The World Bank approved on February 14, 2020 — a $75 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA) in support of the Government of Mozambique’s efforts to realize its demographic dividend by increasing empowerment, access to education, and employment opportunities for youth, especially adolescent girls and young women. Mozambique has one of the highest fertility rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, with early marriage and adolescent pregnancy rates among the highest in the world. The very young age structure of its population can either exacerbate poverty or enhance prosperity. In fact, despite the country’s efforts in decreasing poverty, the total number of people living in poverty has grown. Because fertility is higher among the poor, poverty and inequality across generations can worsen.

The project funding and activities will contribute to the following:  a)- empower individuals, families and communities by providing information on sexual and reproductive health services as well as gender-based violence support  services; by addressing social norms that keep girls and women out of school and work; and by providing life skills support to adolescents, especially girls;  b)-  educate adolescents by addressing bottlenecks in girls educational enrollment, attendance, and attainment; and c)- increase employment opportunities for the current and future generations through business plan competitions and skills development programs. This will be done by supplying services to increase productivity of informal workers, as well as by supporting entrepreneurship activities with potential for job creation.

Additionally, the project will contribute to a better articulation and coordination of youth policies within government agencies, and between the government and its stakeholders, as well as fund capacity building programs for Mozambican institutions. This project is in full alignment with the Bank’s ongoing 2017-21 strategy, known as Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Mozambique, by supporting the strategy’s key priorities such as investing in human capital, as well as its cross-cutting goals on gender equity.