"São Tomé and Príncipe intends to benefit from Cape Verde's experience. We came to exchange experience", said to journalists, in the city of Praia, the Minister of Women's Rights of São Tomé and Príncipe, Maria Milagre Delgado, who heads the delegation, who began the visit with a meeting with the Cape Verdean Minister of State, Family, Inclusion and Social Development, Fernando Elísio Freire.
The São Tomé governor stressed that she heads a new ministry, also responsible for Social Inclusion, Solidarity and Family, which is why she considered that the visit to Cape Verde is "important" to gather suggestions, with the signing of agreements in this area already being considered.
"I think we will gain a lot from the experience of registration. And we also have our positive side, which we will bring to Cape Verde", she continued, noting that the majority of his country's population is of Cape Verde origin.
"And we have great capabilities that we know we will also be able to develop with Cape Verde", insisted the same source, who made a "good assessment" of the management and development of the CSU in Cape Verde.
The delegation, accompanied by World Bank technicians, also includes Angolan leaders, representing that country's Ministry of Social Protection, who will carry out visits and meetings to structures in Cape Verde until Thursday.
The CSU is a measure by the Government of Cape Verde, implemented since 2018 in partnership with the Municipal Councils, which allows locating and focusing on potential beneficiaries of social protection programs, with more than 81 thousand families registered in all 22 municipalities in the country.
For Cape Verde's Minister of State, Family, Inclusion and Social Development, Fernando Elísio Freire, the fact that these two countries are learning about the experience of this project should be "a reason for pride".
"This is a victory for Cape Verde that we must celebrate, but it also increases our responsibility, because there are challenges that we also have to overcome", warned the government official, for whom the CSU is a "very respected institution" in the African sub-region.
"It is given as an example of transparent, rigorous management, but, above all, of management that has allowed the focus of social policies", he said, indicating that the registry is currently being used by 13 programs to select beneficiaries of social supports.
Regarding São Tomé and Príncipe, he noted that both countries have been working for many years on social protection, with training in this area, but there are also around 1150 pensioners in São Tomé and Príncipe and around 50 in Angola who are taken care of by the State from Cape Verde.
There are also around 20 scholarships awarded to São Tomé university students to study in Cape Verde, 86 professional training scholarships, in addition to a scholarship awarded to the Cape Verdean community in São Tomé and Príncipe.
Fernando Elísio Freire said that the two countries have "strong commitments" and will move to the next phase, which is care, promising to develop policies to allow the training of caregivers in São Tomé and Príncipe.
