At a glance: Sao Tome and Principe

The big picture

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This map does not reflect a position by UNICEF on the legal status of any country or territory or the delimitation of any frontiers.

Sao Tome falls among the highest indebted countries of the region. Both routine and survey results show that Sao Tome is making significant progress towards universal child immunization. Sustainability of these achievements still requires more attention. In support of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the End of Decade Report, Sao Tome and Principe has forwarded its first CRC report to the CRC Committee in Geneva.

UNICEF priorities

Health: Through three projects, namely Child survival, the Bamako Initiative and Health Promotion, UNICEF’s work in health aims to: 1) Increase vaccination coverage and eliminating polio and neo-natal tetanus, 2) Improve the management of childhood diseases, 3) Extend the Bamako Initiative coverage and 4) improve the nutritional status of women and children.

Support is provided to the central maternity to strengthen safe motherhood practices and elaboration and adoption of National Health Development Plan.

Other key activities include a study on goitre and a seminar on breastfeeding organized for lusophone countries with 20 participants. A second study was also undertaken on HIV/AIDS.

Basic education: Activities include school garden activities in which 14 new schools are covered this year. The vegetables obtained from the garden have been used to complement World Food Programme (WFP) inputs of staple food in schools. They also serve as a tool used by teachers to make classes more didactic and more attractive for the children.

Water, environment and sanitation (WES): This programme provides a much-needed uplift to the standard of living of the families who live on or near settlements, as they are without adequate quarters and almost always without proper sanitary facilities. WES inputs are increasingly being provided as part of a package, which also consists of pre-school facilities to enable mothers to do subsistence farming.

This programme is gradually merging with the basic education programme, since one of the biggest felt problems for parents and teachers alike - not to mention the children - is the lack of water in many schools.