of the approximately two million Muslims in the country. Members of the wider Muslim community suggested a Muslim-sounding name alone could delay one’s citizenship application indefinitely.All stateless persons could apply for a foreign resident card, which precluded the right to vote, own property, or apply for a passport, thus limiting international travel. Stateless women could obtain nationality by marrying a citizen and could request citizenship before the wedding date, but women were not permitted to confer citizenship on a stateless husband. Stateless persons continued to have difficulty buying land and accessing education, health care, and employment.																																					Section 3.													 Freedom to Participate in the Political Process												    																						The constitution and law provided citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage. The November 16 national elections were widely reported to be peaceful and nonviolent, with some irregularities.																										Elections and Political Participation										Abuses or Irregularities in Recent Elections: On November 16, the presidential election occurred relatively peacefully with incumbent Andry Rajoelina re-elected with 59 percent of the votes. While the lead-up to election day was fraught with restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, political detentions, and a boycott by most opposition candidates who argued the electoral process was flawed and thus the results illegitimate, minimal election-related violence occurred on election day or the days that followed. While international election observers noted some irregularities at polling stations, there was no concrete evidence of coordinated, widescale election fraud. While some candidates complained about lack of access to media, opposition candidates were offered access to media at the beginning of the campaign season. The government reported some candidates refused media outlets in their boycott of the election.There were unconfirmed reports by opposition parties of ballot stuffing.International election observers noted campaigning at a handful of polling stations, primarily by representatives of the incumbent and president-elect Rajoelina, but also by representatives of major opposition candidate Siteny.A local NGO reported some of its election observers were harassed by polling station officials.While the government placed restrictions on holding political gatherings before the official start of campaign season, the president allegedly used government resources during this moratorium to further his campaign (see section 2.b., Freedom of Peaceful Assembly). Authorities dispersed political protests organized by opposition candidates with violent albeit nonlethal force (see section 2.b., Freedom of Peaceful Assembly). In addition, the state-owned radio and television channels predominantly broadcast ruling-party events, causing many observers to denounce the use of public media for campaigning.In a July 27 instruction, the minister of interior advised prefects and district chiefs to maintain contact to share with the public the government’s activities and achievements.Participation of Women and Members of Marginalized or Vulnerable Groups: Some observers stated cultural and traditional factors, such as the traditional concept of men as “heads of household” and of women occupying roles subservient to men, prevented women from participating in political life to the same extent as men.																																					Section 4.													 Corruption in Government												    																						The law provided for criminal penalties for official corruption, but the government did not implement the law consistently. There were numerous reports of government corruption during the year.Corruption: Transparency International, Initiative Madagascar, civil society, and opposition parties reported pervasive corruption in the mining sector, import and export of goods, sectors responsible for monitoring wildlife and natural resources trafficking, managing bodies of emergency aid fund, cases involving land disputes, and in the education sector.In January, social network users published a document signed by proregime member of parliament Lanto Rakotomanga authorizing the transportation of 75 logs of palisander seized by authorities. The Anti-Corruption Court ordered the Independent Anti-Corruption Bureau (BIANCO) to initiate an investigation and authorities subsequently placed the truck driver who transported the wood in pretrial detention. As of September, there was no known action taken against Rakotomanga.On August 10, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency arrested the president’s chief of staff Romy Andrianarisoa and a French business associate Philippe Tabuteau on suspicion of soliciting bribes from British mining company Gemfields to obtain licenses in the country. The accused allegedly sought to secure £225,000 in bribes and a 5 percent equity stake in the company’s projects. The president’s office dismissed Andrianarisoa as chief of staff a few days later and stated she was on personal leave and not performing her government duties when she was arrested. On September 8, Andrianarisoa was charged with bribery and pleaded not guilty before a British court, which ordered both defendants be held pending trial. Many observers conjectured Andrianarisoa could have been working with other high-ranking government officials because she did not have the authority to approve a mining license.Corruption investigations by BIANCO led to several cases going to trial at the Anti-Corruption Court and convictions and imprisonments of former and sitting government officials for embezzlement and bribery.The government took legal and disciplinary measures against working-level civil servants in the gendarmerie, police, and judiciary for bribery and for their involvement in natural resource smuggling. In March, the Anti-Corruption Court issued a report that stated the Anti-Corruption Courts of Antananarivo and Mahajanga prosecuted at least 1,200 individuals for corruption and convicted more than 400 of them in 2022. The defendants were technical level civil servants and other civilians.For additional information regarding corruption in the country, please see the Department of State’s Investment Climate Statement for Madagascar, and the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, which includes information on financial crimes.																											Section 5.													 Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights												    																						A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without restriction to monitor or investigate human rights conditions and publish their findings. Government officials were not always responsive to their views, but authorities allowed international human rights groups to enter the country, work, and consult freely with other groups.Retribution against Human Rights Defenders: Whistleblowers as well as human rights and environmental activists were subject to reprisals by authorities and community members affected by their advocacy.The government investigated, prosecuted, and convicted individuals who had denounced malfeasance in the public administration (see section 1.d, Arbitrary Arrest or Detention).In July, Angélique Razafinjoary, an environmental activist engaged in the protection of the Vohibola forest, reported she had been targeted with continued harassment and death threats by those she stated illegally exploited the forest’s natural resources. She stated the local court summoned her and her fellow activists in the region regularly for hearings with false accusations. The minister of environment stated the ministry was collaborating with the gendarmerie to investigate the death threats, but authorities took no known concrete action as of September.On November 20, the Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Thomas Razafindremaka, a human rights activist in Ihosy, to two years in prison for conviction of fraud and impersonation. Civil society organizations decried the verdict as an act of intimidation. The activist stated the legal action was a continuation of harassment he had been subjected to since 2020 when the gendarmerie of Ihosy arrested him for fraud and extortion. He regularly denounced corruption among security force and public officials in his region, and he and his and his fellow civil society members claimed these accusations were intended to silence him.Government Human Rights Bodies: The CNIDH was composed of 11 commissioners, each elected by members of a different human rights organization, and had a mandate to investigate cases of, and publish reports on, human rights abuses. The CNIDH issued several communiqués highlighting human rights abuses perpetrated by government officials and launched investigations on outstanding incidents. Nevertheless, its independence and effectiveness were limited; investigations did not lead to concrete sanctions or convictions.																											Section 6.													 Discrimination and Societal Abuses												    																																																Women										Rape and Domestic Violence: The law prohibited rape and spousal rape but did not address the gender of rape survivors. Penalties for conviction ranged from five years to life in prison. Conviction of rape of a pregnant woman was punishable by imprisonment with hard labor. Authorities could add an additional two to five years’ imprisonment if the rape involved assault and battery. The law prohibited domestic violence, assault, battery, and sexual harassment. Penalties for conviction ranged from six months to five years’ imprisonment with fines. Authorities rarely enforced the law, often due to lack of resources (e.g., vehicles, gasoline) to investigate cases.The law prohibited domestic violence, which remained a widespread problem. Conviction of domestic violence was punishable by two to five years in prison and substantial fines, depending on the severity of injuries and whether the survivor was pregnant. There were few shelters for women survivors of domestic violence in the country, and many returned to the home of their parents, who often pressured survivors to return to their abusers. Media reported a general reluctance of survivors to report domestic violence. Women filing legal actions against their husbands faced criticism from their families and communities.In general, media only covered cases reported to authorities. The results of a survey of 1,200 adults conducted by the consulting firm COEF Resources in October 2022 indicated 70 percent of respondents believed domestic violence was a family affair and not a criminal matter.In March, in connection with International Women’s Day, the Ministry of Population with the support of nongovernmental partners organized a series of events in several regions to raise awareness of gender-based violence and in November, launched 16 days of activism to combat gender-based violence.The Proximity Female Brigade within the national police conducted investigations of gender-based violence and raised public awareness. Both police and gendarmerie had their respective “brigades for morals and minors’ protection.”Two specialized centers for gender-based violence survivors were available in Antananarivo to provide medical care, psychological support, legal counselling, and socioeconomic reintegration assistance, such as vocational training.Other Forms of Gender-based Violence or Harassment: Sexual harassment was against the law. Authorities enforced the law, but sexual harassment, particularly verbal harassment, was culturally tolerated and widespread.Labor union members reported sexual harassment prevailed in many sectors. There were reports some supervisors in manufacturing companies compelled some of their women employees to have sexual relations to renew their contracts or secure promotions. Women teachers reportedly faced similar pressures when trying to negotiate permanent contracts in the public education system. A television documentary broadcast in March alleged male teachers compelled female university students to perform sex acts in exchange for high grades and in order to pass their final exams. Court rulings generally did not favor survivors who filed complaints.Discrimination: Although women enjoyed the same legal status and rights as men in some areas, there were overt discrepancies in others, and authorities did not equitably enforce the law. Women experienced discrimination in inheritance. While widows with children had the right to inherit half of joint marital property, a husband’s surviving kin had priority over widows without children if there was no written will or agreement to secure the inheritance of her deceased husband’s estate. Families at times gave women a more-favored position in the areas of employment and inheritance, but there were no reports of women taking legal action in cases of alleged discrimination.Labor laws prohibited workplace discrimination based on gender. There were legal restrictions on women’s employment in occupations or tasks deemed dangerous and in industries such as construction, agriculture, and transportation. According to labor and social protection codes, such positions included night shifts in the manufacturing sector and certain positions in the mining, metallurgy, and chemical industries. Women often did not receive equal pay for substantially similar work. Labor unions reported women faced discrimination in hiring and promotion, with men earning 15 percent more on average than women across all career fields.In rural areas, where most of the population worked in subsistence farming, traditional social structures tended to favor entrenched gender roles, leading to a pattern of discrimination against women.Reproductive Rights: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities. Some members of disability rights NGOs, however, reported some families discouraged girls with disabilities from having children and might have compelled them to have a sterilization procedure to prevent them from getting pregnant.Social and cultural barriers, resource problems, and poor access to youth-friendly services impeded the use of contraceptives. Obstacles included fear of side effects, lack of support from family members, and fear of family and community judgment. The law did not specifically provide for access to emergency contraception; however, emergency contraceptive pills were widely available for purchase in drugstores.Private and public hospitals and health-care centers were legally required to have formal care protocols for post abortion complications although abortion remained illegal.The government provided access to sexual and reproductive health services to survivors of sexual violence. Specialized centers collaborated with private pharmacies to provide free emergency contraceptives to sexual violence survivors.According to 2018 National Statistics Institute data, the estimated maternal mortality rate was 408 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (308 in urban and 425 in rural areas). The country’s adolescent fertility rate was 151 births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 19. A high maternal mortality rate stemmed from: lack of autonomy to seek care; geographical and financial barriers to access health-care centers; low quality of hospital services; chronic maternal malnutrition (including anemia); lack of adequate spacing between pregnancies; and a high rate of unsafe abortions. An elevate adolescent pregnancy rate also contributed to higher rates of maternal deaths.As discussions between parents and children regarding menstruation remained taboo, a lack of knowledge prevented many girls from having adequate menstrual hygiene. The lack of appropriate facilities in schools combined with the inability to afford necessary menstruation-related materials impeded the ability of many girls to attend school during their menstrual periods and negatively affected their performance.Many public and private schools banned pregnant girls and adolescent mothers from attending school because they considered them a bad example for other students. In addition, the adolescent mothers themselves were often reluctant to continue attending school during their pregnancies and after childbirth because of social stigma.																																				Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination										The constitution stated in its foreword the necessity of living together in an environment with no discrimination, including discrimination based on ethnic origins. The constitution prohibited the establishment of associations or political parties promoting totalitarianism or segregation based on ethnic origins.None of the 18 tribes in the country had a membership that constituted most of the population. There were also minorities of Indian, Pakistani, Comorian, and Chinese heritage. Ethnicity, caste, and regional solidarity often were considered in hiring decisions and were exploited in politics. A long history of military conquest and political dominance by highland ethnic groups of Asian origin, particularly the Merina, over coastal groups of African ancestry contributed to tensions among citizens of highland and coastal descent, especially in politics. The government made efforts to address these problems by appointing diverse candidates from different regions as members of government and to other public institutions.The migration of members of Antandroy and Antanosy tribes fleeing drought and famine from the deep southern region of the country often resulted in social tensions with local communities related to scarce resources.																																				Children										Birth Registration: The country had no uniformly enforced birth registration system, and unregistered children typically were not eligible to attend school or obtain health-care services. Authorities generally adjudicated birth registration on a nondiscriminatory basis.Education: According to UNICEF, boys and girls generally had equal access to education, although girls were more likely to drop out during adolescence. Girls faced difficulties remaining in schools during their menstrual periods, when pregnant, and after childbirth (see the subsection Women, Reproductive Rights). In 2022, a newspaper reported parents who lost their employment during the pandemic could no longer afford to pay the registration fees for all their children and preferred to keep their sons rather than their daughters in school.Child Abuse: Child abuse, including rape, was a problem. Media reported a continued increase of child abuse and child rape in several regions. Most of the survivors were girls. The youngest was age one, and in most cases the offenders were male family members. In some towns and cities, particularly in Antananarivo, homeless women raised small children in dangerous conditions and environments and forced children as young as age three to beg on the streets. Sometimes babies were “rented” to beggars to try to increase sympathy from passersby. Government authorities rarely intervened in these cases of child endangerment.During the year, authorities reported increased selling of children. Parents offered their newborn babies for sale to wealthier persons through an illegal adoption process facilitated by networks of intermediaries.Media reported government efforts to raise public awareness of child rape and efforts to combat it led to an increase in the number of prosecutions of child rape cases.Government efforts to combat other forms of child abuse were limited and focused primarily on child protection networks, which addressed the needs of survivors and helped raise public awareness. The cities of Antananarivo, Toamasina, Mahajanga, Nosy Be, Toliara, and Tolagnaro hosted one-stop survivor support centers, called Vonjy Centers, in public hospitals. These centers received child survivors of sexual abuse, including rape and sexual exploitation. In addition to medical care, these centers provided psychological support through social workers assigned by NGOs. Police from the Minors and Child Protection Brigade recorded survivors’ complaints, and volunteer lawyers provided free legal assistance.Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: The legal age for marriage without parental consent was 18. Nevertheless, child marriage remained very common, particularly in rural areas and in the southern region.The practice of moletry, in which girls were married at a young age in exchange for oxen received as a dowry, reportedly continued, involving girls as young as age 12. The Ministry of Population continued to implement a national strategy against child marriage. Community leaders and volunteers in several regions, especially in the south, conducted awareness campaigns within their communities and continued to launch programs to implement this strategy.Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prohibited recruitment and incitement to commercial sexual exploitation involving a child younger than 18, the sexual exploitation of a child younger than 15, and the commercial sexual exploitation of a child younger than 18. There was no specific mention of the sale, grooming, or offering of children for commercial sexual exploitation. The law specified penalties for perpetrators of child pornography. Authorities rarely enforced the provisions. Traffickers continued to exploit girls as young as age 13 in child sex tourism in coastal areas, but NGOs also reported an increased number of boy survivors. The law did not explicitly mention a minimum age for consensual sex. The antitrafficking law, however, defined a child as any person younger than 18 and stipulated consent was not relevant in cases of child commercial sexual exploitation, as a child was too young to provide such consent.Child sex trafficking and child sexual abuse, sometimes with the involvement of parents, remained a significant problem.According to media and NGO reports, employers often abused and raped young rural girls working as housekeepers in the capital and other cities. If the girls left their work, employers typically did not pay them. Many therefore remained rather than return empty-handed to their families and villages. NGOs also reported the sexual exploitation of children working in mines, or the sexual exploitation of children who lived in mining communities.The national gendarmerie operated the Morals and Minors Protection Unit with responsibility for protecting children, including rape survivors, in rural areas not covered by the national police’s Morals and Minors’ Brigade. The Ministry of Justice, collaborating with UNICEF and telecommunications companies, operated the Arozaza (protect the child) website to combat online sexual exploitation of children and deter potential abusers. The website included a form to report child endangerment or online pornography. The website enabled police or other governmental entities to intervene immediately once a report was filed on the platform.The Internet Watch Foundation portal allowed individuals worldwide to anonymously and safely report images and videos of sexual abuse of Malagasy children found on the internet.The Ministry of Population coordinated approximately 750 programs covering 22 regions throughout the country to protect children from abuse and exploitation; of which only approximately 450 child protection networks were operational. The ministry collaborated with UNICEF to identify child survivors and provide access to adequate medical and psychosocial services. The gendarmerie, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Population, and UNICEF trained local authorities and other stakeholders in targeted regions on the rights of children.Infanticide, Including Infanticide of Children with Disabilities: Media reported several deaths of newborns abandoned in gutters and dumpsters. A traditional taboo in the southeastern region against giving birth to twins also contributed to the problem. A provision in the law prohibited traditional practices that harmed human rights, including infanticide. The government did not always enforce the law.																																				Antisemitism										The Jewish community consisted of approximately 360 members. There were no reports of antisemitic incidents.																																				Trafficking in Persons										See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at  https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/.																																				Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, Or Sex Characteristics										Criminalization: No law prohibited same-sex sexual conduct for those older than 21. The law provided for a prison sentence of two to five years and fines for conviction of committing acts that were “indecent or against nature with an individual of the same sex younger than 21,” which were understood to include sexual relations. Authorities enforced the law. The penal code explicitly prescribed penalties for sexual contact between persons of the same sex if one of them was younger than 21, yet there was no equivalent clause for heterosexual contact.Violence and Harassment: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) community members reported police violence against transgender individuals in commercial sex had increased. In May, a transgender individual in commercial sex reported she was assaulted during the year by members of the military. Community members said homophobic and hateful speech was increasing on social media.Discrimination: The law did not prohibit discrimination by state or nonstate actors based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. Members of the LGBTQI+ community often faced considerable social stigma and discrimination across society and within their own families, particularly in rural areas. Some were refused employment due to sexual orientation. Several members of the community reported they were not offered positions at the interview due to their gender presentation appearing inconsistent with the gender on their identification card and resume. Many individuals kept their LGBTQI+ identities hidden due to fear of violence and discrimination.Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: Legal gender recognition was not available.Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices: Members of the LGBTQI+ community reported many of their friends, especially those younger than age 17, were subjected to involuntary conversion practices imposed by their relatives such as forced consultations with psychologists, exorcism, religious rituals, and threats of internment. No legal provisions prohibited such practices.There were no standards for medical or psychological care for intersex persons, nor were surgeries performed on children or nonconsenting adult intersex persons.Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly: There were no laws restricting discussion or reporting on LGBTQI+ matters or preventing LGBTQI+ persons from legally registering organizations or convening events. In July, the governor of the Boeny region expressed his disapproval of the increasing visibility of LGBTQI+ persons. The statement came after several trans women announced their intention to participate in a women’s beauty contest.																																				Persons with Disabilities										Persons with disabilities could not access education, health services, public buildings, and transportation on an equal basis with others. By law, persons with disabilities were entitled to receive health care, education, facilitated access to public transportation, and have the right to training and employment. The law did not address access to the judicial system, information, and communications. Educational institutions were encouraged to make necessary infrastructure adjustments to accommodate students with disabilities. The law also specified the state “must facilitate, to the extent possible, access to its facilities, public spaces, and public transportation to accommodate persons with disabilities” but, many public facilities and services were not fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The government did not always provide government information and communication in accessible formats.Authorities rarely enforced the rights of persons with disabilities, and the legal framework for promoting accessibility remained perfunctory. Access to education and health care for persons with disabilities also was limited due to lack of adequate infrastructure, specialized institutions, and personnel.Very few schools had the skills and training to accommodate learners with disabilities. Of the 500,000 candidates completing primary cycle (fifth grade) in June, only 99 children had recorded disabilities. Of the 305,836 students who completed their lower secondary school official exam, only 47 had recorded disabilities.On June 23 in Toliara, an adult male raped a girl, age eight, who had a physical and mental disability. The doctor who treated the survivor attested the girl had been raped, and her family subsequently reported the incident to authorities. The perpetrator presented another document from a different doctor who testified the child was not raped, and the court subsequently released him. The case received broad coverage by local news outlets and was widely denounced on social media. Several days later, media reported police arrested the offender and the court committed him to pretrial detention.Members of disability rights NGOs continued to report families compelled some persons with disabilities to undergo sterilization procedures to prevent them from becoming pregnant. Survivors were generally reluctant to file complaints due to shame or fear of humiliating the family. Those who were part of disability rights NGOs had more capacity to protect themselves and refused those interventions.The law prohibited discrimination against persons with disabilities and defined persons with disabilities as those presenting a congenital or acquired deficiency in their physical, mental, or sensory capacities. The law also provided for a national commission and regional sub commissions to promote their rights, but none had been established. Disability rights activists and NGOs reported persons with disabilities encountered discrimination in employment. They were also more likely to become targets of various types of abuse, sometimes perpetrated by their own relatives.The law provided for assistance for individuals with disabilities in casting their ballots, but contained no other provisions to accommodate such voters. The Independent National Electoral Commission collaborated with the Federation of Associations of Visually Impaired Persons to design and print 3,000 ballots in braille for use in the presidential election. While these ballots were not available throughout the country, media showcased one blind citizen using the braille ballot in an Antananarivo suburb.Institutionalized Children: The country’s policies and social practices prioritized returning abandoned children to their families. Children with disabilities, as well as elderly persons, often stayed with their families.																																				Other Societal Violence or Discrimination										Mob violence occurred in both urban and rural areas, in large part due to crime and lack of public confidence in police and the judiciary. Crowds killed, beat, burned, or otherwise injured suspected criminals or accomplices if security forces did not arrive in time to halt the violence. Authorities sometimes arrested the perpetrators, but fear of creating renewed anger hindered prosecution. During the year, many news articles reported incidents of mob violence, demonstrating the population’s lack of trust in law enforcement authorities and the justice system.On May 26, a group of angry residents in a village outside the city of Fianarantsoa killed three persons in a vehicle that had stopped near the village. The inhabitants believed the persons had kidnapped children for the purpose of forced organ harvesting. Relatives of the victims filed a complaint with authorities, claiming the victims were gemstone traders who traveled frequently in the region. The gendarmerie arrested implicated persons. They were charged with murder and on June 5, the Court of First Instance of Fianarantsoa placed 47 of 107 defendants in pretrial detention and released the other persons.Persons with albinism in the southern regions of the country continued to be the object of killings and kidnappings. The phenomenon increasingly affected localities in the central highlands and the northern region. In August, members of an association of persons with albinism reported 12 persons with albinism were kidnapped since the beginning of the year and two died.Security forces rescued most victims and arrested several suspects in cases of kidnapping of persons with albinism. In addition, local authorities in some localities provided financial and technical support to newly created associations for persons with albinism engaged in awareness-raising campaigns. On October 1, however, during a press conference, members of the community of persons with albinism denounced the lack of proactive action by authorities to address their cases. They also generally blamed authorities for failing to conduct thorough investigations or work to address the root cause for their continued insecurity. For example, they said authorities did not act to rescue a child with albinism, age 18 months, kidnapped the previous week.Health-care providers subjected persons with HIV and AIDS to stigma and discrimination. HIV and AIDS patients had the right to free health care, and the law specified sanctions against persons who discriminated against or marginalized persons with HIV and AIDS. A special decree on HIV in the workplace banned discrimination based on serology status. While the National Committee for the Fight against AIDS in Madagascar worked to enforce the law, national institutions including the Ministries of Health and Justice did not consistently do so.Although the law prohibited discrimination based on religion, members of some evangelical churches reported limited access to employment if their sabbath was not on Sunday.																																					Section 7.													 Worker Rights												    																																																a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining										The law stated public and private sector workers could establish and join labor unions of their choice without prior authorization or excessive requirements. Civil servants and maritime workers had separate labor codes. Essential workers, including police, military, and firefighters, were not permitted to form unions. Seafarers were covered by the maritime code, which did not specifically provide the right to form unions.The law generally allowed for union activities and provided most workers the right to strike, including workers in export processing zones (Free Zones). Authorities prohibited strikes, however, if there was a possibility of “disruption of public order” or if the strike would endanger the life, safety, or health of the population. Workers were required first to exhaust conciliation, mediation, and compulsory arbitration remedies, which could take eight months to two and one-half years. Magistrates and workers in “essential services” (not defined by law) had a recognized but more restricted right to strike. The law required them to maintain a basic level of service and to give prior notice to their employer. The law also provided for a fine, imprisonment, or both for the “instigators and leaders of illegal strikes.”The law prohibited antiunion discrimination by employers. In the event of antiunion activity, unions or their members could file suit against the employer in civil court. The law did not accord civil servants and other public-sector employees legal protection against antiunion discrimination and interference. Penalties for violations were not commensurate with other laws involving denials of civil rights such as discrimination.The law provided workers in the private sector, except seafarers, the right to bargain collectively. Public-sector employees not engaged in the administration of the state, such as teachers hired under the auspices of donor organizations or parent associations in public schools, did not have the right to bargain collectively. Procedures were subject to lengthy delays and appeals. Larger international firms, such as in the telecommunications and banking sectors, more readily exercised and respected collective bargaining rights. These rights, however, were reportedly more difficult to exercise in Free Zones and in smaller local companies. Union representatives reported workers in such companies often were reluctant to make demands due to fear of reprisal.The government did not effectively enforce the law. Penalties were rarely applied against violators. The law required that unions operate independently of the government and political parties. Union representatives stated employers attempted to dissuade, influence, or otherwise interfere with unions, which often prevented workers from organizing or advocating for better working conditions. Unions reported many employers hindered their employees’ ability to form or join labor unions through intimidation and threats of dismissal for professional misconduct. Due to pervasive corruption, labor inspectors, bribed by some employers, usually approved dismissal of union leaders. As a result, workers were reluctant to join or lead unions. Trade unions complained of persistent antiunion discrimination in telecommunications, banking, textiles, the salt industry, mining, public sector, and fishing.Strikes occurred throughout the year, including by public school and university teachers and ministry employees.The government did not protect workers against retaliation for legal union activities. On September 15, the Court of Appeals of Antananarivo rejected the request of Sento Marcel Zotiakobanjinina to reverse his July 2022 defamation conviction. Marcel was the union leader within a garment factory named Etoile. His employer sued him for defamation after he reported on his Facebook page details of an agreement between his employer and his fellow employees on the calculations of overtime allowance. At his trial, he claimed he published the post to raise awareness as part of his union leader duties, but Etoile’s lawyer claimed he had no right to disclose the details. He served nine months in prison before his sentence was curtailed three months. He reported to IndustriALL, a global union, that the court’s refusal to rescind his conviction would mean he would need to work in the informal sector, since his criminal record would prevent him from being rehired in the formal sector.																																				b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor										See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at  https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/.																																				c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment										See the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at  https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings/ .																																				d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																														e. Acceptable Conditions of Work										Wage and Hour Laws: In May, the government adopted a decree setting the monthly minimum wage to an amount slightly lower than the World Bank defined poverty threshold.The standard workweek was 40 hours in nonagricultural industries and 42.5 hours in the agricultural sector. The law limited workers to 20 hours of overtime per week and required two and one-half days of paid annual leave per month. The law required overtime pay, generally for more than 40 hours work in one week, but the exact circumstances requiring such pay were unclear. If the hours worked exceeded the legal limits for working hours (2,200 hours per year in agriculture and 173 hours per month in other sectors), employers were legally required to pay overtime in accordance with a Labor Council decree that also denoted the required amount of overtime pay. Some employers exploited the more relaxed labor codes in free zones to skirt minimum wage and overtime laws by paying employees based on production. According to union leaders, workers hired for online positions were often victims of unfair remuneration due to the absence of specific legislation for free zones, allowing the employers to set their own rules.Occupational Safety and Health: The government set occupational safety and health (OSH) standards for workers and workplaces. Labor activists noted standards, dating to the country’s independence in some cases, were severely outdated. Labor unions reported the law was deficient in protecting worker and human rights in mines.Workers, including foreign or migrant workers, had the explicit right to remove themselves from unsafe situations without jeopardizing their employment if they informed their supervisors. Employers did not always respect this right.Wage, Hour, and OSH Enforcement: The government did not always enforce the law. Penalties were rarely applied against violators. There were no prosecutions, and penalties were not commensurate with those for crimes like negligence.The Ministry of Civil Service, Labor, and Social Laws was responsible for enforcing wage and hour laws. The number of labor inspectors working nationwide was insufficient, according to Ministry of Labor officials, and unable to monitor appropriately the formal sector much less the much larger informal sector. All labor inspections were unannounced. The labor code provided labor inspectors with the right to enter, at any time and with no prior notice, any site subject to labor inspection. Labor inspectors did not have legal law enforcement authority and as a result did not issue sanctions. When they observed a labor law violation, labor inspectors reminded employers regarding the applicable legal provisions and related penalties, and they made recommendations to the court, which had the authority to assess penalties. Except in cases of serious threats to worker safety or health, the labor inspectorate submitted a report for action once an allotted time to correct the situation passed.In April, for Occupational Safety and Health World Day, the Ministry of Labor organized a one-week campaign to promote OSH. In collaboration with the International Labor Organization and other ministries, the Ministry of Labor sensitized companies on how to structure working environments to preserve safety and health and to reduce the risk of work accidents.The informal sector made up 95 percent of employment in the country, according to available data, with most persons self-employed in fishing, forestry, and agriculture at the subsistence level. Up to two million informal-sector workers earned their living through artisanal and small-scale gold mining.Violations of wage, overtime, or occupational safety and health standards were common in the informal sector and in domestic work, where many worked long hours for less than minimum wage. Although the law was meant to cover all types of working contracts, including the informal sector and part-time workers, labor inspection did not cover the informal sector due to insufficient staffing. The General Workers’ Confederation labor union alleged agricultural workers in the informal sector were not compensated for occupational injury, in violation of the law.																																				    							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Respect for the Integrity of the Person																																							a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings																																																						b. Disappearance																																																						c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses																																																				Prison and Detention Center Conditions																																																																																				d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention																																																				Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees																																																																																				e. Denial of Fair Public Trial																																																				Trial Procedures																																												Political Prisoners and Detainees																																																																																				f. Transnational Repression																																																						h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence																																																			Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties																																							a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media																																																				Internet Freedom																																																																																				b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association																																																				Freedom of Peaceful Assembly																																																																																				c. Freedom of Religion																																																						d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country																																																						e. Protection of Refugees																																																						f. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)																																																						g. Stateless Persons																																																			Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process																																							Elections and Political Participation																																																			Section 4. Corruption in Government																Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights																Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses																																							Women																																																						Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination																																																						Children																																																						Antisemitism																																																						Trafficking in Persons																																																						Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, Or Sex Characteristics																																																						Persons with Disabilities																																																						Other Societal Violence or Discrimination																																																			Section 7. Worker Rights																																							a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining																																																						b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor																																																						c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment																																																						d. Discrimination (see section 6)																																																						e. Acceptable Conditions of Work																																																									Tags																					Bureau of African Affairs																								Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor																								Madagascar
- Madagascar Endorses the Proliferation Security Initiative Office of the SpokespersonThe Republic of Madagascar has conveyed to the United States its endorsement of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). The United States welcomes Madagascar’s endorsement and participation in the Initiative and looks forward to working with the Government of Madagascar to advance the counterproliferation goals of the PSI and its Statement of Interdiction Principles. Madagascar is the 112th state to endorse the PSI.Madagascar’s endorsement of the PSI follows its attendance at the PSI African Political Meeting and Outreach Event, co-hosted by Morocco and the United States on January 31-February 2, 2024, in Marrakesh, Morocco. The Marrakesh Declaration issued at that meeting by Morocco and the United States highlighted the importance of the Initiative in addressing the threats posed by trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and related items within the African region and encouraged regional countries’ PSI endorsements.Launched in Krakow, Poland, in 2003, the PSI celebrated its 20th Anniversary in May 2023. States become part of the PSI by publicly endorsing the PSI Statement of Interdiction Principles, making voluntary political commitments to impede and stop shipments of illicit WMD, delivery systems, and related materials flowing to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern. PSI-endorsing States also adopt streamlined procedures for rapid information exchange and strengthen relevant national and international laws and frameworks.
