“Healthy Villages: An Effective Approach to Active Living” is a leading community-based initiative implemented by the Ministry of Health in the Sultanate of Oman in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). It aims to promote public health and improve quality of life by empowering local communities and encouraging healthy, active lifestyles. The initiative is grounded in the Healthy Villages Programme, which places health at the heart of all development, environmental and social activities within local communities.

The Sultanate of Oman has implemented the Healthy Villages Programme in 39 villages to strengthen the participation of communities and government entities in addressing the social determinants of health. This involves engaging diverse community groups and local leaders in dialogue, planning and collective action. The programme adopts a participatory, multisectoral approach that empowers individuals and communities to identify their health needs, set priorities and make informed decisions to improve their health and living environments.

The initiative places particular emphasis on promoting physical activity and reducing physical inactivity as key factors in preventing obesity and noncommunicable diseases. To this end, a range of activities and initiatives have been implemented to create environments that support active living. These include encouraging walking and cycling, expanding green spaces, and developing walking paths and safe recreational areas within villages. Efforts have also included awareness campaigns, community activities and targeted programmes to promote physical activity and healthy eating in schools, healthcare facilities, residential neighbourhoods and sports facilities.

The Healthy Villages Programme is underpinned by several core principles, including community organisation, assessment of residents’ needs, community capacity-building, stronger local partnerships, and the use of available community resources to support health and environmental development projects. The programme also emphasises health equity, women’s empowerment and greater community participation in decisions concerning health and development.

The initiative has helped strengthen collaboration across sectors and improve the capacity of local communities to identify and respond to their health needs. It has also supported sustainability through a bottom-up approach that strengthens community ownership of health initiatives and their long-term continuity. In addition, the programme has helped mobilise local resources, strengthen community communication and disseminate health information more effectively.

The Healthy Villages Programme provides a practical and sustainable model for promoting public health and preventing noncommunicable diseases through community action and multisectoral collaboration. Oman’s experience also offers a model that can be scaled up and applied in diverse contexts across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.