FRESH Framework
FRESH is an acronym for Focusing Resources on Effective School Health, an inter-agency framework developed by UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank, launched at the Dakar Education Forum, 2000, which incorporates the experience and expertise of these and other agencies and organizations. It is a worldwide program for improving the health of school children and youth.
Core areas
Although aimed at improving learning opportunities for children and youths by first improving their health, FRESH is more than simply the provision of school health services. FRESH is a combination of activities in four core areas:- School health policies
- Water, sanitation and the environment
- Skills based health education
- School-based health and nutrition services
- Effective partnerships between the education and health sectors
- Community partnership
- Student participation
Importance to UNESCO
The importance UNESCO attaches to this initiative can be seen from its introduction:Online tools
Reflecting the main themes of the program, online tools are available freely to all:- planning and evaluation
- school health policies
- water sanitation and the environment
- school health services
- HIV/AIDS
- food and nutrition
- parasitic worms and hygiene
- malaria
- violence
- drugs, alcohol and tobacco