- Strengthening Climate Security Through Enhanced Security Sector Governance Bureau of Political-Military AffairsAmanda Ans, Sarah Bufano, Sara Ratliff, and Ilyssa TuttelmanAs the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai concluded on December 12, the United States and our partners have advanced global efforts to address shared climate challenges.  For two weeks, COP28 participants discussed common challenges for climate and global security and set the stage for effective collaboration.The United States recognizes that a whole-of-government approach and international engagement are required to achieve climate security.  Climate security is a condition that results from the establishment and maintenance of protective measures that ensure a state of inviolability from the adverse impacts of climate.  Climate change introduces new security risks and vulnerabilities, which is why the Department of State is working with partners and allies to strengthen their resilience.  One example of this is the Department of State’s Global Defense Reform Program (GDRP), which provides strategic-level advisors to select countries to enhance security sector governance.  Advisors assist countries in their efforts to establish effective systems and mechanisms such as legislation, policies, strategies, regulations, procedures, oversight, and accountability.  These in turn enhance countries’ capacities to respond to their people&#8217;s security needs in a coordinated, efficient, and effective way.  In countries such as Madagascar, Palau, Peru, and Ecuador, GDRP advisors are also supporting partners by helping them anticipate and plan for severe climate change impacts, such as flooding, wildfires, droughts, and stronger El Niño cycles, thus enabling them to be more resilient to climate change.Strengthening Climate Security Can Enhance the Maritime Security of Island NationsRising ocean temperatures, a result of climate change, have created new migration paths for fish stocks that cross through two or more exclusive economic zones (EEZs).  As the fish move, foreign fishing vessels and fleets follow them, often without regard for international maritime norms, customs, and laws regarding fishing.  These sometimes-lawless movements and illegal fishing create food security and maritime security governance challenges for island nations in that they are forced to address the increased threat of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in their EEZs.  GDRP advisors collaborate with partner nations like Madagascar and Palau to enhance maritime security governance and safeguard their EEZs, thus strengthening the ability of partner countries to effectively address maritime security and governance challenges partially induced by climate factors.&nbsp; GDRP Maritime Security Advisor Douglas Poole meets with Head of the Malagasy Navy Rear Admiral Honoré Ga, Office of Security Cooperation Chief Lieutenant Commander Ty-Jebeck Ruun, Rear Admiral Tsiriniaina, and other officers in January 2022. &nbsp;Rampant IUU fishing has dramatically strained Madagascar’s already limited fish stocks.  A GDRP advisor supports the Ministry of National Defense and Navy with strategy development, human resources planning, and career management to build a force capable of patrolling the island nation’s EEZ of 473,075 square miles (1,225,259 square kilometers), the 25th largest in the world.  These strategies align with national goals, such as fostering a blue economy, which accounts for the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and a robust marine ecosystem.  By addressing vulnerabilities partially caused by climate change, in this case IUU fishing, the ministry is contributing to a more efficient and effective government-wide response to challenges found in the maritime economy.  Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Office Director Michael Smith and the Honorable J. Uduuch Sengebau Senior, Vice President and Minister of Justice, discussed GDRP in Palau. &nbsp;Palau, an island nation consisting of 340 islands and an EEZ of 230,197 square miles (596,208 square kilometers)—the 42nd largest in the world—considers its marine ecosystem a vital source of food and income.  Unfortunately, the ecosystem is highly vulnerable to climate change.  Climate change has caused rising sea levels, warming water temperatures, and drastic weather changes that affect Palau’s marine ecosystem and aquaculture, and result in more fish in its EEZ.  This increase in fish stocks has been accompanied by an increase in harmful IUU fishing.  In accordance with the U.S. Integrated Country Strategy for Palau, the United States supports Palau in increasing its “resiliency to the impacts of climate change and natural disasters &#8230;  economy in an environmentally friendly way, through sustainable tourism, fisheries, and agriculture.”  The GDRP maritime security advisor works with the Bureau of Public Safety’s Division of Maritime Security and Fish and Wildlife Protection and the National Security Coordinator’s Office to develop more robust processes and structures that support a whole-of-government approach to information sharing and reporting suspected IUU vessels in the EEZ.  The increased coordination and responsiveness diminish the negative impact on Palau’s fisheries and shore up its climate security.Fostering Coordinated Disaster Responses to Climate-Induced Emergencies and Destruction The U.S delegation outside of the PERAR headquarters where they were hosted by PERAR Crl. Carlos Gil, DIPLANE Director, Gral. Ricardo Anibal Benavides Febres, and GDRP Advisor Gerry Olivarez in October 2023. &nbsp;Navigating diverse climates from the Andes mountains to the Amazon, Peru faces an increased amount of natural weather phenomena induced by climate change that have wreaked havoc on its communities and environment.  El Niño cycles—such as the damaging 2017 event that triggered catastrophic flooding, displaced 100,000 Peruvians, and inflicted $1.4 billion in damages—are expected to persist.  The United States has partnered with Peru to enhance citizen safety by addressing security threats, including natural disasters.  Over the past three years, an embedded GDRP advisor with the Peruvian Army allowed the Department of State to support Peru in implementing an emergency response strategy and developing a program for military first responders.  Today, Peru has a well-established training center for personnel assigned to its 1st Multipurpose Brigade, which conducts search and rescue, radiological detection, and river bridging, often in response to climate-related disasters.  This initiative fosters an integrated whole-of-government response through collaboration with national government entities under the National Disaster Risk Management System, nongovernmental organizations, and civilian defense institutions.  Peru, with GDRP advisory support, is building a comprehensive and coordinated approach to disaster response that can address the challenges posed by climate change.  GDRP Advisor Rick Pineiro meets with Captain J. Benitez (JointCommand), General C. Carillo (retired), General F. Adatty (MOD Sub-Secretary), and Luis Auz (National Secretariat of Public and State Security) at the Ecuador Ministry of National Defense to discuss multi-domain awareness. &nbsp;Home to rainforests, glaciers, and the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador is classified as a mega-diverse country because of its abundance of distinct climates.  While an asset in many ways, this diversity makes Ecuador vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as increased flooding, droughts, and a stronger El Niño effect.  To build greater resilience, a GDRP advisor assists Ecuador’s Ministry of National Defense in the development of robust multi-domain awareness to holistically monitor and respond to events across air, land, and sea.  As Luis Auz, the Director of Planning and Coordination in the Secretariat for National Security and Public Order explains, this strategy enables the country to better assess the “interrelationship of the environment with  domains, which will help&#8230;  catastrophic events.”  Multi-domain awareness will streamline information-sharing across Ecuador’s military so it can be faster and better coordinated in responding to severe climate events, and thus Ecuador can be more responsive to its people’s safety and security needs.Advancing Global Climate SecurityCOP28 underscored the importance of collaborative action and a proactive and inclusive approach to establishing and maintaining protective measures that ensure a state of inviolability from the adverse impacts of climate change.  The United States demonstrates its commitment to climate security collaboration through programs such as the Department of State’s Global Defense Reform Program, which strategically assists partner nations such as Madagascar, Palau, Peru, and Ecuador to develop the governance processes, strategies, and structures to be more resilient to climate change.  These efforts prepare nations to respond efficiently and effectively to the escalating climate events and protect people and the nation’s vital natural resources.About the Authors:  Amanda Ans, Sarah Bufano, Sara Ratliff, and Ilyssa Tuttelman serve in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Global Programs and Initiatives at the U.S. Department of State.
- Presidential Elections in Madagascar Matthew Miller, Department SpokespersonThe United States commends the Malagasy people for exercising their civil and political rights in Madagascar’s November 16 presidential elections.&nbsp; The United States reaffirms its commitment to work cooperatively with President-elect Rajoelina, the government, and the people of Madagascar for the development of the country and in support of respect for human rights for every individual.We further commend the government and the people of Madagascar for ensuring that election day was calm and peaceful in most locations.&nbsp; However, the electoral process raised some serious concerns that must be addressed for the peace and future well-being of the nation.&nbsp; Many stakeholders, including Malagasy citizens and both domestic and international election observers, noted irregularities in the electoral process.&nbsp; Further, most recommendations made following the 2018 and 2019 elections remain outstanding.We strongly urge the National Independent Elections Commission to take action to address these deficiencies and call on Malagasy authorities to thoroughly investigate all irregularities and allegations of fraud, implement needed reforms highlighted by international and domestic observers, and address the needs and wishes of the citizens of Madagascar.The United States&nbsp;calls upon&nbsp;Madagascar to show commitment to the democratic process, its constitution, and the rule of law.&nbsp; The Malagasy people deserve and expect free and fair elections, held peacefully, as well as good governance. &nbsp;We urge the government to increase confidence in its institutions and ensure the integrity of future elections.The United States condemns all violence and urges the Malagasy people to address any election-related grievances through Madagascar’s established legal processes.						Tags																													Africa																															Bureau of African Affairs																																Democracy																																							Elections																															Madagascar																								Office of the Spokesperson
- Madagascar HomeReportsBureau of Economic and Business Affairs2023 Investment Climate Statements&#8230;Madagascar				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Investment Climate Statements: Madagascar																																																																																												 In this section										/																							EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																																													EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																															1. Openness To, and Restrictions Upon, Foreign Investment																																																									Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment																																																																											Limits on Foreign Control and Right to Private Ownership and Establishment																																																																											Other Investment Policy Reviews																																																																											Business Facilitation																																																																											Outward Investment																																																																																	2. Bilateral Investment and Taxation Treaties																															3. Legal Regime																																																									Transparency of the Regulatory System																																																																											Legal System and Judicial Independence																																																																											Laws and Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment																																																																											Competition and Antitrust Laws																																																																											Expropriation and Compensation																																																																											Dispute Settlement																																																																			ICSID Convention and New York Convention																																																								Investor-State Dispute Settlement																																																								International Commercial Arbitration and Foreign Courts																																																																																																																		Bankruptcy Regulations																																																																																	4. Industrial Policies																																																									Investment Incentives																																																																											Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation																																																																											Performance and Data Localization Requirements																																																																																	5. Protection of Property Rights																																																									Real Property																																																																											Intellectual Property Rights																																																																																	6. Financial Sector																																																									Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment																																																																											Money and Banking System																																																																											Foreign Exchange and Remittances																																																																			Foreign Exchange																																																								Remittance Policies																																																																																																																		Sovereign Wealth Funds																																																																																	7. State-Owned Enterprises																																																									Privatization Program																																																																																	8. Responsible Business Conduct																																																									Climate Issues																																																																																	9. Corruption																															10. Political and Security Environment																															11. Labor Policies and Practices																															12. U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs																															13. Foreign Direct Investment Statistics																															14. Contact for More Information																																																					EXECUTIVE SUMMARY				Madagascar possesses large quantities ofmineral, agricultural, and marine resources, and the Government of Madagascar (GOM) publicly welcomes foreign direct investment (FDI), however U.S. companies describe the investment climate as increasingly challenging. Following a military coup in 2009, FDI decreased from an all-time high of 22 percent of GDP in 2010 to 10 percent in 2020. In 2019 the government announced a new strategy for attracting foreign investment and promoting economic development called the “Plan d’Emergence Madagascar” or PEM. As of 2023 the government has yet to publish the PEM but continues to stress the importance of FDI to achieving its development goals.Problems investors experience in Madagascar generally stem not from the text of laws but from the perceived lack of fair and consistent implementation. Existing laws allow foreign ownership of businesses and do not generally discriminate against foreign-owned enterprises, yet foreign companies regularly report being subjected to additional licensing and tax scrutiny and unexplained holdups in receiving government approvals. There is no legal requirement that citizens own shares of foreign investments, nor any restriction on the mobility of foreign investors, but companies which lack local partners tend to face additional regulatory hurdles and other challenges. Foreign and domestic businesses frequently claim they are not consulted prior to the implementation of new government policies affecting their activities.Due to decreasing revenues and foreign exchange levels, the government has recently instituted policies designed to increase its revenues and foreign exchange reserves derived from exports. However these moves have had a deleterious effect on the country’s exports and foreign exchange reserves. In the vanilla sector, the government in 2022-2023 introduced new regulations and limitations on exports which caused a collapse of the country’s vanilla sales during the 2022-2023 season.Companies and individuals seeking to conduct foreign currency transactions in Madagascar must request permission from the government via a form. Restrictions on foreign currency transfers are enforced at the state and commercial bank level with close monitoring by the Finance Ministry. In 2023 the government began further restricting the outflow of Euros and U.S. Dollars from Madagascar due to an increasing shortage of foreign exchange in the country. These measures have negatively impacted the operations of foreign investors.Madagascar was ranked 142 out of 180 countries for corruption in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International, and in 2022 the government threatened to prosecute the local director of Transparency International for uncovering alleged corruption. While giving or accepting a bribe is a criminal act and is subject to trial by court, corruption is an ongoing issue at all levels in Madagascar and a factor in daily life faced by most Malagasies. Corruptionis most pervasive in the judiciary, police, tax, customs, land ownership, and mining. U.S. companies operating in Madagascar cite corruption as a serious impediment to their activities.Madagascar does not have a separate free trade agreement or a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with the United States but benefits significantly from customs duty exemptions under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), to the point that the United States has been its biggest individual export market since 2018. Madagascar lost its AGOA eligibility from 2010-2014 due to a military coup in 2009, but exports under AGOA – primarily vanilla and textiles – rebounded. Madagascar has a young though largely illiterate workforce. Textiles, mining, energy, and telecommunications remain the most promising sectors in a challenging investment climate.Table 1: Key Metrics and RankingsMeasureYearIndex/RankWebsite AddressTI Corruption Perceptions Index2022142 of 180 (score 26/100) http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview Global Innovation Index2022106 of 132 https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/analysis-indicator U.S. FDI in partner country ($M USD, historical stock positions)2022N/A https://apps.bea.gov/international/factsheet World Bank GNI per capita2021490 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD 																																					1. Openness To, and Restrictions Upon, Foreign Investment						    																																																Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment										The GOM publicly asserts it welcomes foreign investors, but bureaucratic hurdles and rent-seeking behavior continue to be a significant deterrent to it. As a result of the deteriorating investment climate and lingering political instability since a 2009 military coup, FDI has decreased from around 22 percent of GDP in 2010 to under 10 percent in 2020, while GDP per capita has decreased from around $580 in 1980 to $500 in 2020, making Madagascar one of the only non-conflict countries to have seen its GDP capita steadily decrease. In 2019 the government announced a new strategy for attracting foreign investment and promoting economic development called the “Plan d’Emergence Madagascar” or PEM. As of 2023 the government has yet to publish the PEM but continues to stress the importance of FDI to achieving its development goals.Since President Andry Rajoelina took office in January 2019, the GOM has promoted Madagascar as an investment destination by sending delegations across Africa, Europe, and Asia while also organizing conferences and trade shows in Madagascar. This marketing push has not yet translated into increased FDI and certain developments have called the government’s commitment to increasing FDI into question. The business community in Madagascar continues to express frustration about poor and worsening transportation infrastructure; increasingly expensive and unreliable electricity and water supplies; endemic corruption; and weak enforcement of rules and regulations as impediments to investment, both foreign and domestic. In addition, the business community expresses concern about the lack of transparency in drafting investment regulations and in awarding government contracts; uncertainty about agreed terms for contracts and tenders; and centralized decision-making which has caused confusion and backtracking over the last decade.Problems investors experience in Madagascar stem mostly from the reported lack of fair and consistent implementation of existing laws. The existing investment law allows foreign ownership of businesses and does not discriminate against foreign-owned enterprises, yet foreign companies regularly report being subjected to additional licensing and tax scrutiny. There is no legal requirement that citizens own shares of foreign investments, nor any restriction on the mobility of foreign investors, however companies which lack local partners tend to face additional regulatory and other challenges to doing business. The regime for visas, residence, and work permits is neither discriminatory nor excessively onerous, yet corruption reportedly occurs in many interactions with the government. A new version of the investment law currently under review is expected to clarify access to land and address issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, yet stakeholders report a lack of consultation. In practice foreign companies frequently report being singled out for lengthy and inefficient tax audits, but the draft investment law reportedly guarantees stability in matters of taxes and customs.The government has recently instituted policies designed to increase its revenues from exports, which have had a deleterious effect on the country’s limited exports. Foreign and domestic businesses frequently claim they are not consulted prior to the implementation of new government policies affecting their activities, including export activities which should in theory benefit Madagascar’s development. For instance, small and medium mining operators stated the government did not discuss with them the introduction of exit taxes of 10 to 20 percent in the 2023 budget which led to a decrease in mining exports in 2023 and companies claiming they cannot afford further taxes. In the vanilla sector, the government in 2022-2023 introduced strict new phytosanitary regulations and limitations on exports which contributed to a collapse of the country’s vanilla sales during the 2022-2023 season.The Economic Development Board of Madagascar (EDBM), an investment promotion agency, has several objectives: to strengthen the competitiveness of the Malagasy private sector; to increase FDI; to develop and recommend business incentives for private investments in Madagascar; and to provide a one-stop shop to help investors set up or expand their business through tailored services by specialized advisors. EDBM is currently moving towards digitalization and paperless procedures which should enable online registration and provide tools for startups in search of investors; however, the fact that EDBM often refers foreign investment projects to the Office of the Presidency for approval limits the number of projects it approves.																																				