On February 17, 2016, in Bangkok, Thailand, the Exchange of Notes between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) on the second phase of the Regional Fit for School Programme took place. The event was hosted at the German Residence in Bangkok, Thailand.

The ceremonial signing was conducted by H.E. Mr. Peter Prügel, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Thailand, and by Dr. Gatot Hari Priowirjanto, Director of SEAMEO Secretariat. Also present were Ms. Nicole Siegmund, Principal Advisor of the Regional Fit for School Programme from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and Mr. Benito Benoza, Manager and Representative of the regional implementing partner, SEAMEO Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO INNOTECH).

The Exchange of Notes celebrated the success of the research and development phase of the programme. Most importantly, the event signalled the beginning of its second phase which now focuses on supporting government partners in scaling up water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools in the partner countries of Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and the Philippines, in a systematic and sustainable way. With this, the programme improves the preconditions for good health and education of school children in the partner countries of Souteast Asia.

In additon, the programme will continue to foster regional knowledge transfer and exchange on simple, scalable and sustainable WASH in Schools programmes and will support capacity development for their sucessful implementation in the region.