BEAM was set up in 2000 and supports orphans and vulnerable children through a basic education package that includes levies and school and examination fees. In 2012, the Government allocated $15 million to BEAM to fund secondary school students. At the request of the Ministries responsible for the programme – Finance, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, and Labour and Social Welfare – the United Kingdom Government, through DFID, agreed to fund the shortfall for primary school students.
Paurina Mpariwa MP, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, said: “We are highly appreciative of the $15 million assistance to BEAM 2012 provided by the UK Government. This will change the lives of 400,000 orphans and children in need”.
Senator David Coltart, Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, said: “On behalf of the Zimbabwean Government, I would like to express my gratitude to the British Government for this generous assistance, without which hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable Zimbabwean children would have been deprived an education this year”.
Dave Fish, Head of DFID Zimbabwe, said: “I am delighted that the United Kingdom has once again been able to help the Government of Zimbabwe channel assistance to those Zimbabweans who most need it. The $15 million we are committing today is an investment in Zimbabwe’s future, which we, as friends of Zimbabwe, are only too happy to support.”
For further information on DFID Zimbabwe Programmes please visit www.dfid.gov.uk
Post published in: News