Limits on Foreign Control and Right to Private Ownership and Establishment										Current laws allow both foreign and domestic private entities to establish and own business enterprises. There are no general, economy-wide limits on foreign ownership or control, however there are limits in specific sectors. For example, in the telecommunication sector, foreign ownership is restricted to 66 percent. Strategic sectors such as banking, insurance, mining, oil and gas, medical, and pharmaceuticals have extra regulatory provisions which apply to all investors, foreign and domestic.Madagascar has no legal investment screening mechanism for inbound foreign investment, however the EDBM serves as a de-facto screening mechanism. The EDBM conducts a review of foreign investment which is submitted to the licensing authority and final ratification of foreign investment must be completed by the President’s Office. As a result, many foreign investment projects require presidential-level approval to proceed, with no predictable timeframe or standard requirements for such approval. Some of the largest foreign investment projects in Madagascar have been pending presidential approval for several years, resulting in significant financial loss to foreign investors.																																				Other Investment Policy Reviews										In the past three years, the government has not undergone any third-party investment policy reviews (IPRs) through a multilateral organization such as the OECD, WTO, or UNCTAD.																																				Business Facilitation										In 2006, Madagascar set up the EDBM as a one-stop shop for receiving, processing, and delivering the required administrative documents to speed up the approval of all investment projects. Its primary recommendation for foreign companies is to consider collaborating with a local partner. Many foreign companies seek local partners to ease their introduction to the market and make new contacts.EDBM launched an online registration service in 2022. Working in conjunction with the concerned public institutions and technical and financial partners, EDBM has planned reforms that will establish a paperless process for business registration while putting in place a unique identifier for each company. Through close collaboration with municipalities, the Ministry of Territory Development-Habitat-Public Works, and the national utility company JIRAMA, EDBM aims to modernize the issuance of building permits at the municipal level, starting in the capital city of Antananarivo.EDBM handles business registrations, which take an average of eight days compared to the average of 21.5 days in Sub-Saharan Africa. Companies need to secure a physical local address with a signed lease before attempting to register. EDBM assists both local and foreign investors in registering and operating their businesses. At the EDBM one-stop shop, companies can obtain their business identification cards, tax registration confirmation commercial registration numbers, and apply for visas, work permits or professional cards. They must also register for social security and health insurance. Companies in Madagascar are in theory free to open and maintain bank accounts in foreign currency, however foreign currency transfers require approval of the government.																																				Outward Investment										The GOM does not offer incentives to promote outward investment. However, many wealthy entrepreneurs based in Madagascar have diversified their investment base by investing in Europe, the United States, Mauritius, and the Middle East, partially due to their concerns about the stability of Madagascar’s political situation and investment climate.Companies and individuals seeking to conduct foreign currency transactions in Madagascar must request permission from the government to conduct foreign currency transfers. Restrictions on foreign currency transfers are enforced at the state and commercial bank level with close monitoring by the Finance Ministry. In 2023 the government began implementing various measures to restrict the outflow of Euros and U.S. Dollars from Madagascar due to an increasing shortage of foreign exchange in the country.																																												2. Bilateral Investment and Taxation Treaties						    																						Madagascar does not have a separate free trade agreement or a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with the United States but benefits significantly from customs duty exemptions under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), to the point that the United States has been its biggest individual export market since 2018. Madagascar lost its AGOA eligibility from 2010-2014 due to a military coup in 2009, but exports under AGOA – primarily vanilla and textiles – rebounded, until a crash in the vanilla exports in 2022 due to government actions in the sector.Madagascar is a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) with which the United States has an agreement to develop trade and investment relations. In 2017, Madagascar signed the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFFA) associating the East African Community (EAC), COMESA, and Southern African Development Community (SADC). Madagascar is one of the signatories to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) but is one of the last remaining countries that has not ratified the agreement as of 2023. The AfCFTA came into force on January 1, 2021, with ratification from 36 countries.According to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Madagascar has concluded nine BITs (Belgium-Luxemburg-Economic Union, China, France, Germany, Mauritius, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland), and five treaties with investment provisions (COMESA EU EPA, COMESA Investment Agreement, COMESA US TIFA, Cotonou Agreement, COMESA Treaty).Madagascar does not have a bilateral taxation treaty with the United States but has concluded agreements/treaties with France, Mauritius, Canada, and Morocco. As a member of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific group (ACP), Madagascar signed the APEi (interim Economic Partnership Agreement) with the EU in January 2013 to have easy access to the EU market and obtain progressive tariff reductions and reciprocally, European goods except some specified ones are now entering Madagascar without paying any duty.																																		3. Legal Regime						    																																																Transparency of the Regulatory System										Foreign investors frequently note the unpredictability and lack of transparency of Madagascar’s legislative and regulatory processes. Bureaucratic delays and inefficiencies impact Madagascar’s legal and regulatory system. Non-transparent regulatory decisions have affected global investors, some alleging unfair competition or lack of transparency. High-level corruption and alleged collusion between business and political elites have been a recurring issue in Madagascar for decades.Madagascar has municipal, regional, national, and international laws; the most relevant for foreign businesses being national and international laws. If the GOM decides to move ahead with a bill, it is transmitted to the National Assembly and then the Senate for study and voting. Once the bill passes in both chambers, it goes to the High Constitutional Court (HCC) for constitutional verification. Finally, the president has the ultimate right to approve or veto a proposed law. The president also has the right to enact a proposed law by decree if parliament does not pass the legislation, though it is still subject to constitutionality checks by the HCC. Laws are published by their insertion in the Official Gazette of the Republic or its broadcast on national radio or TV in case of emergency. Once enacted, the full text of key regulatory actions is published on the Justice Ministry’s website under the National Center of Legal and Legislative Information and Documentation (CNLEGIS).Though public comments are allowed and may be recorded in a registry before consideration and processing of new law and regulations, there is no formal mechanism in place to make draft bills or regulations available for public comment or consultation prior to adoption. Rather, the ability of companies and stakeholders to raise concerns on draft legislation usually depends on their ability to procure copies of the draft legislation informally.Regulatory enforcement mechanisms are usually defined along with the enactment decree of each regulation. The enforcement process may be legally reviewed. Anyone can lodge a complaint with the administrative courts, which are responsible for judging failure to comply with administrative regulations. The Council of State is ultimately responsible for ensuring the legality of the GOM’s actions and oversight of lower courts. It also handles appeals for annulment of actions by local and regional authorities. The HCC verifies the conformity of laws with the Constitution of the Republic of Madagascar.In 2022 the GOM created the Integrity Safeguarding Committee (CSI), which has been tasked with developing a national integrity system to ensure the coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of the anti-corruption system; and elaborating and implementing the national good governance policy.Auditing and financial information reporting systems are technically transparent and consistent with international norms, IAS and IFRS respectively. The country has no stock market, and therefore, no publicly listed companies. However, the Central Bank, in partnership with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), planned to set a roadmap for the creation of a stock market in 2022, though no clear timeline has been set so far.Government budgets are publicly available, and the government conducts sporadic reviews of its own budget execution, however such reviews have recently found large scale disappearance or misuse of government funds, including funds donated by the international community to address COVID-19, for which there has been no accountability to date.Madagascar is a member of regional groupings IOC, SADC, and COMESA, and has agreed to join the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), however its national systems take precedence in most areas.In practice, Madagascar adheres to French norms and standards, though there is no official regulation requiring specific norms or standards.Madagascar has been a member of WTO since November 17, 1995 and a member of GATT since September 30, 1963, however the country does not regularly notify draft technical regulations to the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, and some regulations, particularly in the vanilla sector, may be in violation of WTO rules.Madagascar is a member of regional groupings IOC, SADC, and COMESA, and has agreed to join the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), however its national systems take precedence in most areas.In practice, Madagascar adheres to French norms and standards, though there is no official regulation requiring specific norms or standards.Madagascar has been a member of WTO since November 17, 1995 and a member of GATT since September 30, 1963, however the country does not regularly notify draft technical regulations to the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, and some regulations, particularly in the vanilla sector, may be in violation of WTO rules.																																				Legal System and Judicial Independence										Madagascar’s legal code is based on French law and contains protections for private property and rights. The civil court system has its own independent jurisdiction, where civil and commercial cases are heard. The country’s written commercial law consists mainly of the code of commerce and annexed laws. Recent reforms of commercial regulations and procedures have halved processing times for commercial cases at the Trade Court. Major cities and regions have their own courts, although some trials fall under the jurisdiction of the central courts.Madagascar’s constitution provides for an independent judiciary. However, the executive branch has a history of interfering in judicial matters through the appointment of compliant judges. Bribery and corruption are also factors affecting the fairness of the judicial process. In one recent case a foreign investor alleged that their Malagasy business partner bribed the High Constitutional Court to investigate charges against the foreign investor.Regulations or enforcement actions are appealable within the prescribed time and are adjudicated in the national court system established in the capital city Antananarivo.																																				Laws and Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment										The country’s investment law n°2007-036 was promulgated in January 2008 and governs foreign direct investment as well. An abridged English version of the investment law may be consulted on the UNCTAD investment policy hub. In addition to the freedom of investment and equality of treatment for foreign and national investors, Madagascar’s investment law includes articles on the protection of patent rights and protections against expropriation, freedom to transfer funds abroad without prior authorization, and a stability clause guaranteeing investor privileges from future legal or regulatory measures.Major laws, regulations, and judicial decisions which have come out in the past four years are:Law n ̊2021-002 on the ratification of the Loan Agreement for the Financing of the Integrated Urban Development and Resilience Project (PRODUIR)Law n ̊2021-001 on the ratification of the Project to Support Digital Governance and Reforms of Civil Status and Identifiers (PRODIGY)Law n ̊2020-011 on banking activitiesLaw n ̊2020-005 on insurance activitiesLaw n ̊2020-003 on organic farmingLaw n ̊2019-015 on the Illicit Asset Recovery ActLaw n ̊2018-043 dated February 13, 2019 against money laundering and financing of terrorism actsEDBM is Madagascar’s one-stop shop for investment and its website www.edbm.mg provides summaries of relevant laws, rules, procedures, and reporting requirements for investors as well as links to the relevant laws. Comprehensive details are found on the Ministry of Justice website at http://www.cnlegis.gov.mg/ percent20page_find_direct_mots/EDBM has links to relevant laws and reporting requirements for investors:Law n ̊2007-036 on investmentLaw n ̊2007-037 on the export processing zoneLaws n ̊2001-031 and n ̊2005-022 on large mining investmentLaw n ̊96-108 on the petroleum codeLaw n ̊2003-036 on commercial companyThe following laws enacted in the last ten years also relate to foreign investment:Law n ̊2015-039 on Public and Private Partnership (PPP)Law n ̊2017-047 on Madagascar’s Industrial Development which is reflecting the Industrial Policy (LDI)Law n ̊2017-023 on Madagascar’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ)Law n ̊2017-020 on Madagascar’s Electricity LawThe e-commerce and digital activity laws have been adopted but is still awaiting its enforcement decree.																																				Competition and Antitrust Laws										Foreign companies often describe anti-competitive and monopolistic behavior by local companies in Madagascar, allegedly in collusion with GOM officials. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICC) has overall responsibility for ensuring fair competition between businesses. The 2018 law on competition and anti-trust issues attempted to empower an independent Competition Council (CC) to rule on unfair competition cases, however, the CC is largely unfunded.The MICC has setup an agency called the National Authority Responsible for Commercial Corrective Measures (ANMCC) to develop national regulations, conduct investigations, and apply trade remedies to trade practices deemed harmful to domestic industries. In 2019, the ANMCC imposed a 38 percent tax on concentrated milk imported from Malaysia for 18 months. In 2023, additional duty taxes were imposed on noodles, blankets, and powdered detergent following allegations of dumping.																																				Expropriation and Compensation										The investment law provides protection to foreign and local investors against nationalization, expropriation, and requisition, except for public interest cases as established by regulations. For infrastructure projects which require expropriation of private property, the GOM must issue an official proclamation that defines the public interest of the project, and the owner of the private property must be paid the fair market value of the concerned property prior to its expropriation. The government may also legally expropriate property when a judicial ruling permits it in cases where there is proven money laundering, profiting from trafficking, acts of terrorism, or a failure to make tax or debt payments.Foreign companies have not reported expropriation recently; however expropriations of local companies have taken place as described above. In recent road construction projects funded by international donors, the GOM has been asked to contribute toward compensation payments to landowners whose property was appropriated for the project.																																				Dispute Settlement																										ICSID Convention and New York Convention						Madagascar is a member state to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and under the Investment Law, disputes between foreign investors and the administration can be resolved through arbitration proceedings administered by the ICSID.If a foreign investor initiates the proceeding, he/she can decide to file the dispute at the Madagascar Trade Court, which is the country’s competent jurisdiction in such matters. However, no specific domestic legislation provides for enforcement of awards under the New York Convention and/or under the ICSID Convention.						Investor-State Dispute Settlement						As a signatory to the convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958 New York Convention), Madagascar also accepts international arbitration as a means for resolving investment disputes. Based on the obligation of the New York Convention, domestic courts should recognize and be willing to enforce foreign arbitral awards. International arbitration is accepted as a way of settling commercial disputes between private parties. Madagascar has also been a member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) since 1989.Investment disputes involving foreign investors over the last 10 years include:1) A holding company affiliated with a U.S. energy company and its British CEO are claimants in a business dispute with its former Malagasy business partner, with ongoing court cases in both New York and Madagascar.2) In 2019, the Paris Commercial Court ordered Madagascar’s state-owned airline company Air Madagascar to pay USD 20 million to Air France in connection with the leasing of two A340s in 2011. The case is still pending in French courts.3) In 2016, an international power producer supplying electricity to Antananarivo complained of non-payment by the state-owned energy company JIRAMA. The government ultimately agreed to pay the foreign company using a different payment mechanism, but the details of the agreement have not been made public.The GOM does not have a history of extrajudicial action against foreign investors, although Malagasy businesses have pursued foreign partners in courts outside of Madagascar. Enforcement by local courts of foreign arbitral awards against the government is uncommon.						International Commercial Arbitration and Foreign Courts						Two types of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms are available in Madagascar, namely “arbitration” and “mediation.” Arbitration is a contractual jurisdictional mode of settlement of commercial disputes. The procedure involves submitting a dispute between two or more parties to the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal consisting of a sole arbitrator or three arbitrators.Mediation is a structured process in which two or more parties to a dispute voluntarily attempt to reach an agreement on the resolution of their dispute with the assistance of a mediator, who is a neutral, impartial, and independent third party.Both procedures are recognized by law. Arbitration results in an enforceable title in the form of an arbitral award, whereas mediation results in an agreement between the parties that does not constitute an enforceable title.A privately managed entity named Center for Arbitration and Mediation of Madagascar (CAMM), created in 2001 and then restructured in 2012, promotes and oversees ADR mechanisms to resolve international and domestic commercial disputes and lessen reliance on an overburdened court system. The CAMM helps companies manage their conflicts, determine the best way to settle them quickly and durably, and helps ensure the security of their investments and the maintenance of business continuity. As a result, many private contracts now include arbitration provisions that allow the CAMM to mediate eventual disputes.Since the 8th Economic Forum of the Indian Ocean Islands in 2012, CAMM has initiated a process with its counterparts in Reunion, Mauritius, and Comoros for the setting up of a cross-border dispute resolution platform in which co-mediation will play an important role. CAMM recognizes and enforces arbitral awards in that sub-region. However, only the commercial judgements of these foreign courts are recognized and enforceable under the CAMM.CAMM only applies in disputes amongst private parties and so has no jurisdiction in disputes involving state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In the latter case, it is tried in civil court. While the SOE does not always win, the judgement is not always enforced.																										Bankruptcy Regulations										Madagascar’s bankruptcy law, which was last updated in 2014, lays out collective debt settlement procedures, which treat equally all parties in bankruptcy proceedings. Creditors have the right to initiate insolvency proceedings only when seeking liquidation of the debtor, but not when seeking reorganization. Bankruptcy is no longer a criminal offense but is punishable by fines and imprisonment depending on whether it is deemed simple, negligent, or fraudulent bankruptcy. The court system has reduced the associated prison sentences from those stipulated in the previous insolvency framework.There are three procedures that apply when assessing the fate of a company in difficulty.The first – preventive settlement – is a reconciliation procedure designed to avoid the suspension of payments or the cessation of activity of a firm in difficulty which has not yet defaulted on payments. This procedure, which is non-contentious, requires the agreement of all parties and aims to reach an agreement on the settlement of debts and avoid individual lawsuits.&nbsp;The two other procedures – receivership and liquidation of assets – are intended to remedy payment defaults and correspond to the current judicial settlement and bankruptcy procedures. Some of the provisions include the appointment of a receiver, who is a representative of the creditors, by the Commercial Court to supervise the debtor who continues to manage the business. While a compensation agreement is being negotiated, all claims are frozen; the compensation to creditors may be on unequal terms and sale of the business is subject to a transfer plan.																																												4. Industrial Policies						    																																																Investment Incentives										Madagascar extends certain incentives for investment, outlined in domestic legislation, particularly in the Export Processing Zones (EPZ), in large mining investment (LGIM), and recently in the law on Special Economic Zones (SEZ), and the law on Industrial Investment Zones (ZII).Madagascar’s investment law, which encourages local as well as foreign private investment, is based on the principle of freedom of investment for all nationalities and all sectors; freedom to transfer profits, dividends, salaries, and savings; and freedom to recruit and dismiss foreign employees. Foreign investors may freely hold up to 100 percent of the shares (except for telecommunications where foreign shares are limited to 66 percent) in the company. Free zones and companies exporting at least 95 percent of production are exempt from customs duties and VAT for a 2 to 15-year period depending on the sector and then pay a 10 percent rate on inputs.Other regulations provide more indirect incentives for FDI, such as the one governing self-generation of electricity. All companies which carry out self-generation of electricity and use at least 70 percent of the electricity produced for their own purposes, can sell the remainder subject to conditions determined by the regulator. The General Tax Code (CGI) provides exemptions from taxes for the import and sale of inputs for exclusively agricultural use, agricultural materials and equipment and materials and equipment to produce renewable energy. The law on Large Mining Investments (LGIM) governs investments exceeding USD 25 million and complements the mining code.As part of the PEM, the government has committed to infrastructure projects, with the aid of public-private partnerships (PPPs). This includes several ambitious infrastructure projects in the telecommunications sector, with the installation of more than 12,000 km of fiber optic network and more than 14,000 km of Hertzian networks. In the energy sector, the PEM includes four projects for the construction of hydroelectric power plants, which should generate more than 700 MW greener energy in total before 2030. The PEM also envisions the creation of special economic zones, including a zone specializing in the textile industry (an integrated industrial zone of + 1600 acres); other multi-sector industrial and service zones; and exclusive agricultural promotion zones. The special economic zones provide a secure mechanism for access to land.The GOM does not normally issue guarantees or jointly finance foreign direct investment projects. Usually, for infrastructure projects, the government offers incentives in the form of provision of land, establishment of leases and concessions, tax incentives, transfer of benefits and revenues, and social integration of the project. To fill the gap in public infrastructure, due in part to the inadequacy of the public investment budget and limited assistance from traditional donors, the government is looking at fixed-term Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) concessions to attract foreign direct investment in exchange for preferential benefits.																																				Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation										The 2008 Law on Free Zone Companies established an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) regime to incentivize investment in three categories: (1) investment in export-oriented manufacturing industries; (2) development or management of industrial free zones; and (3) provision of services to EPZ companies. The EPZ regime provides certain tax advantages and incentives to EPZ companies, to include temporary tax exemptions of two to fifteen years (depending on the category of enterprise); no VAT or customs duties on imports of raw materials; no registration taxes; no customs tax on exported goods; income tax on repatriation not exceeding 30 percent of the taxable basis; and free access to foreign currency deposited in the company’s foreign currency bank account. Free zone companies are exempted from income tax in the first five years of operation. From the sixth year of operation, the income tax rate is 10 percent. These incentives are conditioned upon a performance guarantee and require 95 percent of an EPZ company’s output be exported. More than 225 companies currently benefit from this incentive regime, 46 percent of which are in the textile sector.Madagascar ratified the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) in June 2016. It has established its trade facilitation roadmap, a short but comprehensive document laying down a strategic vision for implementing trade facilitation reforms within a defined period (3 to 5 years). Donors have funded several capacity building and technical assistance workshops for Malagasy government officials to enable the effective implementation and enforcement of the TFA. Implementation is in its early stages at this point.																																				Performance and Data Localization Requirements										The government encourages local employment and capacity building but does not mandate it. EDBM has enhanced the mobility of foreign investors and their employees by streamlining processes for business visas, residency, and work permits. Some regulations, including the LGIM, prioritize the hiring of local staff over foreigners at the senior management level so long as they have equivalent skills.Obtaining official approval is mandatory for any FDI. EDBM assists the investor with the application process and Madagascar’s Council of Ministers decides whether to grant agreement based on EDBM’s written guidance. The Council’s assent must then receive final approval from the President.Madagascar has no “forced localization” policy which would force foreign investors to use domestic content or technology. However, the government recommends transfer of technology and continuous capacity building to enhance business competitiveness. There are no measures in place that prevent or unduly impede companies from freely transmitting customer or business-related data outside Madagascar’s territory. There is no requirement for foreign IT providers to turn over source code and/or provide access to encryption. Post is not aware of any mechanism to enforce rules on local data storage within the country.Madagascar does not enforce performance requirements but there are investment incentives (described earlier) that apply uniformly and systematically to both domestic and foreign investors.																																												5. Protection of Property Rights						    																																																Real Property										Property rights and interests are reportedly ignored due to perceived widespread corruption in the Domain and Topography Department and a lack of material and technological resources. Mortgages and liens are used in commerce and business to guarantee commercial loans. However, applicants have found the registration system to be unreliable.Upon independence, Madagascar continued the land tenure policies of the French colonial administration with the presumption of state ownership of all land and the central government being the sole provider of legitimate land titles. However, due to the length and cost of the procedures for registering land, together with the remoteness of the authorities, customary practices for recognition of property rights prevailed at the local level. Recognition of property rights at this local level entailed the use of non-uniform, handwritten titles. The Land Title Office in Antananarivo is the only place to obtain an official title whenever a locally registered business wants to acquire a large parcel of government land. Registering a land title or transfer remains difficult, costly, and time-consuming for those outside the capital. A World Bank-funded project implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in partnership with the Ministry in charge of Land Management and Public Works is gearing up to issue two million land certificates, and to operate 438 land offices.When the Land Ownership Act was amended in 2005, more than 90 percent of the occupants did not have a land title. The situation has not improved significantly despite several efforts financed by traditional donors. In 2005, with the support of a Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact, the government embarked on a land reform project to simplify the registration process and to reconcile the existing formal and informal land titles. The reform reversed the presumption of state ownership of land and introduced private ownership, while at the same time decentralizing land registration and recognizing/formalizing the existing local customs for social recognition of property rights. The 2009 political crisis disrupted this reform process, leaving the country with approximately 10 percent of its existing land plots formally titled. The National Land Program (2016-2020) focused on improving land certification for women through education of local authorities and extensive communications on the importance and benefits of land registration.Most land ownership disputes are resolved at the local level without recourse to judicial proceedings. The small percentage of disputes that go through the court system remain bogged down due to the complexity of the cases and the lack of clear evidence of ownership, and even when determinations are made, they are often not adequately enforced.The investment law authorizes foreign investors to possess real estate through renewable 99-year leases, so long as the concerned property is used exclusively and continuously to carry out commercial activity. The regulation specifically prohibits the acquisition of land by investors for resale in its original state, or for sale after its development. The amendment to the investment law slated for later in 2020 is expected to further clarify access to land for foreigners.In principle, if a property is legally purchased but unoccupied, property ownership stays with the legal owner even if squatters take over the land. In practice, due to corruption and lack of oversight, there have reportedly been instances of fraudulent transfer of property rights. The national land policy (PNF) that the GOM developed in 2016 has done little to correct the situation due to slow enforcement.																																				Intellectual Property Rights										The “Office Malgache des Propriétés Industrielles (OMAPI),” Madagascar’s intellectual property rights authority was created in December 1992. OMAPI publishes the titles it grants in the Official Gazette of Industrial Property (GOPI) and provides the public with industrial property documentation such as patent documents, industrial property legislation in various countries, and multilateral treaties on industrial property. The “Office Malgache des Droits d&#8217;Auteurs (OMDA),” is Madagascar’s agency to protect copyrights. OMDA’s mission is to ensure the exclusive protection, defense, and management of the economic interests of Malagasy and foreign authors, performers, and their successors concerning the use of scientific, literary, and artistic works.Officially, these authorities protect against IP infringement, but enforcement capacity is limited due to resource constraints including poor digitalization (though online registration and search of trademarks were made available recently), weakness of the judicial system, and lack of awareness of intellectual property rights among businesses and consumers. Due to these constraints, international investors have faced difficulties defending their interests.Madagascar neither tracks nor reports seizures of counterfeit goods, which are easily available in local markets as are unauthorized copies of famous brands, songs, and videos.New IP laws have stalled for years due to inaction by Parliament and the Office of the Prime Minister. The proposed legislation incorporates The Hague (international registration of industrial designs), and Lisbon (protection of origin appellation and international registration) agreements, and other international treaty classifications. The adoption of these bills would substantially improve the IP rights in Madagascar, provided OMAPI has sufficient funding for enforcement.Despite Madagascar’s challenges with IP rights enforcement, it is not listed in USTR’s Special 301 report, which highlights online and physical markets that engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting. Madagascar is also not listed on USTR’s notorious market report which targets countries where large-scale intellectual property rights infringement takes place.For additional information about national laws and points of contact at local IP offices, please see WIPO’s country profiles at  http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/. 																																												6. Financial Sector						    																																																Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment										Challenges raising capital domestically are often cited as disadvantaging startups and small businesses in Madagascar. Madagascar has no stock market, but in 2022 the government partnered with the IFC to set a roadmap to create and implement one. Madagascar has a competitive bond market but in the last two years, this competitive market lost its dynamic in favor of other non-transparent sales of new category of bonds with a more attractive and fixed return. Foreigners living overseas and companies with headquarters outside Madagascar cannot participate in its bond markets. Portfolio investment opportunities are extremely limited. Foreign investment in government debt is still limited to Malagasy nationals and legal residents.Central Bank and Ministry of Finance approval is required prior to any transfer of currency to foreign countries. There is no official ceiling imposed on international transactions, but justification remains mandatory and recently approval from the Ministry of Finance has become more difficult to get as the government seeks to retain foreign currency in Madagascar.The private sector has access to a variety of credit instruments. Credit is provided at market terms and can be offered either in local or foreign currency. Credit obtained in local currency is often more expensive than foreign currency due to inflation and lack of competition.The Central Bank does not impose direct caps on loans but instead uses indirect tools to limit credit, such as imposing reserve requirements on banks (13 percent of deposits in local currency). The Central Bank had reversed its policy of differentiation in 2020 of reserve requirements on deposits in local currency and in foreign currency due to its inefficiency. Foreign investors can get credit on the local market if they have an officially registered company/subsidiary located in the country. In June 2022, the average interest rates on loans to customers was as high as 12.31 percent, between 8.98 percent for long term loans and 13.7 percent for short term loans. For deposits, the average return was 3.12 percent.																																				Money and Banking System										Madagascar’s banking penetration rate is very low. Less than 10 percent of the population has a bank deposit account, which includes accounts with microfinance institutions. Less than three percent of the population has access to commercial bank loans, and there are just 97.3 deposit accounts per 1000 adults.There are only twelve commercial banks in Madagascar. As rates are high and competition low, banking activities are very profitable. Loans and credit to the private sector represent 53 percent of bank assets whereas loans (including treasury bills) to the government represent 13 percent. Non-performing loans accounted for 10 percent of overall loans and credit in June 2022. Since 2021, there has been an expansion in the granting of loans and the mobilization of deposits for investment in income-generating activities. Overall assets of all commercial banks were USD 4.3 billion or 28 percent of GDP as of June 2022.Madagascar has a central bank system. Its main objectives are to ensure the stability of the local currency internally (acceptable inflation rate) and externally (acceptable fluctuation of the exchange rate). As part of ongoing negotiations with the IMF, the Central Bank is currently weighing a strategy that would target interest rates instead of the money supply to ensure tighter control of monetary policy.As of November 2019, the Central Bank is no longer using a benchmark rate as a reference to its monetary policy tools. Instead, it has implemented two different rates. The first is the deposit rate of 8.10 percent that commercial banks may use while depositing their excess of liquidity; the second rate is the lending rate set at 10.10 percent. Banks will use this latter rate while borrowing money from the Central Bank for their normal operations or to honor their reserve requirements. By adopting this policy, the Central Bank is now tightening monetary policy to curb inflation, which is currently 10.8 percent on a year-on-year basis.Only two of twelve operating commercial banks are local. The others are subsidiaries of French, Moroccan, Gabonese, and Mauritian banks and are subject to prudential measures imposed by the Banking and Financial Supervision Committee (CSBF). Madagascar has not lost any correspondent banking relationships in the past three years.Foreigners having legal residency status in the country can establish a bank account in either local or major foreign currencies (USD and Euro), however the Finance Ministry is increasingly restricting such accounts as of 2023.																																				Foreign Exchange and Remittances																										Foreign Exchange						Companies and individuals seeking to conduct foreign currency transactions in Madagascar must request permission from the government for each transfer. Restrictions on foreign currency transfers are enforced at the state and commercial bank level with close monitoring by the Finance Ministry. In 2023 the government began implementing various measures to further restrict the outflow of Euros and U.S. Dollars from Madagascar due to an increasing shortage of foreign exchange in the country. These measures have negatively impacted the operations of foreign investors and foreign diplomatic missions.Madagascar adopted a managed floating exchange rate system in 1994. The exchange rate fluctuates but the Central Bank intervenes to prevent abrupt depreciation or appreciation of the Ariary. In general, the Central Bank of Madagascar keeps the value of the Ariary fluctuating in a two percent range. The Central Bank’s regular interventions to stabilize the currency during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting decline in Malagasy exports has limited depreciation to 4.7 percent during 2020. However, from June 2022 until mid-January 2023, the local currency depreciated against major foreign currency and lost 12 percent of its nominal value between May 31, 2022, and January 12, 2023. This depreciation resulted from a higher trade and budget deficit. The depreciation accelerated from October 2022 following the disruption of the vanilla market by government actions that created a shortage of foreign currency supply in the forex market.In 2020, Madagascar set up a national gold reserve because of the implementation of the MOU between the Ministry of Mines and Strategic Resources (MMRS) and the Central Bank of Madagascar (BFM). The GOM not only wants to use gold as a reserve asset of the Central Bank but to use repatriation of profits from gold exports to strengthen the national currency. However, in September 2020, the GOM suspended gold exports after exporters failed to repatriate their profits. On March 31, 2023 the Council of Minister’s approved the restart of gold exports.						Remittance Policies						Madagascar has in recent years had a chronic shortage of foreign exchange. The GOM has sought to limit the amount of Euros and U.S. Dollars exiting the country and is increasingly implementing procedures to force investors to bring in and keep foreign currency in Madagascar. Exporters must repatriate their assets within 90 days for manufacturers of goods and 30 days for service providers. They are required to repatriate all their turnover, with at least 70 percent of it going into the forex market within 30 days.																										Sovereign Wealth Funds										Madagascar does not have a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) that manages national savings for investment purposes. However, Madagascar’s Prime Minister said during his address at the National Assembly in December 2020 that the government was committed to the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund. A board of the SWF, in charge of managing and spending the funds has been set by the cabinet, but to date, it did not benefit from any transfer from the budget.																																												7. State-Owned Enterprises						    																						The government has shares in 53 public companies of an industrial and commercial nature, with a majority stake in 27 enterprises; in 11 cases, the government owns over 95 percent of the entity. A list of operating state-owned enterprises can be found here. Detailed information about state-owned companies (SOEs) is not easy to come by but they operate in many key sectors such as aviation, public utility (running water and electricity), ports, hotels, insurance, finance, woodworking, mining, maintenance and construction of ships, and real estate. The government has minority shares in three major banks, the beverage industry, oil distribution, and mining activities. The two most well-known SOEs are JIRAMA (100 percent state-owned), the water and electricity utility, and Air Madagascar whose equity tie-up with France’s Air Austral has now ended. The GOM has spent substantial amounts subsidizing the operations of both entities. Improvement in the governance and a return to profitability of SOEs is a long-standing condition for assistance by multilateral donor institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.In theory, private enterprises are allowed to compete with SOEs under the same terms and conditions for market access, credit, and other business operations. The reality is somewhat different. State-owned enterprises dominate the sectors in which they operate. Any investor seeking to compete with an SOE in Madagascar should consider not only market-entry difficulties, but also its ability to compete for scarce resources and permits.																										Privatization Program										The government privatized many SOEs following the enactment of a 2004 law on privatization, including in the telecommunications and banking sectors. Almost all state-owned banks were purchased by foreign investors including foreign state-owned banks during this period. The government has not announced or made moves to further privatize SOEs in recent years.																																												8. Responsible Business Conduct						    																						Human rights concerns – particularly the prevalence of child labor throughout Madagascar – may pose a challenge for foreign investors. Overall, Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) has not been a priority for the local business community or for the GOM. The GOM does not have a dedicated policy on RBC at present. But this may change as the new investment law currently being drafted is expected to incorporate RBC standards. Large corporations including multinationals in the mining sector, local conglomerates, commercial banks, and sizable international service firms proactively comply with universal RBC standards on governance, environmental concerns, and corporate social responsibility. The National Environment Office (ONE) does require environmental impact assessments to be conducted.The government enforces labor, employment rights, and consumer and environmental protections in part through periodic inspections, though a lack of resources and capacity, as well as continued corruption at all levels, impedes the effectiveness of this enforcement. The government does not waive these requirements to attract foreign investment, except for some exemptions to its labor code provided to EPZ companies. Many companies with foreign investors, particularly from western countries, are moving to international standards through their participation in voluntary certification schemes, such as the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) principles in the apparel sector. There is also a vibrant NGO and civil society community, particularly regarding environmental issues, but civil society also suffers from lack of resources and capacity.Poor and slow enforcement of domestic laws relating to human rights, labor rights, consumer protection, environmental protections, and other laws/regulations fail to protect individuals from adverse business impacts. NGOs, unions, business associations, and other entities have been very active in raising awareness of RBC particularly in relation to environmental protection, child labor, and human rights but are not always effective. There have been some notable advances in the campaign against sexual harassment and discrimination based on gender and religion. Child labor is an ongoing issue in several sectors. The U.S. Department of Labor report on the worst forms of child labor includes the exploitation of child labor in Madagascar’s production of vanilla, sapphires, precious stones, and mica. The government has made moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, with assistance from international donors. However, due to the pandemic, the Ministry of Mines’ draft plan to fight child labor in mica mining is still in draft stage and has not yet been submitted to donors. It includes the improvement of livelihood in the concerned regions but does not specify corrective measures against the companies or individuals involved.The GOM encourages adherence to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals but has no similar domestic measures requiring supply chain due diligence. There are no laws or domestic transparency measures mandating the disclosure of payments for projects related to the commercial development of mines and hydrocarbon resources, but in June 2020, the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative Board (EITI) agreed that Madagascar has fully addressed seven of the fifteen corrective actions from the country’s first Validation.Due to high crime rates, Madagascar has a booming private security industry and is a signatory of The Montreux Document on Private Military and Security Companies. There have been no major armed conflicts in Madagascar in recent decades but incidents of killings by armed bandits – as well as battles between bandits and police– occurred in rural areas. The U.S. Embassy recommends Americans avoid travel at night in Madagascar due to the threat of attacks by bandits.Additional ResourcesDepartment of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices; Trafficking in Persons Report; Guidance on Implementing the &#8220;UN Guiding Principles&#8221; for Transactions Linked to Foreign Government End-Users for Products or Services with Surveillance Capabilities; U.S. National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; and; Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory Department of the Treasury OFAC Recent Actions Department of Labor Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor Report ; List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor ; Sweat &amp; Toil: Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking Around the World  and; Comply Chain .																										