Project sees poverty as education key

A UNESCO-backed project in Jordan is improving the education of poor children - by assisting their mothers financially. The "Children in Need microcredit programme" gives small loans, and training, to women in 17 Jordanian villages targeted by the Noor Al Hussein Foundation and UNESCO. The loans, processed at local level, allow women with at least two children to finance enterprises ranging from goat farming to hairdressing to the raising of medicinal herbs.

Evaluations suggest that their children have substantially benefited in terms of hygiene, health and nutrition - key factors in allowing them to make the most of education opportunities.