 The National Commission for UNESCO has provided funding to the Special Education Unit and the Department of Sustainable Development for the undertaking of two major education projects. A joint check presentation to the Special Education Unit and the Department of Sustainable Development marks the official start of two projects, providing reading support for students with print disabilities at the Lady Gordon Opportunity Centre and strengthening the legislative and institutional framework for the promotion of science and technology. Each project receives a budget allocation of US $20,000 under the UNESCO Participation Program for the 2020-2021 biennium. Director-General of the National Commission for UNESCO Marcia Sinforia says the two initiatives are in keeping with UNESCO's 2020-2021 strategic priorities of increasing learning opportunities for persons in vulnerable situations with particular attention to crisis-affected populations as well as persons with learning challenges and harnessing sciences for sustainable development. That's when Lucia was successful in securing funding for three participation program projects at the first meeting of the approval committee. At a time when the organisation is itself feeling the impact of reduced funding from donor agencies and as well the challenges faced by member states in meeting their own financial contributions to the organisation speaks volumes of the quality of the submissions that are made to UNESCO from Saint Lucia. In that regard, I wish to congratulate the Department of Sustainable Development for these two excellent projects. The first project providing reading support for students with print disabilities at the Lady Gordon Opportunity Centre seeks to improve access for students with dyslexia, low vision or select mobility impairment to reading materials in digital formats that fit their specific learning needs. This project consists among other activities of a bookshare library that Saint Lucia will be part of which is the world's largest online system as well as a braille worn device which allows a visually impaired individual to interact with a computer without the assistance of someone else. This project arose in a timely manner considering that the country has been impacted by COVID and we've had to close schools yet again. That was Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development. Honourable Dr. Gail Briggebert. Education Officer for Special Education, Dale Sejista says this project effort is invaluable. One of the challenges within the special education sub-sector is that reading is very challenging. It is difficult and there are many of our students who actually do not acquire that skill. But as I said before, one of the key components of achieving that goal is to provide appropriate resources and the exciting thing about this project is that it will make literacy a lot more accessible to more students. The second project, an initiative to strengthen the legislative and institutional framework for the promotion of science and technology, has a key objective to ensure that science and technology becomes one of the vital basis for the development and growth of St. Lucia. Sustainable Development Officer coordinating the project is Berthier Thomas. The Department of Sustainable Development is currently collaborating with the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, the NCPC, who is in a process of developing a National Competitiveness Agenda for St. Lucia. And one of the outputs of this agenda is a National Science, Technology and Innovation policy. And we're hoping that at the completion of this, we can develop through this project, its wife so to speak, its partner so to speak, the National Science and Technology Strategy and Action Plan. So what we have in the policy, we want to put it into action and guide our activities. Other initiatives attached to the project include the strengthening of the research agenda in St. Lucia, the continuation of the science and technology summer camps, and the hosting of the first ever St. Lucia Female Icons in Science, Technology and Innovation Forum. Portfolio Minister Hon. Dr. Rigbert says her ministry will spare no effort to see both projects. We will continue to work assiduously to ascertain the successful implementation of both projects and to ensure that whatever resources are to be employed to realize the fruition of these, we will employ all the energy, resources, human capital that we have to so do. Noting that successful implementation refers to a project which meets all of its expected objectives and outputs and effectively undertakes its program of activities in keeping with the stipulated guidelines. UNESCO's project launch took place on Monday 26 October 2020 at the Department of Sustainable Development.