Climate Issues										The government has a national climate strategy and other national strategies for enhancing environmental protection and monitoring biodiversity, ecosystem services, and natural capital.Some of these strategies relate to greenhouse gas mitigation and clean development mechanisms. These include the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the Sustainable Development of Coastal and Marine Areas of Madagascar.Madagascar does not have a net-zero target in place. However, the country’s National Determined Contribution (NDC) to help achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14 percent by 2030 versus a business-as-usual scenario from 2000 levels. The sectors being targeted for mitigation are energy, agriculture, waste, and land use. To achieve these climate goals, the power policy measures focus on renewable energy auctions, import tax incentives, renewable energy targets, and VAT incentives. Madagascar does not have a legislated clean energy target, although it is aiming for 85 percent of power generation to come from renewables by 2030, consisting of 75 percent hydro, 5 percent solar and 5 percent wind.The government promotes private sector investment in cleaner energy, particularly as it looks to improve access to electricity. It has eliminated import tariffs and value-added tax on solar and wind technology. The 2015-2030 National Energy Policy aims for 70 percent access to electricity and modern lighting by the end of this decade. Some 70 percent of this target is based on extending the power grid, 20 percent on building mini-grids, and 10 percent on individual off-grid solutions.The National Energy Policy mentions the use of firewood and charcoal as one of the main causes of deforestation and degradation of natural forests, whose cover decreased from 9.4 million ha in 2005 to 9.2 million ha in 2010, a reduction of almost 40,000 ha per year. This activity has always represented more than 90 percent of the energy consumed and most of the wood used comes from illegal and destructive exploitation of forest resources. In addition, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans 2015-2025 cites the emergence of large-scale mining and hydrocarbons among the main causes of deforestation and forest degradation.Public procurement policies are subject to Decree No. 99-954 (1999) amended by Decree 2004-167 (2004) on the Compatibility of Investments with the Environment (MECIE). Depending on the size of the project and the sensitivity of the environment, Malagasy legislation provides for three different forms of impact studies: the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Environmental Commitment Program (PREE) and Compliance (MEC). The preparation of the EIA dossier is the responsibility of the project promoter while the evaluation of the project dossier is coordinated by the National Office for the Environment (ONE).Foreign investors are subject to all environmental laws and are required to carry out EIAs, however, enforcement is sporadic. Some foreign and many local businesses do not abide by the laws and environmental degradation is rampant throughout Madagascar.																																												9. Corruption						    																						Madagascar was ranked 142 out of 180 countries for corruption, according to the 2022 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. While giving or accepting a bribe is a criminal act and is subject to trial by court, corruption is an ongoing issue at all levels in Madagascar and a factor in daily life faced by most Malagasies. Corruption is most prevalent with the judiciary, police, tax, customs, land, and the mining industry. U.S. companies operating in Madagascar cite corruption as an impediment to their activities, since they must abide by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act while competing local and foreign firms that routinely engage in corruption.The government has created various agencies to fight corruption, including the Independent Anticorruption Office (BIANCO) and the Committee for Safeguarding Integrity (CSI). BIANCO enforces anti-corruption laws while CSI monitors the implementation of the national anticorruption strategy. Madagascar also has a Financial Intelligence Unit (SAMIFIN) to carry out research and financial analysis related to money laundering. BIANCO, CSI, and SAMIFIN all have difficulty investigating corruption cases linked to high-level officials and private citizens from elite families, however, and instead tend to focus on lower-level corruption.There is no requirement for companies to establish internal codes of conduct that prohibit bribery of public officials, and many foreign and local companies are believed to engage in corruption. Both the anti-corruption law and the penal code prohibit any individual/enterprise from giving money, presents, or other gifts to public officials to obtain advantages they are not entitled to, but donations of luxury goods to judges, for example, are commonplace. The law also provides that any private enterprise that commits corrupt practices to obtain a permit, license or authorization is excluded from government procurement, however Post has received multiple reports of corruption in public procurement negatively impacting U.S. companies.Madagascar ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption in 2004. Madagascar also joined the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol against corruption in 2007 but has not yet signed the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transaction.NGOs and associations are involved in governance and anti-corruption projects. The law does not have any explicit provisions protecting NGOs and associations, and in 2022 the government threatened to prosecute the local director of Transparency International for revealing purported corruption. The government has not dropped the investigation but has not moved forward with prosecution. Environmental activists have also been harassed and threatened by various means.Resources to Report CorruptionContact at the government agency or agencies that are responsible for combating corruption:Bureau Indépendant Anti-Corruption (BIANCO)Name: Mr. Laza Eric Donat AndrianirinaTitle: Director GeneralOrganization: Independent Bureau Anti-Corruption (Bianco)Address: Villa “La Piscine”, Ambohibao, Antananarivo, Madagascar, Po Box 399Telephone Number: +261 20 22 489 79 / +261 20 22 489 93 / +261 33 02 002 99Email Address: Bianco.Dg@Moov.Mg; Contact@Bianco-Mg.Mg; Www.Bianco-Mg.Org Sampan-draharaha Malagasy Iadiana amin&#8217;ny Famotsiam-bola (SAMIFIN OR Malagasy Financial Intelligence unit)Name: Mr. Mamitiana RajaonarisonTitle: Director GeneralOrganization: Anti-money laundering and counter-financial terrorism intelligence Agency (Samifin)Address: lot I 102 A Lohanosy, Ambohijanaka, Antananarivo, CP 102,Telephone Number: +261 34 30 332 23Email Address: Faranirina@samifin.gov.mgComité pour la Sauvegarde de l’Intégrité (CSI OR Committee for the Safeguard of Integrity)Name: Mrs. Sahondra RabenarivoTitle: ChairpersonOrganization: CSIAddress: Villa Analamanga, près Banque Centrale, BP 873, Antaninarenina, Antananarivo, MadagascarTelephone Number: +261 32 07 005 56Website: www.csi.gov.mgEmail Address: contact@csi.gov.mgTransparency International-Initiative Madagascar (Ti-Im)Name: Mrs. Ketakandriana RafitosonTitle: Chairperson of Ti-ImOrganization: Transparency International Initiative, Madagascar (Ti-Im)Address: Villa Huguette (Rdc), Lot Ii U86 Cite Planton, Ampahibe, Antananarivo, MadagascarTelephone Number: +261 20 22 288 73; +261 34 08 463 16Email Address: Contact@Transparency.Mg; krafitoson@Transparency.MgHYPERLINK &#8220;http://www.transparency.mg&#8221;www.transparency.mgAfrobarometer/MadagascarName: Léa Razafindrazaka RakotondraibeTitle: Team LeaderOrganization: Afrobarometer, Madagascar Office C/O Coef ResourcesAddress: Po Box 4075, Antananarivo, MadagascarTelephone Number: +261 20 22 283 82Email Address: Coef-Re@Moov.Mg; https://www.afrobarometer.org/countries/madagascar/ 																																		10. Political and Security Environment						    																						President Andry Rajoelina claimed power through a military coup in 2009 in which civilians were killed by police during protests in Antananarivo. Following that incident there were no major civil disturbances during 2014 elections and the 2019 elections in which Rajoelina returned to power via the ballot box. In 2022 a largescale mining project operated by a major foreign investor was forced to close operations twice due to protests at its site that the company alleged were organized by local politicians, and a separate American mining company reported its mine has been taken over by criminals allegedly linked to politicians. Although the country’s deteriorating economic situation makes political instability and lawlessness an increasing threat for investors, violence against foreigners and foreign investments remains relatively rare.																																		11. Labor Policies and Practices						    																						Companies often site the lack of skilled labor as an impediment to investment. Over 75 percent of the labor force works in the informal sector and most of the population is illiterate. The quality of Madagascar’s labor is variable, with a small subset of the literate population possessing skills in sectors such as textiles, financial services, and IT, however brain drain towards France and other countries also limits the number of educated workers available in Madagascar.In general, labor laws do not include requirements for investors to hire local nationals, except in the mining sector where specific local labor requirements apply. The labor code includes specific provisions protecting workers against abrupt dismissals, but it also allows the employer to lay off workers for economic reasons. In such a situation, the employer has the right to furlough employees for a maximum period of six-month period during which all salary and allowances are suspended. After the six months, if the activities do not resume, the employer is required to pay severance, including the unpaid salary.There is no unemployment insurance or other safety net for those who are laid-off or fired. Several provisions of the labor code were deliberately circumvented during the pandemic to the detriment of workers, without leading to serious repercussions or sanctions by the government. Examples include non-payment of dues, deducting lockdown days from annual leave, withdrawal of health insurance coverage even after salary deductions, and failure to provide adequate protective measures against COVID-19 infection.Madagascar does not have a history of waiving labor laws to attract or retain investment. The labor code covers private sector workers while civil servants and maritime workers have separate labor codes, and a specific law ruling EPZ companies includes provisions related to their workers’ rights. EPZ labor contracts may differ in duration, restrictions on the employment of women during night shifts, and the amount of overtime permitted.The law provides that public and private sector workers may establish and join labor unions of their choice without prior authorization or excessive requirements. Essential workers, including seafarers, police, military, and firefighters, may not form unions. Unions generally operate independently from government and political parties. According to union representatives, about 20 percent of the formal sector has collective bargaining agreements, and collective bargaining rights are more readily exercised and respected in larger international firms, such as those in the telecommunications, mining, and banking sectors. In EPZs and smaller local companies, employees tend to be more reluctant to make demands for fear of reprisals.The labor law establishes labor dispute mechanisms, which proceed progressively from internal negotiation to outside mediation from the Ministry of Labor to arbitration or legal settlement through the competent courts. The labor inspectorate under the leadership of the Ministry of Labor oversees resolving disputes by negotiation between workers and employers. The labor court is viewed as a last-resort option when previous attempts to settle the dispute through alternative means have failed.																																		12. U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs						    																						The DFC is currently exploring investment opportunities in Madagascar, including in the areas of health and infrastructure. On March 31, 1998, the Overseas Private Investment Cooperation (OPIC) and Madagascar signed a bilateral Investment Incentive Agreement, which updated the previous agreement signed in 1963. Additionally, OPIC and Madagascar concluded two memoranda of understanding in 2004 pledging cooperation in attracting U.S. investment in several sectors, including telecommunications and information technology, agribusiness, mining, energy, and tourism. However, there are currently no active OPIC projects in Madagascar. Madagascar has been a member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) since 1989.																																		13. Foreign Direct Investment Statistics						    																						Table 2: Key Macroeconomic Data, U.S. FDI in Host Country/EconomyHost Country Statistical source*USG or international statistical sourceUSG or International Source of Data: BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, OtherEconomic DataYearAmountYearAmountHost Country Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ($M USD)2020$13.050 billion2021$14.470 billionwww.worldbank.org/en/countryForeign Direct InvestmentHost Country Statistical source*USG or international statistical sourceUSG or international Source of data: BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, OtherU.S. FDI in partner country ($M USD, stock positions)2020$02021$0BEA data available at https://apps.bea.gov/international/factsheet/Host country’s FDI in the United States ($M USD, stock positions)2020$02021$0.141 billionBEA data available at https://apps.bea.gov/international/factsheet/Total inbound stock of FDI as percent host GDP2020$02021N/A percentUNCTAD data available athttps://unctad.org/topic/investment/world-investment-report&nbsp;Table 3: Sources and Destination of FDIDirect Investment from/in Counterpart Economy DataFrom Top Five Sources/To Top Five Destinations (US Dollars, Millions)Inward Direct InvestmentOutward Direct InvestmentTotal Inward6446100 percentTotal Outward0100 percentJapan130820.29 percent00 percentKorea110617.15 percent00 percentMauritius109216.94 percent00 percentFrance82012.72 percent00 percentUnited Kingdom71911.15 percent00 percent&#8220;0&#8221; reflects amounts rounded to +/- USD 500,000.																																		14. Contact for More Information						    																						For any inquiry, please write to:Paul, ColombiniEconomic Officerc/o U.S. Embassy to Madagascar and ComorosLot 207 A Point Liberty, Andranoro, Antehiroka,Antananarivo, CP 105, MadagascarPhone: 020 23 480 00ColombiniPC@state.govORThe Political and Economic SectionU.S. Embassy to Madagascar and ComorosLot 207 A Point Liberty, Andranoro, Antehiroka,Antananarivo, CP 105, MadagascarPhone: 020 23 480 00; ext. 2277 or ext. 2158AntanCommercial@state.gov																										    							View report by:																				Albania											Algeria											Andorra											Angola											Antigua and Barbuda											Argentina											Armenia											Australia											Austria											Azerbaijan											The Bahamas											Bahrain											Bangladesh											Barbados											Belarus											Belgium											Belize											Benin											Bolivia											Bosnia and Herzegovina											Botswana											Brazil											Brunei											Bulgaria											Burkina Faso											Burma											Burundi											Cabo Verde											Cambodia											Cameroon											Canada											Chile											China											Colombia											Costa Rica											Côte d’Ivoire											Croatia											Cyprus											Czechia											Democratic Republic of the Congo											Denmark											Djibouti											Dominica											Dominican Republic											Ecuador											Egypt											El Salvador											Equatorial Guinea											Eritrea											Estonia											Eswatini											Ethiopia											Fiji											Finland											France and Monaco											Gabon											The Gambia											Georgia											Germany											Ghana											Greece											Grenada											Guatemala											Guinea											Guyana											Honduras											Haiti											Hong Kong											Hungary											Iceland											India											Indonesia											Iraq											Ireland											Israel											Italy											Jamaica											Japan											Jordan											Kazakhstan											Kenya											Kosovo											Kyrgyz Republic											Laos											Latvia											Lebanon											Lesotho											Liberia											Libya											Lithuania											Luxembourg											Macau											Madagascar											Malawi											Malaysia											Maldives											Mali											Malta											Marshall Islands											Mauritania											Mauritius											Mexico											Micronesia											Moldova											Mongolia											Montenegro											Morocco											Mozambique											Namibia											Nepal											Netherlands											New Zealand											Nicaragua											Niger											Nigeria											North Macedonia											Norway											Oman											Pakistan											Palau											Panama											Papua New Guinea											Paraguay											Peru											Philippines											Poland											Portugal											Qatar											Republic of the Congo											Romania											Rwanda											Saint Kitts and Nevis											Saint Lucia											Saint Vincent and the Grenadines											Samoa											Sao Tome and Principe											Saudi Arabia											Senegal											Serbia											Seychelles											Sierra Leone											Singapore											Slovakia											Slovenia											Somalia											South Africa											South Korea											South Sudan											Spain											Sri Lanka											Suriname											Sweden											Switzerland											Taiwan											Tajikistan											Tanzania											Thailand											Timor-Leste											Togo											Trinidad and Tobago											Tunisia											Türkiye											United Arab Emirates											Uganda											Ukraine											United Kingdom											Uruguay											Uzbekistan											Vietnam											West Bank and Gaza											Zambia											Zimbabwe															Build A Custom Report																						On This Page				search													>																										EXECUTIVE SUMMARY																1. Openness To, and Restrictions Upon, Foreign Investment																																							Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment																																																						Limits on Foreign Control and Right to Private Ownership and Establishment																																																						Other Investment Policy Reviews																																																						Business Facilitation																																																						Outward Investment																																																			2. Bilateral Investment and Taxation Treaties																3. Legal Regime																																							Transparency of the Regulatory System																																																						Legal System and Judicial Independence																																																						Laws and Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment																																																						Competition and Antitrust Laws																																																						Expropriation and Compensation																																																						Dispute Settlement																																																				ICSID Convention and New York Convention																																												Investor-State Dispute Settlement																																												International Commercial Arbitration and Foreign Courts																																																																																				Bankruptcy Regulations																																																			4. Industrial Policies																																							Investment Incentives																																																						Foreign Trade Zones/Free Ports/Trade Facilitation																																																						Performance and Data Localization Requirements																																																			5. Protection of Property Rights																																							Real Property																																																						Intellectual Property Rights																																																			6. Financial Sector																																							Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment																																																						Money and Banking System																																																						Foreign Exchange and Remittances																																																				Foreign Exchange																																												Remittance Policies																																																																																				Sovereign Wealth Funds																																																			7. State-Owned Enterprises																																							Privatization Program																																																			8. Responsible Business Conduct																																							Climate Issues																																																			9. Corruption																10. Political and Security Environment																11. Labor Policies and Practices																12. U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Other Investment Insurance or Development Finance Programs																13. Foreign Direct Investment Statistics																14. Contact for More Information																						Tags																					Bureau of African Affairs																								Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs																								Madagascar
- Madagascar HomeReportsBureau of Economic and Business Affairs2023 Fiscal Transparency Report&#8230;Madagascar				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Fiscal Transparency Report: Madagascar																																					Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs																																																																																																				 In this section																																												Government-by-Government Assessments: Madagascar																																												Government-by-Government Assessments: Madagascar				During the review period, the government made its enacted budget widely and easily accessible to the public, including online, but it did not publish its executive budget proposal or end-of-year report within a reasonable period.  Information on debt obligations, including major state-owned enterprise debt, was not published in a reasonable period.  The budget broke down expenditures by ministry but not by agency.  Budget documents did not provide a substantially complete picture of the government’s revenues and expenditures.  Budget documents contained gaps and omitted details on natural resource revenues and allocations to and from state-owned enterprises.  The government broke down expenditures to support executive offices, but military and intelligence budgets were not subject to parliamentary or civilian public oversight.  The budget did not accurately categorize expenditures by ministry or government agency, and the government maintained significant off-budget accounts not subject to public oversight.  The government issued a revised budget to account for significant discrepancies between the enacted budget and actual revenues and expenditures.  The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence and did not audit the entire executed budget within a reasonable period; however, it did uncover mismanagement of COVID-19 relief funds.  The delayed audit of the 2019 budget was published during the review period, and it contained substantive findings.  The government did not formally award any natural resource extraction licenses or contracts during the reporting period but specified in law or regulation procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts.  Despite the formal suspension of mining permits since 2009, some companies obtained licenses via a loophole in the law allowing the sale of existing permits, and basic information on these awards was not publicly available.Madagascar’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:Publishing an executive budget proposal and end-of-year-report within a reasonable period;Publishing debt obligations within a reasonable period, including for major state-owned enterprises;Making budget expenditures by agency available;Detailing in budget documents allocations to and earnings from major state-owned enterprises;Ensuring actual revenues and expenditures reasonably correspond to those in the enacted budget;Subjecting off-budget accounts to public oversight;Ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence, audits the entire annual executed budget, and publishes its reports within a reasonable period;Ensuring procedures for awarding natural resource extraction practices are followed in practice; andMaking basic information on natural resource extraction contracts publicly available.																												    							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- Madagascar National Day Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of StateOn behalf of the United States of America, I wish the people of Madagascar a heartfelt congratulations as you celebrate 63 years of independence on June 26.The United States values Madagascar as a partner, and I am proud of the ways we have expanded our bilateral relationship. I am optimistic we can continue to strengthen ties between our great nations, and I affirm our shared commitment to democratic values as Madagascar prepares for national elections later this year.Best wishes to the people of Madagascar as you celebrate this day.
