In response to a request by SEAMEO Ministers to strengthen school health, nutrition and HIV&AIDS prevention activities in the sub-region and in support of national efforts to achieve Education for All (EFA) and Universal Access to HIV&AIDS Prevention, a multi-agency effort has been undertaken to strengthen school health and nutrition programs, including the education sector response to HIV&AIDS, in the Greater Mekong sub-Region (GMSR).

A regional dialogue was undertaken during June-July 2006 with government and development partner representatives in Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao PDR. In each country a mini-stocktaking of the school health and nutrition policies and activities, including the education sector response to HIV&AIDS, was developed with the government and development partner team (see Appendix 1).

All of the countries have developed and implemented school health and nutrition programs, as well as HIV&AIDS prevention programs, as joint activities of the education and health sectors. These activities accord with the Education For All – School Health and Nutrition framework but there is considerable variation among the countries in the quality and coverage of the subcomponents. In general there is a tendency towards fragmentation, with attendant higher transaction and management costs, and a particular tendency for HIV&AIDS education to be developed separately from the national school health and nutrition program.

Each country has developed or is in the process of developing a working group to address these issues of coordination and content, and to move towards the development of a systematic national policy and strategy. In response to this, the governments, ministries of education and other sectors, development partners and civil society agreed to come together at a sub-Regional workshop to share their experiences in addressing these regionally similar challenges.

The Greater Mekong sub-Regional Workshop on Strengthening the Education Sector Response to School Health, Nutrition and HIV&AIDS Programmes took place from the 5th to the 9th March 2007. The Workshop was hosted by the Kingdom of Cambodia with participating teams from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, with an observer team from Bhutan [see Opening Remarks by His Excellency (HE) Im Sethy, Appendix 2]. The Workshop was intended to lead to strengthened actions within countries and enhanced harmonization and alignment of support from development partners (see Appendix 3).