1,500 youth to benefit from job-focused interventions
WASHINGTON, October 31, 2018 — The World Bank Board of Directors approved today a $10 million International Development Association (IDA)* credit to support higher school-life expectancy in Cabo Verde and more than 1,500 youth to benefit from job-focused interventions, including 750 female graduates from demand-driven and certified training programs. The Education and Skills Development Enhancement Project aims to strengthen foundational skills in education and improve the relevance of training programs aligned with Cabo Verde’s strategic development plan.
According to Louise Cord, World Bank Country Director, “Cabo Verde has made significant progress in expanding access to education and has achieved nearly universal access to primary education over the past decade. However, learning outcomes at the primary level remain relatively low, and access to secondary education has also improved but remains below the country’s aspirations. We want to support the country to improve relevant skills development opportunities and meeting the needs of the economy because youth unemployment has been rising over the past years, especially in urban areas”.
As identified in the 2018 Cabo Verde Systematic Country Diagnostic, a primary determinant of insufficient inclusive growth in the country is due to a weak base of human capital. “Greater investments in its human capital are essential to reduce poverty and raise shared prosperity in Cabo Verde,” said Kamel Braham, World Bank Task Team Leader.
The project will support the government’s basic education reform through improved quality inputs, including a better adapted and modernized curriculum, better alignment of the curriculum with teaching practices and expected learning outcomes and increased autonomy to local stakeholders to enable them to adjust education services to the specific needs of the served communities and children.
The project will also support increased relevance of training programs that take into account the strategic priorities of the country and the needs of the Cabo Verdean economy and contribute, in particular, to the development of the Tourism and Digital Platforms planned under the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development (Plano Estratégico de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, PEDS).
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 75 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.5 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $18 billion over the last three years, with about 54 percent going to Africa.