- Madagascar HomeReportsOffice to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons2023 Trafficking in Persons Report&#8230;Madagascar				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2023 Trafficking in Persons Report: Madagascar																																					Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons																																																																																																				 In this section										/																							MADAGASCAR (Tier 2 Watch List)																																													MADAGASCAR (Tier 2 Watch List)																															PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:																																																																																		PROSECUTION																																																																																		PROTECTION																																																																																		PREVENTION																																																																																		TRAFFICKING PROFILE:																																																																																																								MADAGASCAR (Tier 2 Watch List)				The Government of Madagascar does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. These efforts included identifying and providing services to more victims; launching an updated NAP to combat trafficking; making efforts to reduce the demand for child sex tourism; providing support for returning Malagasy migrant workers, including trafficking victims; and partnering with an international organization to conduct a monitoring visit to observe Malagasy migrant workers’ conditions in Jordan. However, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity. The government investigated fewer trafficking cases and did not report prosecuting or convicting any suspected traffickers for the second consecutive year. Despite sustained concerns of official complicity in trafficking crimes, the government did not hold any complicit officials accountable or investigate reports of officials facilitating child sex trafficking within the country or labor trafficking of Malagasy workers abroad. For the third consecutive year, the government did not disburse funds allocated to the National Office to Combat Human Trafficking (BNLTEH), hindering nation-wide progress and coordination. Overall, efforts to investigate and prosecute internal trafficking crimes, including domestic servitude, forced begging, and child sex trafficking, remained inadequate compared to the scale of the problem, and officials continued to frequently conflate human trafficking with other crimes including gender-based violence and sexual exploitation. Therefore Madagascar remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.																																					PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:						    																																															Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, including complicit officials and perpetrators of internal trafficking crimes, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms.Systematically and proactively identify trafficking victims by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including child laborers, women exploited in commercial sex, returning Malagasy migrant workers, and People’s Republic of China (PRC) nationals employed at worksites affiliated with the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Refer all identified trafficking victims to appropriate protection services, including victims of internal trafficking, such as domestic servitude, forced begging, and child sex trafficking, as well as migrant workers and PRC national overseas workers.Amend the 2014 anti-trafficking law to ensure the penalties prescribed for adult sex trafficking are commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape and/or kidnapping.Disburse funding allocated for anti-trafficking activities, including for BNLTEH operations and implementation of the 2023-2025 NAP.Institutionalize and expand anti-trafficking training for front-line officials on the indicators of trafficking, victim-centered and trauma-informed trafficking investigations, and the use of SOPs for the identification and referral of victims to appropriate services.Strengthen the partnership between police and prosecutors to more efficiently and effectively prosecute trafficking cases, including regular case conferencing and training on proper evidence gathering.Implement and consistently enforce strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment companies, including by eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers and holding fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable.Improve the national identification system, including establishing a database and anti-fraud features, to prevent child sex trafficking and reduce trafficking vulnerabilities of overseas Malagasy workers based on issuance of fraudulent documentation.Improve nationwide data collection on anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim identification efforts, including information sharing among relevant government agencies.Conduct community-level outreach campaigns to raise public awareness of all forms of trafficking, particularly child sex trafficking in tourist destinations.																																												PROSECUTION						    																																															The government decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Law No.2014-040 criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties ranging from two to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1 million to 10 million Malagasy Ariary (MGA) ($230 to $2,295) for crimes involving an adult victim, and five to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 2 million to 20 million MGA ($460 to $4,560) for those involving a child victim. These penalties were sufficiently stringent. For crimes involving children, with respect to sex trafficking, these penalties were commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape; however, offenses involving adult sex trafficking were not commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes.BNLTEH maintained a national database for the collection of trafficking-related information; however, not all relevant ministries regularly contributed to the database, causing national law enforcement statistics to remain difficult to obtain and verify. The government reported investigating 13 trafficking cases – three for sex trafficking and 10 for unspecified forms of trafficking – compared with 30 investigations in the previous reporting period. The government did not report prosecuting or convicting any suspected traffickers for the second consecutive year. A media outlet reported an Antananarivo court ordered three women to be placed in pretrial detention for exploiting Malagasy women in online sex trafficking. In 2022, the government reported the anti-corruption courts in Antananarivo and Mahajanga, whose mandate previously included trafficking cases that were transnational or involved criminal networks or fraudulent documents, no longer tried trafficking cases; instead, all trafficking cases were assigned to courts of first instance. Due to lengthy judicial processes and a lack of victim-witness assistance during criminal proceedings, families often chose to settle conflicts – including trafficking crimes – through traditional means involving informal payment or conflict resolution arrangements known as dinas, without recourse to the formal court system. Observers reported victims were often reluctant to file charges due to fear of reprisals.The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in trafficking crimes; however, corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action during the year. Furthermore, procedures stating a government official cannot be arrested without authorization from the official’s supervisor impeded holding complicit officials accountable for trafficking crimes. Observers continued to report government officials produced false identity documents used to facilitate child sex trafficking, especially in coastal tourist areas. Observers also alleged government officials continued to help Malagasy nationals obtain fraudulent travel documentation to circumvent a 2013 travel ban to certain Middle Eastern countries where traffickers exploited Malagasy laborers.The government, in partnership with an international organization, trained a limited number of investigators on anti-trafficking laws and the cyber-crime unit on investigation strategies to combat online child sex trafficking. The government did not institutionalize anti-trafficking training, and some police, immigration officers, prosecutors, and judges continued to lack a clear understanding of human trafficking, which hampered law enforcement and victim identification efforts. Coordination and information sharing between the public prosecutor’s office and police were inadequate and continued to hinder case progression. In December 2022, parliament adopted a bill authorizing judicial cooperation with the Government of Mauritius to investigate and prosecute Malagasy citizens, including those allegedly involved in trafficking crimes in Mauritius.																																												PROTECTION						    																																															The government maintained victim protection efforts. Due to a lack of coordinated data collection at the national level, the government did not report comprehensive data. The government reported identifying 223 trafficking victims, compared with 72 victims identified in the previous reporting period. Unlike in prior years, authorities did not disaggregate victim identification data by type of trafficking; given the government’s tendency to conflate human trafficking with other crimes, this figure may have included victims of crimes not involving forced labor or sex trafficking. In addition to victims identified by the government, NGOs and international organizations reported identifying and assisting at least 1,457 potential victims, providing them with services, including medical care, social reintegration, education, and repatriation assistance for Malagasy nationals exploited in domestic servitude abroad. The government remained without official SOPs to proactively identify trafficking victims and refer them to care; instead, there were disparate SOPs across different ministries that officials used to varying degrees. Government officials continued to have access to a victim identification and referral manual developed by an international organization; however, the government did not actively distribute the manual and use of the procedures remained minimal. The government did not proactively screen vulnerable populations, including child laborers, women exploited in commercial sex, returning Malagasy migrant workers, and foreign workers, for trafficking indicators.The government provided assistance to 178 victims, compared with 37 victims assisted with services in 2021. The Mitsinjo Center, a government-owned, trafficking-specific temporary shelter for repatriated adult victims, continued to operate with a capacity to house 22 occupants; the government assisted 178 victims of domestic servitude at the shelter. The government provided consular assistance, including providing travel documents, and psycho-social services to Malagasy migrant workers repatriated from Gulf states and other African countries; however, the government did not report screening this population for trafficking. The Ministry of Population (MOP), in collaboration with an international organization, continued to coordinate approximately 700 child protection networks across the country to assist child victims of abuse, including trafficking, and ensure victims’ access to medical and psychological services. Due to lack of resources, only about 450 child protection networks provided basic assistance through public hospitals and health units and most of the networks referred victims to international organizations and NGOs for additional assistance. Through referral from the child protection networks, an international organization assisted 1,352 children (528 girls and 824 boys), including victims of sexual exploitation and the worst forms of child labor, both including potential child trafficking crimes. Six government hospitals, in partnership with an international organization, maintained “one-stop” victim support centers that offered assistance to child victims of various abuses, including sex trafficking; the one-stop support centers – located in Antananarivo, Mahajanga, Nosy Be, Toamasina, Tolagnaro, and Toliara – offered victims medical assistance and psychological support through social workers and provided victims access to police to file complaints. The government reported assisting 1,415 children (including 21 boys) at these facilities; however, the government did not report screening these children for trafficking indicators. The government continued to operate and fund the Manjary Soa Center in Antananarivo, which received 35 children who had been removed from situations of exploitation, including forced labor in domestic work or street vending. This center provided vocational training or reintegration into the public school system and allowed victims to stay at the center for one school year. The city of Antananarivo continued to manage an emergency center for child victims of crime, including domestic servitude and forced begging victims. The city government, in partnership with an international organization, reportedly provided food, lodging, psychological and medical aid, and educational services to victims; however, the government did not report the number of victims served at the center. The government, in partnership with an international organization, operated two specialized centers for gender-based violence victims, including potential trafficking victims. The MOP, in partnership with an international organization, continued to operate foster care programs for exploited children in Antisiranana and Nosy Be; the government did not provide the number of children assisted through the program for the fourth consecutive reporting period.Due to a lack of formal identification procedures, authorities may have detained unidentified victims. In previous years, police sometimes arrested child sex trafficking victims without screening or identifying them as victims and would sometimes temporarily keep potential transnational labor trafficking victims in police stations due to a lack of alternative accommodations. Observers reported employers often sued former child domestic workers to avoid paying accumulated unpaid salaries in cases where victims reported their abuse; despite documenting cases where employers sued child victims of domestic servitude, the government did not report investigating these incidents for potential trafficking crimes or screening the children for trafficking indicators. The 2014 anti-trafficking law mandated trafficking trials be held in private, with the option for video-conferencing, to ensure witness confidentiality and privacy; however, most courts did not have adequate equipment to accommodate these procedures. While the 2014 anti-trafficking law entitled victims to restitution, for the ninth consecutive year, the government did not implement this provision. The 2014 anti-trafficking law required authorities to consider legal alternatives for foreign trafficking victims who believed they may face hardship or retribution if returned to their country of origin.																																												PREVENTION						    																																															The government maintained minimal efforts to prevent trafficking. BNLTEH, under the prime minister’s office, continued to lead the government’s national anti-trafficking efforts. The 2022 federal budget legislation provided a dedicated budget of 410 million MGA ($98,625) for anti-trafficking programs led by BNLTEH, the same amount as in previous years; however, for the third consecutive year, the government did not disburse any funding to BNLTEH. The lack of funding led to the cancellation of most of BNLTEH’s planned activities. In December 2022, the government, in partnership with an international organization, adopted a 2023-2025 anti-trafficking NAP. In partnership with private donors and companies, the government held awareness campaigns targeting airport staff and the general public on trafficking indicators and reporting cases of child trafficking. BNLTEH maintained a hotline to report human trafficking and dedicated staff to receive incoming calls; however, calling the hotline was not free of charge, and its publicization was limited. BNLTEH reported the hotline did not receive any calls, compared with 18 calls received and two potential victims identified in 2021. In partnership with an international organization, the police and MOP social workers continued to operate a national toll-free hotline to report violence against children, including trafficking crimes. The government reported identifying 12 trafficking victims via the hotline, the same number identified in the previous reporting period.The Ministry of Labor, Employment, Civil Service, and Social Laws continued to oversee the process of migrant workers traveling to authorized destinations by coordinating with local recruiters, requiring contract approval by the relevant Malagasy embassy, and sensitizing migrant workers of their rights and potential trafficking risks prior to their departure. A 2013 ban on migrant worker travel – to Middle Eastern countries the government considered high-risk – remained in place; however, illicit recruitment agencies circumvented the ban by sending workers through other African countries. In an attempt to address this issue and identify agencies involved in fraudulent recruitment, the government continued its suspension of most existing accreditations for recruitment agencies and, thus, its prohibition of recruitment of workers for employment in Gulf states or the Middle East. These prohibitions on migrant workers continued to leave Malagasies with no legal means to travel to Gulf states or the Middle East for work and, therefore, without access to protection mechanisms available through authorized travel; these prohibitions subsequently increased their vulnerability to trafficking. Suspending accreditation of placement agencies has led to employers and traffickers increasingly targeting migrant workers for blackmail or solicitation of bribes to facilitate irregular travel to Gulf states or the Middle East. Observers reported illicit recruitment agencies often required migrant workers to pay fees as high as the worker’s first six months’ salary to cover hiring and travel costs. In September 2022, government officials, in partnership with an international organization, traveled to Jordan to monitor the conditions of Malagasy migrant workers; the government reported providing awareness materials and renewing workers’ expired passports but did not report screening any migrants for trafficking indicators.Labor inspectors overseeing working conditions in the country did not receive adequate training on trafficking indicators and did not report efforts to identify or report potential trafficking crimes to law enforcement. The government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, including child sex tourism. The Ministry of Tourism (MOT), in partnership with international organizations, continued to monitor the commitment of the approximately 1,000 tourism operators in 12 regions who had previously acceded to the tourism code of conduct against commercial sexual exploitation of children, including child sex trafficking, in the tourism sector. In December 2022, the MOT, in partnership with international organizations and NGOs, drafted updates to the code of conduct to increase requirements for tourist operators to proactively combat child sex tourism. The MOT conducted an unreported number of hotel compliance inspections to remind hotels of their obligation to display posters in their reception areas publicizing the prohibition of commercial sexual exploitation of children, including child sex trafficking; the government also maintained such billboards at airports and construction sites. The MOT, in partnership with NGOs and an international donor, continued to disseminate pamphlets to tourists to discourage child sex tourism and provide steps on how to report a trafficking crime. The government did not report providing anti-trafficking training to its troops prior to their deployment as peacekeepers. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.																																												