The Grand Anse and Perseverance districts on the main island of Mahe received donations as part of the Adopt a District programme that was launched in October 2023's Consuls Conference.

The first donations were made in a ceremony at the Foreign Affairs headquarters at Maison Queau de Quincy on Tuesday.

As Mauritania's consul to Seychelles, Ebe Babah, explained when handing over the donations, there are others that they plan to gift to the Grand Anse Mahe district.

"For now we are working on how to develop a project between the students of the schools together with schools in Ireland and Italy," he revealed.

The other countries that have also adopted Grand Anse are Northern Ireland and Croatia.

There are also other proposals to help Grand Anse tackle the coastal erosion problem.

"We have made some proposal ideas to the district in this regard and we are following the project with them," said Babah.

The donations were handed over to Waven William, the elected Member of the National Assembly for the Grand Anse district in the west of Mahe, the main island.

"As most of you are aware, the aim of the Adopt a District programme is to bring the Seychelles' honorary consuls closer to the grassroots level, allow them to be closer to our people, understand the challenges and development priorities of the districts, in order for them to see how best they can assist," said the director for consular and diaspora affairs, Myrna Hoareau.

Donations for Perseverance were given to Desheila Bastienne, the district's representative in the National Assembly, and these included  8 laptops from the Rome consulate.

The representative, Paola Adelmann, said it was after visiting the district that they realised that many young people are living there and that they need to have access to the latest technology."

The consular conference in 2022 brought over 70 honorary consuls to the 26 districts of Seychelles to allow the diplomats to understand the needs of the communities and create a partnership with their adopted districts.

The consuls have also donated to the disaster fund.