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National School Health Day Speech

Anne Skatvedt, UNICEF Representative/Jordan, (20 April, 2004)

Your Excellencies,
UN Colleagues,

Dear Partners and Friends,

Today is another landmark achievement  for Jordan; as it celebrates for the first time   National School Health Day. It reflects the country’s commitment to its youths as it focuses on their health in schools to enable them to be seekers and producers of knowledge.

Why is School Health So Important?
For young people to be effective recipients of knowledge and participants in their societies, they need to be healthy and have access to health services in their schools. It is in their schools where adolescents spend so many hours of the day.

School Health is an integral component of a child’s life and a basic right. Jordan and the world have committed to the need to join hands to build a world fit for children in which “children are nurtured in a safe environment that enables them to be physically healthy, mentally alert, emotionally secure, socially competent and able to learn.”

Working Together
The world is commemorating this event under the theme of  “Working Together for Distinguished School Health.”  We at UNICEF are working with our counterparts on adolescent health to protect young people from health risks such as smoking and drug abuse.

The nature of our collaborative effort focuses on raising the awareness of our young friends, their parents, and all stakeholders, in health issues such as hygiene, HIV/AIDS, nutrition and the importance of physical education. Approximately 200 service providers working with youth have received training in health issues important to adolescents.  The aim is to build the capacities to help develop and promote the participation.

Our partners are from the governmental and non-governmental sectors in the Kingdom with a wide outreach. The organizations we are working with have a large network of other partners who reach thousands of young people. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, for example, will reach this year 10,000 youths through health centres at schools. 

Of course, we work with young people themselves, and around 500 students are being trained in promoting healthy life skills amongst their colleagues. Parents are also active participants in the National School Health initiative. They  are receiving health awareness training.

In closing, tet us join hands to reach the over 3,000 schools in the Kingdom  to enable adolescents to be active and healthy participants contributing to the development of Jordan today.

Thank you