TRAFFICKING PROFILE:						    																																															As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Madagascar, and traffickers exploit victims from Madagascar abroad. Traffickers exploit Malagasy children, mostly from rural and coastal regions and from impoverished families in urban areas, in child sex trafficking and labor trafficking in domestic work in homes and businesses, mining, street vending, agriculture, textile factories, and fishing across the country. Traffickers force children, including those with disabilities, to beg for long hours and in dangerous conditions, frequently at the behest of their parents. Most child sex trafficking occurs in tourist destinations, urban cities, vanilla-growing regions, and around formal and informal mining sites with the involvement and encouragement of family members. Tourist operators, hotel employees, taxi drivers, massage parlor owners, and local adults involved in commercial sex also facilitate child sex trafficking. Traffickers continue to exploit girls and boys as young as 12 years old in child sex tourism in coastal areas and major cities, such as Antananarivo, Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Manakara, Nosy Be, Toamasina, Toliara, and Tolagnaro, often openly in bars, nightclubs, massage parlors, hotels, and private homes. Malagasy men exploit the majority of child sex trafficking victims; however, foreign tourists, historically from France and Italy, and, to a lesser extent, other Western European countries and Comoros, exploit children in child sex tourism. Parents often encourage girls as young as 15 years old to become financially independent by dating, marrying, or engaging in commercial sex with foreign tourists; traffickers use this cultural norm as an opportunity to exploit girls in child sex trafficking. Traffickers continue to abuse traditional practices of arranged marriage, bride purchasing, and girl markets to exploit girls in child sex trafficking. Government officials are reportedly complicit in providing falsified national identity cards and birth certificates to girls that depict them as adults; traffickers then use the falsified documents to facilitate child sex trafficking in Madagascar. Since the pandemic, sex traffickers increasingly exploit women and children online. Traffickers lure women and girls from rural provinces to Antananarivo with the promise of employment, often via false job advertisements on social media, but then force them to perform online sex acts for foreign customers. Traffickers sometimes use centralized locations known as “call centers” to simultaneously exploit multiple women and girls online and regularly change the “call center” locations to avoid law enforcement detection. NGOs report climate change, including sudden-onset disasters such as cyclones and slow-onset events like drought and rising temperatures, increased poverty, food insecurity, and loss of work in southern Madagascar; families in these vulnerable situations may exploit their children in domestic servitude or sex trafficking to supplement lost income. Labor trafficking persisted in dina judgments, primarily in agricultural work. Officials allege village leaders in northwest Madagascar compel men ages 18 to 45 years to join local vigilante groups that combat village banditry.Many Malagasy women are employed as domestic workers in the PRC, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and media sources report informal placement agencies circumvent the 2013 ban against sending workers to the Middle East by routing them via Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Seychelles using legitimate tourist visas to avoid declaring travelers as migrant workers. Government officials in rural areas are reportedly complicit in providing falsified documents to facilitate the illicit recruitment of Malagasy women to work in Gulf states; individuals hired under fraudulent conditions are vulnerable to labor trafficking during travel and upon reaching their destination. Reports indicate traffickers and employers exploit Malagasy workers in Gulf states and the Middle East, particularly Lebanon, in domestic servitude using various forms of abuse, such as physical violence, salary withholding, and confiscation of passports. Traffickers acting as agents in labor recruitment agencies send Malagasy women to the PRC with falsified identity cards, where they are exploited in forced labor in agriculture or domestic servitude. Traffickers and employers may exploit Malagasy men in forced labor in the services and construction industries in the Middle East and in domestic servitude in the PRC. PRC nationals employed in Madagascar at worksites affiliated with the PRC’s BRI are vulnerable to forced labor, particularly in construction.																																				    							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- Madagascar HomeReportsOffice of International Religious Freedom2022 Report on International Religious Freedom&#8230;Madagascar				hide	document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) {	if(window.jQuery) {		jQuery( document ).ready(function() {			if (jQuery(".bc_middle").hasClass("collapse")) {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});				jQuery(".bc_hide").click(function(){					jQuery(".bc_hide").toggleClass("visible");					jQuery(".bc_middle").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_ellipse").toggle();					jQuery(".bc_content").toggleClass("noflex");					jQuery(".block_breadcrumbs_content").toggleClass("noflex");				});			} else {				jQuery(".bc_ellipse").hide();			}		});	}});																							2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Madagascar																																					Office of International Religious Freedom																																																																																							Download Report																																																																																	 In this section										/																							Executive Summary																																													Executive Summary																															Section I. Religious Demography																																																																																		Section II. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom																																																									Legal Framework																																																																											Government Practices																																																																																	Section III. Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom																																																																																		Section IV. U.S. Government Policy and Engagement																																																																																																								Executive Summary				The constitution provides for freedom of religious thought and expression and prohibits religious discrimination in the workplace. Other laws protect individual religious beliefs against abuses by government or private actors.Muslims born in the country continued to report that despite generations of residence, some members of their community were unable to acquire citizenship. Muslim leaders again reported that some Muslims continued to encounter difficulty obtaining official documents and services from government offices because of their non-Malagasy-sounding names. Members of the Muslim community and of evangelical groups decried political interference in their internal affairs by elected leaders and high-ranking government officials.Members of some evangelical Protestant churches continued to report they experienced discrimination in employment practices due to their religious affiliation, especially those who observed a Saturday Sabbath. Other members reported discrimination and scorn from their families and at school.U.S. embassy officials engaged with Ministry of the Interior officials responsible for the registration of religious groups. Embassy officials also discussed ongoing Muslim citizenship issues with human rights groups and international organizations. Throughout the year, embassy officials engaged religious leaders to discuss religious freedom and regional interfaith coexistence.																														Section I.													 Religious Demography												    																																															The U.S. government estimates the total population at 28.2 million (midyear 2022).  According to Pew Research Center data for 2021, 85.3 percent of the population are Christian, 3 percent are Muslim, 4.5 percent adhere to traditional beliefs, and 6.9 percent have no affiliation.  It is common to alternate between religious identities or to mix traditions, and many individuals hold a combination of Indigenous and Christian or Muslim beliefs.Muslim leaders and some local scholars estimate Muslims constitute between 15 and 25 percent of the population.  Muslims predominate in the northwestern and southeastern coastal areas, and Christians predominate in the highlands.  According to local Muslim religious leaders and secular academics, the majority of Muslims are Sunni.  There is a smaller Shia Muslim community of about 300 people located in the northwestern coastal region.  Citizens of ethnic Indian and Pakistani descent and Comorian immigrants compose a significant portion of the Muslim community, despite an increase in recent converts to Islam among the Malagasy population.Local religious groups state that 70 percent of the population are Christians, comprising as follows:  Roman Catholics (34 percent of the population), Presbyterian Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM Church, 18 percent), Lutherans (14 percent), and Anglicans (4.5 percent).  Smaller Christian groups include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and a growing number of local evangelical Protestant denominations.There are small numbers of Hindus and Jews.																																					Section II.													 Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom												    																																																Legal Framework										The constitution provides for freedom of religious thought and expression and prohibits religious discrimination in the workplace. Other laws protect individual religious beliefs against abuses by government or private actors. The constitution states that such rights may be limited by the need to protect the rights of others or to preserve public order, national dignity, or state security. The labor code prohibits religious discrimination in labor unions and professional associations.The law requires religious groups to register with the Ministry of the Interior. By registering, a religious group attains the legal status necessary to receive direct bequests and other donations. Once registered, the group may apply for a tax exemption each time it receives a donation, including from abroad. Registered religious groups also have the right to acquire land from individuals to build places of worship; however, the law states landowners should first cede the land back to the state, after which the state will then transfer it to the religious group. To qualify for registration, a group must have at least 100 members and an elected administrative council of no more than nine members, all of whom must be citizens.Groups failing to meet registration requirements may instead register as “simple associations.” Simple associations may not receive tax-free donations but may hold religious services as well as conduct various types of community and social projects. Associations engaging in dangerous or destabilizing activities may be disbanded or have their registration withdrawn. Simple associations must apply for a tax exemption each time they receive a donation from abroad. If an association has foreign leadership and/or members of the board, it may form an association “reputed to be foreign.” An association is reputed to be foreign only if the leader or members of the board include foreign nationals. Such foreign associations may only obtain temporary authorizations, subject to periodic renewal and other conditions. The law does not prohibit national associations from having foreign nationals as members.Public schools do not offer religious education. There is no law prohibiting or limiting religious education in public or private schools.The government requires a permit for all public demonstrations, including religious events such as outdoor worship services.The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.																																				Government Practices										Muslim leaders continued to state that the existing nationality law affected the Muslim community disproportionately, since it prevented descendants of immigrants, many of whom were Muslim, from acquiring citizenship, even after generations of residence in the country. Because religion and ethnicity are often closely linked, it was difficult to categorize citizenship discrimination based solely on Muslim identity. The leaders said that Muslim children of ethnic Indian, Pakistani, and Comorian descent had the most difficulty obtaining citizenship. Members of the Muslim community continued to face challenges in the country because of their statelessness. Under the law, for example, only Malagasy citizens could own land or property. In addition, they faced difficulties accessing education, healthcare, and employment.The leadership of the Fikambanan’ny Silamo Malagasy (Association of Malagasy Muslims) continued to report that some Muslims encountered difficulty obtaining official documents (e.g. national identity cards and passports) and services from public administration offices because of their non-Malagasy-sounding names. The leaders again said that government officials harassed and mocked Muslims and considered them to be foreigners, even when they possessed national identity cards.The government continued to include Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in the list of national holidays and consulted the Muslim community when setting the appropriate dates.In August, new disputes arose within the evangelical church Jesosy Mamonjy (Jesus the Savior) after members of the church contested the results of the election of new board members the previous month. The contesting members decried the interference of a high-ranking politician and asserted he leveraged his influence with the Ministry of the Interior to recognize the new board despite election irregularities. Church members opposed to the new leadership continued to demonstrate during weekly religious services, culminating in physical altercations between members. On August 28, security forces assigned by authorities to maintain order within the church’s compound arrested four members, charging them with offenses against public order. Members from the opposition group denounced the action as arbitrary arrest, denying accusations of troublemaking and accusing security forces of arresting only members opposed to the new board. The court granted a temporary release to the arrested members two days later and no known further action had been taken as of year’s end.Board members of the Association of Malagasy Muslims who stated they had authority to represent the Muslim community, complained that excessive political interference thwarted them from resolving internal leadership issues dating from 2016. They asserted that a court decision validated their board in 2018, and two other appeal judgments confirmed this decision respectively in September and October. However, a few elected members of parliament and other high-ranking officials, according to the board members, continued to support other Muslim members who undermined their leadership, inciting serious disagreements within their community with impunity.Religious groups stated the government did not always enforce registration requirements and did not deny requests for registration. All the large religious groups were registered. As of the end of 2020, (the most recent information available) the Ministry of Interior reported 399 officially registered religious groups, compared with 383 at the end of 2020. Between January and November, the ministry registered nine new religious groups and did not deny any requests for registration. The government acknowledged that some registered groups may have become inactive or dissolved without informing the government.Religious leaders, including representatives of the evangelical Vahao ny Oloko (Release my People) Christian Church, continued to state that inadequate government enforcement of labor laws resulted in some employers requiring their employees to work during regular days of worship.In July, a teacher in Toamasina who was supervising the official examination at the end of secondary school, required a Muslim female candidate to remove her headscarf to be permitted into the examination room. A Muslim community leader denounced the incident as a violation of freedom of religion. Other leaders within the community regarded it as an arbitrary decision taken by a civil servant, as the law does not prohibit religious attire during official examinations.State-run Malagasy National Television continued to provide free broadcasting to Seventh-day Adventists, Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Presbyterians on weekends and to the Muslim community on Fridays. During Ramadan, it provided additional broadcast time to the Muslim community. Members of the Federation of Evangelical Churches received free airtime to broadcast religious services every morning on public radio and television.Representatives from the Muslim community and from some evangelical Christian churches stated that the government exercised preferential treatment toward the larger Christian churches. The evangelical Christian community asserted that although the President or other high-ranking government officials regularly attended events organized by the larger Christian churches, they never appeared at events planned by the evangelical churches. They also stated they never received donations from the state, while the larger Christian churches benefited from government donations. Muslim leaders in some regions stated that authorities never invited them to attend periodical interfaith events organized by regional chiefs.																																					Section III.													 Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom												    																																															Leaders of the Muslim Malagasy Association continued to say some members of the public associated them with Islamists and extremists.  Other Muslim leaders, however, reported generally good relations between members of their community and other faiths across the country.Adherents of some evangelical churches, especially those celebrating their Sabbath on Saturdays, again stated that they were sometimes denied access to employment and believed it was due to their religious affiliation.  They also reported that children of some of their members sometimes experienced mocking and bullying by their classmates due to their religious affiliation.During the year, leaders of evangelical churches stated some female parishioners were victims of violence committed by their husbands who did not agree with their religious beliefs.  They also stated that new converts to their churches suffered psychological harassment by relatives or friends due to their religious affiliation.  Evangelical church leaders reported isolated disagreements with people residing near their places of worship in rural regions, but they indicated these issues were generally resolved without resorting to legal action.  Leaders of some evangelical groups reported being featured in harsh news articles and social media posts that portrayed them as greedy and financially dishonest.  They believed the authors of such articles and posts intended to incite hatred and discrimination against them and their religious communities.Representatives of Christian churches in Manakara accused Muslim community members of enticing their adherents to convert to Islam.  They accused Muslim leaders of taking advantage of the worsening socioeconomic situation affecting the local population due to the recent natural disasters.  The Christian churches stated the Muslim community offered free food, free access to school, and donations of school supplies to attract new converts.																																					Section IV.													 U.S. Government Policy and Engagement												    																																															U.S. embassy representatives periodically met with Ministry of the Interior officials to discuss the registration status of religious groups.Embassy officials interacted regularly with religious leaders to discuss religious freedom as well as the restriction of religious expression affecting communities of faith.  Embassy officials also met with human rights groups and international organizations, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, concerning religious freedom and statelessness.In early October, embassy staff members met with a group of local religious leaders from different faith communities during a field visit to the southwest region of Toliara and met with another similar group in Manakara in the Southeast region in December.  During the meetings, religious leaders unanimously reported good interreligious coexistence in their region but also indicated that they believed authorities exhibited preferential treatment toward certain religious denominations.																																				    							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Religious Demography																																																	Section II. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom																																							Legal Framework																																																						Government Practices																																																			Section III. Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom																																																	Section IV. U.S. Government Policy and Engagement																																																							Tags																					Bureau of African Affairs																								Madagascar																								Office of International Religious Freedom																																Religious Freedom
- Antananarivo, Madagascar: The American School of Antananarivo: 2024 Special Needs Profile Office of Overseas Schools Download the Special Needs Profile (Antananarivo- 2024 Special Needs- Madagascar) for this school to learn more about their capability to support students with exceptionalities.The American School of Antananarivo (ASA) The American School of Antananarivo (ASA) was founded in September 1969 as an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational day school. Its function is to provide an excellent education in an international setting to children through grade 12. ASA is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and is authorized for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP) and Diploma Program (DP). The school year comprises two semesters extending from mid-August through early June.This Fact Sheet is intended to provide general information. Prospective users of the schools may wish to inquire further of A/OPR/OS or contact the school directly for more specific and up-to-date information. Information and statistics are current as of December 2023 and are provided by the school.NOTE: School situations can change quickly, particularly as schools face cutbacks to learning support programs due to the pandemic, unrest, and economic uncertainty. For the most current information, work with the REO and school. Information in this document was collected by the Department of State&#8217;s Office of Overseas Schools directly from the school in December 2023 and shows the availability of services rather than an assessment of the quality of the services. The profile is intended as a jumping off point for a conversation with the REO and school to understand the best fit for your child. Definitions may vary school to school.