Strengthening Health and Well-Being Education in Schools.

The UNESCO-IBE and partners have made three essential tools available to support schools and teachers. Health and well-being are not merely the absence of illness—they mean feeling good about oneself, both mentally and physically, and living harmoniously within one’s social and physical environment. How, then, can we help children grow up healthy, confident, able to manage their emotions, cooperate with others, make responsible choices, and help build a world free from violence? In a context where health and well-being challenges are becoming increasingly complex, schools play a decisive role. To fully assume this role, however, educators need practical, accessible tools that are adapted to their daily realities. To meet the need, UNESCO-IBE, in collaboration with the UNESCO Offices in Dakar and Yaoundé, and with the participation of 15 countries from West and Central Africa, is now making three essential tools available for use independently or in combination.

The first is the “ Pedagogical guide for developing competencies in health and well-being education for training and teaching.” It is intended for teachers and teacher trainers and includes an introductory booklet as well as 66 lesson plans designed for four age groups: 5–8, 9–12, 12–15, and 15–18 years old. The guide offers ready-to-use classroom activities, in-person training sequences for trainers, and other pedagogical tools to build essential competencies for health and well-being.

The second tool, the “Practical guide to integrating health and well-being education in schools: contribution to the 'Health-Promoting School' initiative for school principals, educational communities and those responsible for life and health in schools in West and Central Africa,” targets school heads, educational teams, and student life coordinators. It supports the design and implementation of a comprehensive school project focused on health, protection, the fight against violence, inclusion, and learner participation.

Finally, an online training course for teachers and teacher educators completes the package. Designed for Moodle, it is easily transferable and adaptable to national platforms and consists of six modules and 18 sequences, totaling approximately 22 hours of training. It helps teachers understand children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being issues, become familiar with positive discipline and caring relationship practices, implement active pedagogies, and use ICT and artificial intelligence in the classroom critically and effectively.

At the heart of these three tools lies a shared conviction: health and well-being are not just knowledge to transmit—they are competencies to be developed among learners. The goal is to help children manage their emotions, cooperate, live well with others, take care of themselves and others, make informed choices, resist pressure, report violence, and help build a world where life is better for all. For these competencies to emerge, children must grow up in safe school spaces where they feel respected, heard, and protected. This implies a profound transformation of educational practices: fostering teacher–student relationships rooted in care and respect for children’s rights, promoting active pedagogies that make learners participants in their own learning, and nurturing a calm, favorable school climate conducive to personal and social development. These tools support teachers, trainers, and schools in driving this essential change.

Their development is the result of extensive collaborative work bringing together eighty curriculum specialists from fifteen West and Central African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo). The work took place in three workshops held in Lomé and Dakar between 2023 and 2025. The tools were designed to be easily contextualized, adapted by each country, and used in both initial and in-service teacher training.

The ambition is clear: to support teachers, strengthen learners’ competencies, transform schools into safe, protective, and nurturing environments, and place children’s rights and well-being at the heart of educational practice.