I am proud to introduce this report on a bumper year for HIGHER HEALTH, a period when COVID-19 receded, our campuses returned to normal life, and student health and wellness programmes were appreciated as never before.

As head of a technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college, I appreciate how constrained resources in our sub-sector often are. We may want to enrich the campus years that bridge childhood and adulthood with support services and extramural activities, but often the means are lacking. In this context, HIGHER HEALTH has been a gift of great and varied value, including:

The value of leadership: HIGHER HEALTH’s emphasis on peer-to-peer health promotion has given thousands of young students an opportunity for personal growth through service to their fellow students. TVET college courses tend to be quite technical and may not address soft skills like building self-confidence and teamwork.

HIGHER HEALTH provides opportunities precisely for this kind of growth among our students. By making a firm connection between health activism and broader civic engagement, HIGHER HEALTH has taken its commitment to youth empowerment up a few more notches.

The value of safe spaces: South Africa is undeniably a complex and troubled society and many of our students are vulnerable – vulnerable to specific threats like gender-based violence, mental health disorders, the use of damaging substances or, more generally, to the draining effects of poverty. HIGHER HEALTH has begun to create places of refuge for students in difficulty – services they can approach and adults or peers they can turn to. There is still a long way to go in developing these, but a start has been made.

The value of expertise: College management and staff have benefited immeasurably from HIGHER

HEALTH’s ability to access health experts and produce policies, guidelines and protocols so that we have the competence to address critical health issues. The COVID-19 pandemic is the outstanding example, but close behind is GBV, sadly an ever-present threat to our woman students. In helping us take charge of our responses to these matters, HIGHER HEALTH has strengthened our institutions.

So, to the funders who provide resources for HIGHER HEALTH to bring its dynamic vision of health and wellness to life and to the management and staff HIGHER HEALTH who are our tireless partners, our heartfelt thanks. We are particularly grateful to the campus

health and wellness coordinators (CHWCs) seconded by HIGHER HEALTH to our colleges, and to Prof Ahluwalia for his unique leadership.