The Irish Government, through the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Micheál Martin, announced on Thursday, 20 July, the allocation of funding of 3.5 million euros (equivalent to 248 million meticais), to strengthen education systems, improve access and provide quality education to Mozambican children.
According to the ReliefWeb portal, Micheál Martin declared the intention during his visit to the 1 de Junho Comprehensive Primary School in Inhambane province, where Ireland has been working for more than 26 years.
For the minister, “education is a fundamental pillar for the socio-economic development of any country, so investment is a crucial point for us to have a trained and competent society in various matters”.
The Minister also said that Ireland is proud of “the partnership it has with Mozambique to improve access to quality education for children across the country, as it helps to reduce poverty and inequality”.
The Irish government provides 27 million euros (1.9 billion meticais) annually to fund development projects in the provinces of Inhambane and Niassa.
Mozambique is a close partner of Ireland and is home to the second largest bilateral international development programme sponsored by the European country on the African continent.
Micheál Martin has been in Mozambique since Wednesday (19) and intends to closely monitor the development of projects financed by his country in those two provinces.
