Pre-Migration Health Activities and First Line of Defence: 2021 Overview of Activities

The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Migration Health Assessment Programme (HAP), as part of the Migration Health Division, delivers pre-migration health activities as one of the most well-established and longest-standing services provided by the Organization. These activities are undertaken in the context of regular international migration at the request of receiving country governments and vary in scope according to the receiving country’s protocols and the epidemiological profile of the country of origin. The IOM First Line of Defence (FLoD) initiative was instituted in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and harnessed HAP capacities in providing reliable and high-quality health services consequential to COVID-19 for eligible United Nations personnel and their dependants in several countries, as part of the broader United Nations FLoD framework. This report is an annual overview illustrating the range of IOM pre-migration and FLoD health activities undertaken globally in 2021. It demonstrates IOM’s commitment to the promotion of the health and well-being of migrants and host communities.