PRESS RELEASE
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U.S. Government Launches Program to Increase Girls’ Access to Education in Nampula and Zambezia
August 11, 2022 – The U.S. Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announces a new program to promote girls’ school attendance, improve classroom safety for girls, and increase girls’ advancement into secondary school. While equal access to education has improved in Mozambique, more than half of Mozambican girls drop out of school by the fifth grade. In coordination with the Ministries of Education and Health, this new program addresses the main challenges girls face to stay in school by providing training and materials to educators and principals on crucial topics.
Known as USAID Advancing Girls’ Education (USAID AGE), the five-year program will focus on communities with low female school enrollment in Nampula and Zambézia. It focuses training on literacy and numeracy, which incorporates important social and life skills topics, like menstrual hygiene management, nutrition, and prevention of violence, sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregancy.
“We are building on a long history of creating better access to quality education, particularly for young girls, because when girls receive an effective education, they become adults who have more economic opportunities, make healthier life choices and are more likely to actively participate in civic life,” said U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Peter H. Vrooman. “The U.S. Government continues to invest in tools that will offer better access to quality education, particularly for girls. Programs like USAID AGE reduce barriers that keep girls from reaching their full potential and promote the inclusive social and economic development of Mozambique.”
USAID selected local non-governmental organization Civil Society Capacity Building Center (CESC) to implement the program. In addition to supporting teachers and principals, the program will work with parents, community members and religious leaders to establish youth clubs and other activities focused on empowering girls and promoting community involvement to ensure that girls have safe school environments and stay in school until graduation.
USAID will invest $10.67 million in this program over the next five years. Support for education is a critical component of the broader U.S. Government assistance in Mozambique. In close collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Mozambique, the U.S. Government provides more than $500 million in annual assistance to help Mozambique build a healthier, more secure, more democratic, and more prosperous country for all citizens.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) leads the U.S. Government’s international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises. For more information about USAIDs work, visit www.usaid.gov.
For more information about this press release, please contact the U.S. Embassy Maputo Press Office at MaputoPress@state.gov.
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