Eight of the projects financed are located on the island of Santiago, one on the island of Maio and the other on the island of Santo Antão, Valle Flor Institute representative Hermínia RIbeiro Basto told Portuguese news agency Lusa.

The Institute will support the NGOs and their projects over the next two years, the official said, explaining that the projects in question are all initiatives of members of civil society and will have a direct impact on local development.

The Valle Flor Institute, which has been working in Cape Verde since 2001, is supporting a total of 13 development projects in the country, according to Basto. Of this total, only one is not financed by the European Union - the future creation of a community radio station on the island of Maio, which is being financed by the city of Loures.

Eduardo Sorribes, the EU business attaché in Praia, also told Lusa that the aid being given is part of a special NGO support fund, and that Cape Verde also receives EU support from other EU sources as well.

The Valle-Flor Institute, a non-governmental development organization, was created in 1951, and in 1995 was given honorary membership in the Order of Merit by the Portuguese president. The Institute’s main aim is the development of humanitarian aid, education and economic, social and cultural development programs. It operates in all of the world’s officially Portuguese-speaking counties.

Source A Semana