Across classrooms and communities, schools in Vanuatu are promoting health and preventing violence

At Natawa School and Tata School, nestled in a rural coastal community of East Santo and South Santo, respectively, in Vanuatu’s Sanma province, for its combined 1422 students from kindergarten to year nine, education is not only a pathway to knowledge, but also a critical social determinant of health.

Globally, it’s been proven that when girls attend and complete school, they are more likely to experience improved health outcomes, greater economic opportunities, and increased decision-making power throughout their lives.

Education is therefore essential to advancing gender equality and reducing health inequities, both across the life-course and across generations.

However, access alone is not enough. Schools must be safe, inclusive and health-promoting environments to ensure that all children, especially girls, are able to attend, meaningfully participate, and thrive.

Vanuatu has the fourth highest estimated prevalence of lifetime intimate partner violence against girls and women globally. It is also nearly twice the estimated global prevalence. This means creating safe school environments as a platform for violence prevention is a timely priority.

Because schools are important settings to promote health, well-being and safety, they must also play a central role in preventing and responding to violence against children, especially girls.

Schools are also part of the communities in which they are situated, which means they must partner with families, local leaders, civil society, and health services to ensure that both schools and their wider communities are safe and health-enabling.

To address this, the Ministry of Health is working with the Ministry of Education and Training to expand its Health Promoting Schools (HPS) programme to prioritize the prevention of violence against children, especially girls.

In 2025, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training, worked closely with provincial partners in Sanma province to identify a school and community where expansion of the HPS programme could have meaningful impact. The selection was informed by available data indicating a high burden of violence, as well as insights from the Vanuatu Women’s Centre, a national civil society organization with expertise in responding to violence against women and girls. Equally important were the presence of strong local leadership and an active Area Council, whose commitment and partnership are essential to strengthening safe, supportive and health-enabling school and community environments.

Health Promoting Schools workshop in Natawa School. © WHO / Elizabeth Elliott

The Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), facilitated community engagement workshops at Natawa and Tatas Schools. These sessions brought together health and education officials, teachers, students, and health providers to collaboratively identify local health and safety challenges and discuss how to develop solutions.

Students mapped safe and unsafe areas in and around the schools, and adults explored barriers to safety and wellbeing, and co-designed practical steps to prevent and respond to violence, particularly against girls.

Role plays and interactive sessions with students highlighted everyday risks and strengthened awareness of consent, abuse, and protective behaviours.

Through this participatory process, the Natawa and Tata School community identified context-specific solutions to strengthen child health, safety, and wellbeing.

The East Santo Area HPS Committee. © WHO / Elizabeth Elliott

A key outcome was the establishment of Area Council Health Promoting Schools committees that will also focus on school violence prevention within the Area Council, bringing together local leaders, teachers, health providers, child protection services, and civil society to coordinate multi-sectoral action.

Participants also progressed in planning referral pathways in schools, and integrating services from the Sanma Child Desk, Crime Prevention Unit, and local health providers into school services.

Practical planned initiatives included monthly health awareness sessions, school-based support for child protection, continuing support for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes, and identification of HPS focal person in schools. These activities are designed not only to promote health but also to enable students and families with knowledge of protection mechanisms and ensure that protective actions extend beyond the school gates into the wider community.

Multi-stakeholder meeting for the formation of the South Santo 2 Area HPS Committee of the Council. © WHO / Elizabeth Elliott

"Schools can serve as vital safe spaces, offering physical and psychological refuge when students' homes are unsafe," says Dr Revite Kirition, WHO Country Liaison Officer for Vanuatu. "Beyond providing shelter, they are crucial in the early identification of abuse and ensuring prompt referrals. It was this insight that guided the newly formed committees’ council’s plans to formalize referral pathways, designate focal points for child protection and integrate community services including the Sanma Child Desk and Crime Prevention Unit into school-based prevention efforts."

Local leaders and school staff emphasized the importance of collective ownership and follow-up. As the South Santo 2 Area Administrator, Terry Daniels, noted, "We need mutual support through identifying the strengths and capacities of each and every stakeholder, as all have specific roles to play and specific contributions to make. It truly is a group effort."

While dedicated funding remains a challenge, the Area Councils have committed to integrating support for school health and safety into annual work plans, alongside developing simple mechanisms to monitor progress and evaluate outcomes.

By building local capacity and fostering collaboration, Tata and Natawa Schools and their community are establishing a sustainable model for safe HPS that prioritizes violence prevention and can be adapted across Vanuatu.

“There’s a saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’” notes Dr Kirition. “We’re applying that principle to Vanuatu’s HPS programme, demonstrating the power of the collective in safeguarding our precious children, teaching them important life-lessons, and laying a stronger foundation for health and safety at all ages.”