UNRWA School Health & NCD Prevention Education
UNRWA integrates health education and non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention into its education program serving 500,000+ refugee children. The program strengthens primary prevention through health education targeting school children from 2023 onwards, improves nutritional quality of school canteen food, and conducts screening programs and outreach campaigns. The approach recognizes that early intervention during childhood can prevent NCDs like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension that increasingly affect the refugee population. The program also developed COVID-19 health protocols that trained 30,000+ students in Lebanon on hygiene practices.
Theme Areas
Behavior Goal
Establish healthy behaviors in childhood to prevent NCDs; improve nutrition and eating habits; promote hygiene and disease prevention practices; build health literacy among students and families
Target Audiences
Channels
Implementers & Partners
- UNRWA Department of Education
- UNRWA Health Programme
Donors & Sponsors
- UNRWA core funding
- Multiple donors
Key Takeaways
- 1School-based health education reaches children during formative years
- 2Improving school canteen food creates healthy eating environment
- 3Screening programs enable early detection and intervention
- 4Health protocols can be integrated into education delivery flexibly
- 5Technology like e-NCD app supports health monitoring