The UN's World Food Program WFP) has donated over 6,000 books to the Ministry of Education and Sports for the enrichment of primary education in Karamoja region, eastern Uganda.

According to a statement from WFP Kampala sent to Xinhua on Wednesday, the books where handed over to the Minister of State for Education and Sports, Nyombi Tembo by the Acting Country Director of WFP, Alix Loriston on Friday.

Tembo thanked the WFP and said that the four districts of Karamoja region would equitably share the books. The districts include Kotido, Moroto, Nakapiripriti and Kaabong.

"This is a commendable contribution in the uphill task to improve literacy and numeracy in the Karamoja region," Tembo said.

He commended the WFP for the Food for Education project that has increased the attendance of school girls, especially under the Girls' Take Home Rations program.

"Because of this, attendance of girls in schools increased from 9,828 in 1999 to 22,216 in 2003," he said.

"This pleasant trend is taking place in a region where in the past, female literacy was under 6 percent and over all literacy was at 11 percent," he added.

Loriston said WFP is committed to continued support of the government through the Ministry of Education.

"Today we are here to conclude the donation of a consignment of assorted books from friends of WFP in the United States called " Books for Africa," Loriston said.

"These books will be distributed in schools in Karamoja and therefore address the educational challenges facing the region."

WFP operates a project of "Food for Education" in the Karamoja, where food is used to attract children to school to improve enrollment and attendance levels.

Source: Xinhua