Dr. Bella Monse

Senior Advisor, Fit for School, Technical Assistance for Effective School Health

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Bella’s professional background is pediatric dentistry; she practiced in Germany for 12 years and was involved in the development of concepts for oral health promotion in day care centers in collaboration with the German health insurance system. In 2002 she joined the Ministry of Education in the Philippines as an “Integrated Expert”, supported by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ). Her role was to facilitate the development, implementation, and research of effective school-based health programs. She was technical advisor of the Philippine National Oral Health Survey in 2006 and conducted various research projects on effective school health interventions. In  2011 became the principal advisor of the Fit for School Program to support Ministries of Education in Cambodia, Lao, Indonesia, and the Philippines to develop, implement and scale up effective school health programs in South East Asia.

Since 2016 she is the Coordinator for Research and International Relation of the Regional Fit for School Program of GIZ. Bella holds a PHD degree in Global Oral Health from Radboud University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She has lectured on school health promotion in Asia, Europe, and the US.