A/HRC/33/6 as well as other development partners, focused on establishing an incubator with appropriate technical assistance and support to encourage micro- and small-scale enterprises by youth and women. Government support was also provided to the Women in Business organization, which gave women and their usually low-income families the chance to earn money through small agribusinesses under the farm-to-table initiative. The programme complemented national initiatives to promote import substitution, as well as the use of value chains to encourage more efficient production and consumption and enhance the economic empowerment of women. 14. The delegation indicated that such good practices by the Women in Business organization had also attracted financial support under the Enhanced Integrated Framework of the World Trade Organization to build a storage and processing warehouse to add value to products for niche export markets. 15. Similarly, the Small Business Enterprise Centre provided equal access for women and men under the small business loan guarantee scheme, providing securities for business loans from commercial banks. The Government continued to back financial deposits with the banks to cover the scheme. More than 2,000 small businesses with just over 50 per cent ownership by women had access to finance for their businesses under the scheme. 16. A privately run successful microcredit scheme continued to build on its female clientele to the extent that commercial banks had opened their doors for such businesswomen by providing them with larger loans. 17. In addition, the Samoa Development Bank administered a microfinance scheme targeting women’s community groups on economic development activities. There were no restrictions on women accessing finance in Samoa from any bank or financial institution. 18. The Government had passed the Personal Property Securities Act 2013, which facilitated access to finance and transactions for businesses. The law also recognized the right of both men and women to own property and use such personal assets for business transactions. 19. The education of the children of Samoa was key to the development of the nation as a whole; that had been emphasized in the Education Act 2009, which focused on the importance of compulsory education for the 5- to 14-year-old cohort. Samoa supported the recommendation made regarding access to education to ensure that there was universal primary school education under the school fees scheme, initially supported by the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, but now fully funded by the Government of Samoa. Similarly, a school fee-paying scheme was provided at the secondary level, but only for years 9-11 to encourage higher retention rates from the primary to the secondary level. Greater attention was being paid to the emerging discrepancies whereby there were more girls than boys enrolling at all levels of education and males were performing less well than females. 20. The school fee paying schemes had contributed significantly to achieving Millennium Development Goal 2 on universal primary education. The enforcement of the Compulsory Education Act, along with anecdotal evidence, suggested that street vendors emerged only after school hours. Enforcement of the Child Labour Act was the issue to be tackled. 21. Samoa was fully dedicated to an inclusive education system which supported the integration of children with special needs into mainstream schools. The Inclusive Education Programme was carried out in partnership with the Government of Australia, and involved public, private and mission schools. The Government had identified private institutions that could provide service delivery for children with disabilities, such as SENESE Inclusive Education Support Services, Loto Taumafai and Aoga Fiamalamalama. GE.16-10832 5

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