afrol News, 4 June - The government of São Tomé and Príncipe has achieved financing of an education project that aims at developing the human resources of the islands' population. Several thousand illiterates are to be targeted.

The loan and the grant for the so-called human resources development support project are expected to improve the standards of living of about 6,500 illiterate and underprivileged women and youth "by providing them with basic skills functions such as reading, writing, arithmetic and enterprise management."

According to the latest figures from the World Bank, an estimated 37 percent of the adult population of São Tomé and Príncipe is illiterate.

The project further aimed at helping to "develop the level of skills of workers in the informal sector and contribute to the sensitisation of the population with regards to issue of reproductive health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS and the environment," according to a release by the Bank.

According to the São Toméan government, a diagnostic of the population life conditions had confirmed that 46 percent live in poverty, of which 35 percent is extremely poor. Food security, public health, clean water, electricity and basic education are among the government's most urgent priorities, according to President Fradique De Menezes.

Marios Dos Santos Tebus Torres, Minister of Planning and Finance of São Tomé and Príncipe, yesterday signed two agreements for a loan and a grant, totalling US$ 5.67 million to finance the project in the archipelago. The loan and grant were given by the African Development Bank (ADB).

According to a release by the Bank, the human resources project aimed to "improve the quality of human resources, job opportunities and the population's incomes."

It was also expected to help raise the capacities and productivity of departments and organs responsible for the development of human resources.

- The project will also contribute to enhance and diversify the opportunities for training and reintegration of the youth and workers, particularly poor women heads of households, in the least privileged regions of the country, according to ADB.

In these ways, the loan and the grant were expected to "contribute to poverty alleviation in São Tomé and Príncipe through the development of human resources."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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