How are health and education connected?

Mens sana in corpore sano — a healthy mind in a healthy body. Healthy children learn better, and strong education systems in turn build healthier societies. Together with Be-cause health, this year’s Educaid.be International Conference aims to explore the strong and complex links between health and education in today’s polycrisis context. It will focus on the mutual influence between these two sectors, with particular attention given to low- and middle-income countries.

The conference will highlight strategies, cross-cutting approaches, and perspectives that have proven effective in reinforcing the transformative role of education in improving public health. It will also examine how synergy between health, education, and international cooperation actors can contribute to building sustainable, inclusive, and resilient health systems.

Global examples from high-level international speakers will illustrate the challenges and existing solutions for better integrating these two dimensions.

Keynotes

International experts will discuss the intersecting impact of education and health in this era of polycrisis, stressing the importance of their coexistence in an increasingly fragmented and uncertain world. They will examine the links between school environments, planetary health, and global citizenship education as a lever for resilience.

Parallel practical sessions

Member organisations of Educaid.be and their partners will offer reflections and concrete action proposals on a variety of topics.

PROGRAMME

9:30 - 10:00

Welcome with coffee and tea (only for in-person participants)

10:00 - 10:20

Welcome & Introduction

Omar Ba
Event moderator: Omar Ba
Historian, Consultant on Inclusion and Diversity
(in person)
Evelien Masschelein
Evelien Masschelein
Director of Thematic Expertise | Enabel
(in person)
Sven Rooms
Sven Rooms
General Director | VVOB - education for development
(in person)
Stefaan Van Bastelaere
Stefaan Van Bastelaere
Chair of the Be-cause health platform
(in person)
10:20 - 11:00

Keynotes

Calixto Suarez
Calixto Suarez
Representative of the Arhuaco Indigenous community – CIT Confederacion Indigena Tayorna, Colombia
(in person)
Libing Wang
Libing Wang
Chief of Section for Health and Education | UNESCO
(remote)
11:00 - 12:30

Panel discussion about the cross impact of education and health in a context of polycrisis

Katharina Kreppel
Katharina Kreppel
Head of Emerging Infectious Diseases unit, Department of Public Health | Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp
(in person)
Linda Oduor-Noah
Linda Oduor-Noah
IFI Policy Advisor, Public Services | Oxfam International
(remote)
Calixto Suarez
Calixto Suarez
Representative of the Arhuaco Indigenous community – CIT Confederacion Indigena Tayorna, Colombia
(in person)
Portretfoto van Antonia Wulff
Antonia Wulff
Director of Research, Policy and Advocacy | Education International
(in person)
12:30 - 14:00

Lunch break

14:00 - 15:30

Parallel sessions 

Session A | Educating with sensitivity: cross-perspectives on comprehensive sexuality education and menstrual health
Organised by Enabel
More information
____________________________________________________________________________
Session B | The First 2000 Days: Early childhood care and education in low-income settings
Organised by HIVA/KU Leuven
More information

15:30 - 17:00

Parallel sessions 

Session C | Collective action for training, a lever for the development of rehabilitation
Organised by APEFE
More information
____________________________________________________________________________
Session D | When mental health educates and education heals
Organised by Be-cause health WG Mental health
More information

17:00 - 17:30

Final conclusions

Heidy Rombouts
Heidy Rombouts
Belgian Director General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
(in person)
17:30 - 20:00

Celebrating 15 years of Educaid.be

 Photo credit: GPE/Kelley Lynch

Registration form