Community based projects receive support from World Bank

Community-driven projects in Angola this week received a financial boost from the World Bank (WB) to the tune of US $55 million. The WB director in Angola, Lawrence Clark, said the funds would support ongoing efforts by the government to improve infrastructure and increase access to social services. "Communities across the country's 18 provinces will benefit from these funds. The key feature of the Third Social Action Fund is that each of the targeted communities will identify social projects of importance. Most often these include the building or extension of a primary school, the construction of health posts and, in some cases, the rehabilitation of bridges which are integral to linking communities to markets," Clark said. He noted that results from the previous two phases of the Social Action Fund were positive. "Success from the first and second phases now means that funds can be expanded to all 18 provinces. Previously, the funds addressed shortcomings in just nine provinces, but we now intend to reach those provinces which were particularly affected by the war, especially in Huambo and Quito [in Bie province]." The community-driven development approach is expected to give communities and local municipalities increased control over decisions and resources. There will also be an emphasis on building capacity especially within municipality structures to enable the local communities to sustain the projects over the long-term," Clark said. Meanwhile, the government announced this week that it expected to invest up to US $800 million in education reform, starting in February 2004. The state-run ANGOP news agency reported that the construction and rehabilitation of schools and teacher training would be prioritised. After a year of peace in the country, UN figures show that about 45 percent of Angolan children do not go to school. Earlier this year the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) embarked on a back-to-school campaign in the central-highland province of Bie, and Malanje province in the north. About 250,000 children returned to classrooms under the programme, and UNICEF and the education ministry formalised the training of 4,000 teachers. Much of the country's infrastructure was destroyed during the 27 year civil war, which ended in April 2002.