A training centre for dairy production and processing was inaugurated on Friday at the head office of the Tunisian Association for the Beja Cheese Festival and Heritage Promotion in Nefza. Thanks to this project, some 120 women and young people will be able to benefit from substantial training each year and increase their employment opportunities. The project, which falls under the Japanese programme Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), consists in fitting out the association's premises and providing the equipment needed for training in dairy processing techniques, according to a press release issued by Japan's embassy in Tunis. The goal is also to improve the quality and diversification of products, which will stabilise the incomes of dairy farmers and contribute to the sustainable development of the dairy sector in Beja. At the inauguration ceremony, Japan's ambassador to Tunisia Takeshi Osuga voiced wish that the centre would "give hope to women and young people, and that the y will all become supporters of the friendly relations binding Japan and Tunisia." The GGP aims to achieve economic and social development in developing countries based on the philosophy of ensuring human security, and providing the necessary funding for relatively small-scale activities in a way that directly benefit inhabitants at a grass-roots level. Since 1996, 139 projects under this grant have been implemented throughout Tunisia in various fields, according to the Japanese embassy. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse