Sao Tome and Principe: The World Bank Approves Support For Sao Tome & Principe’s Social Sectors

Washington DC, May 18, 2004 – The World Bank Board today approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of US$5 million and an IDA grant of US$1.5 million for a Social Sector Support Project in Sao Tome & Principe.

“The project will improve the delivery of basic health and education services through increased collaboration between the public sector, civil society and communities and the strengthening of institutional capacity to operate light decentralized systems with improved strategic planning, management and monitoring as well as equitable access to and better quality of these services”, said Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali, the World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the project. 

The Social Sector Support Project (PASS), developed in close collaboration with partners and key stakeholders in the country, focuses on reforming the education system to offer six years of quality basic education and on strengthening health services at the district level.  The PASS will also support the country’s strategic plans to contain the spread of  HIV/AIDS and combat malaria in a country where over 80 percent of the 140,000 inhabitants are affected by malaria, also cited as the number one cause of death.

“The project design and implementation arrangements are based on the premise that collaboration between the state and civil society is critical to improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance of social services and to ensure ownership and sustainability” Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali pointed out, adding that following an annual work program approach also offers flexibility to adapt to changes in the economic and social environment.

The IDA grant part of the project will finance all the HIV/AIDS and Malaria activities in addition to the community-driven initiatives implemented by civil society organizations and community groups in improving the health and education of communities.  Public sector executed activities in the area of basic education and health service delivery will be financed by the IDA credit.

The recent discovery of large oil reserves on the archipelago of Sao Tome & Principe has prompted initiatives seeking to encourage the government to ensure that revenue from this resource will be used to advance development, reduce extreme poverty and improve the welfare of the population.

The PASS is conceived to strengthen the education and health systems and their institutions and mechanisms for accountability in recognition of the fact that it is critical for Sao Tome & Principe to be more successful – unlike other oil-rich African countries - to channel oil revenues into building a solid human and economic foundation for sustained growth and development.

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Africa visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr/

For more information on the World Bank’s work in Sao Tome & Principe visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr/st/