Luanda – The Girls Empowerment and Learning for All (PAT2) project, launched Friday will benefit more than one million citizens and distribute 620,000 scholarships, announced the Minister of Education, Luísa Grilo.
The minister announced so at the PAT II dissemination ceremony chaired by by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
She stressed that the five-year USD250 million project will cover about six million students, guarantee their multifaceted training.
Luísa Grilo explained that the project is expected to empower Angolan girls with information and sexual and reproductive health services to 300,000 young people, between 12 and 17 years of age, of whom 180,000 girls to ensure a decrease in school-age pregnancy.
The project also aims, according to Luísa Grilo, to prevent gender-based violence, encourage students to stay in and/or return to school through the granting of scholarships for the most vulnerable, ensure the prevention of intimate hygiene and the supply of water and functional bathrooms.
In turn, the regional director of the World Bank, Jean Carret, stated that there will be no investment more impacting for the future of the country than the empowerment of girls, aiming to reduce poverty, boost economic growth and the well-being of Angolans.
For Jean Carret, keeping girls in school and ensuring that they learn is likely to bring far more gains than any other public investment.
