The US government will invest 10 million dollars to strengthen girls' access to education in Zambezia and Nampula provinces, the US embassy said in a statement today.  

According to the release, the new five-year program addresses the key challenges girls face in staying in school by providing training and materials to educators and principals on crucial topics.

The initiative, developed through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and in cooperation with the ministries of education and health, will also focus on schools in the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia, where the participation rates of girls in schools are considered low.

The program "focuses on literacy and numeracy training, incorporating important social and life skills topics such as menstrual hygiene management, nutrition, and prevention of violence, sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancy," the embassy indicates in the statement.

According to data advanced by the United States, despite efforts to improve girls' access to education in Mozambique, more than half of all girls drop out of school by the fifth grade.

Mozambique receives 500 million dollars a year in assistance from the U.S. government to strengthen various social sectors, with emphasis on society and democracy, indicate data from the embassy in Maputo.