Norway is reinforcing its commitment to promote women and protect the environment in Angola.

Norway is reinforcing its commitment to promote women and protect the environment in Angola.  The Norwegian Embassy recently signed a three-year agreement with the Angola non governmental organisation ADPP - Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo, of a total of NOK 14 million.
 
The Purpose of the Programme is to increase the participation of women in the Teachers of the Future Teacher Training Colleges to 50%, and to promote a girl friendly environment in the communities surrounding the schools and in society as such.  Secondly, to ensure increased focus on environmental issues by bringing new knowledge and practice into the training of teachers and their role for change in the communities.
 
The embassy has previously provided support to the establishment of the Teacher Training College, EPF in Bie. ADPP currently has EPF Teacher Training Colleges in 7 provinces, but is planning to construct three more colleges within the next couple of years.  The gender and environment project will take place at 10 EPF Schools during the three-year period. The schools are located in the following provinces: Bié, Huambo, Benguela, Bengo, Luanda, Zaire, Cabinda, Uige, Malanje and Cunene.
 
The immediate reason for the project is that the Schools for the Teachers of the Future in Angola during the first 12 years of their history have only managed to achieve 12% female teachers out of the total number of 1.700 teachers trained. At the same time the EPF Bié experience, promoting female teachers, has been a positive experience, which have resulted in a strategy for how the EPF schools can meet its own target that more girls will enrol into the program and become teachers of the future.
The reason for the need for more female teachers is, that the lack of female teachers in all rural areas of Angola and in suburban areas as well, makes the girls more vulnerable in the primary schools in many respects. For instance, in the communities as such, where school drop out among girls is usual, teenage pregnancy is very common.
 
The project seeks to reach an immediate effect at the Schools for the Teachers of the Future and over a longer period in the primary schools as well, where the female teachers will serve.
 
Lack of environmental concerns in schools and communities is another development constrain, which especially has an impact on girls. For this reason the project will bring into the teacher training curriculum environment and as well implement a number of environmental actions with the purpose of bringing new practice and knowledge into the training of teachers and their role for change in the communities.