Seminar on promoting school health [Archives:2005/904/Local News]

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December 19 2005

SANA'A, Dec. 17 – The meeting on the Regional Consultation on Health-promoting Schools in the Eastern Mediterranean Region concluded its meeting in Sana'a last Wednesday. Regional experts on health and education took part in the seminar, in addition to regional and international participants. The seminar confirmed the importance of cooperation, coordination and partnership of the parties interested in promoting school health, assuring the necessity for involving establishments, individuals and different civil society organization in order to build the national network for school health, and thereafter pursue launching the regional network on school health. The participants also confirmed the developing partnerships between the health and educational sectors in the region; they concentrated on providing necessary human, technical and material sources.

School health promotion plans were first established in Europe at the beginning of the eighties, particularly in Britain where there was a consideration of organizations with the involvement of schools in planning and execution of health activities. The great success of the project in Britain stimulated other European countries to join; 27 countries joined the network by the early nineties where it used to be called the European network for Promoting school health.

In the Arab World

The European success example was met with admiration in the Arab world, especially in The Gulf region, where it was implemented in selected schools in gulf countries. Other countries that started implementing this project were Jordan, Tunisia, Algiers and Lebanon.

Many organizations are supporting this project. Among these are the World Health Organization (WHO), UNISCO, European Union and other organizations. UNISCO is making an annual contest called “school health promoting contest.”

In Yemen

The project started in Yemen with a fund from the WHO in ten schools. They are distributed in the five governorates of the secretariat, Ibb, Taiz, Aden and Al-Mahwait. In the future, the project will be expanded to involve other schools.
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