At the dawn of the 21st century, the learning potential of children and young people in every country in the world is compromised b y conditions and behaviours that undermine the physical and emotional well-being that makes learning possible. Hunger, malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, malaria, polio and intestinal infections, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and injury, unplanned pregnancy and infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections threaten the health and lives of the children and youth in which Education for All efforts are most invested. AIDS, which kills people in the most productive period of life, is particularly destructive: it undermines efforts to educate the current generation and robs nations of the benefit of education provided to members of the generation before. Under these circumstances, education policy makers and planners must embrace health promotion activities to achieve their goals. Schools must be not only centres for academic learning, but also supportive venues for the provision of essential health education and services. A new partnership sponsored by UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and Education International signals the commitment of these agencies to assist national governments to implement school-based health programmes in efficient, realistic and results-oriented ways. The FRESH framework is based on agreement among the collaborating agencies that there is a core group of cost effective activities which, implemented together, provide a sound basis and point of departure for further action to make schools healthier for children, children more able to learn, and Education for All more likely to be achieved.