This publication is a compendium of 49 country examples highlighting efforts in improving refugees’ and migrants’ health following the adoption of the WHO Global Action Plan on Promoting the health of refugees and migrants at the seventy-second World Health Assembly, in May 2019.
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.
This study sought to develop a baseline understanding of training being carried out across the globe drawn from a global mapping of actors, agencies, and networks engaged in delivering training and capacity-building programmes and/or developing programmes in the field of migration and health. This was conducted primarily between March 2020 and May 2021.
This report is an annual overview of activities led and implemented by the Migration Health Division of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2021, in close collaboration with the Member States, other United Nations agencies, and partners in the international community, to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, meet operational challenges and advance understanding of migration health, encourage socioeconomic development through migration, and work towards ensuring respect of the human dignity and well-being of migrants.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a key player in responding to humanitarian and public health emergencies as well as supporting health system recovery and resilience. Health support in emergencies is an essential part of IOM’s humanitarian mandate and recognized by the Organization’s Migration Crisis Operational Framework as one of the 15 sectors of assistance to address before, during and after crises.
Migration can be a powerful driver for sustainable development and is recognized as a cross-cutting issue throughout the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. While the inclusion of migration in the 2030 Agenda presents countries with a series of new migration data challenges and reporting requirements, when this was adopted in 2015 it was seen overall as a key opportunity to improve migration data.
The humanitarian community has had to learn about COVID-19 while responding to this new disease. From the start it was known that basic hygiene practices, such as proper handwashing, could help prevent its transmission. However, many displacement settings do not have the required facilities for implementing household and community-level Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures. They may also have weak governance systems for managing and maintaining water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services.
IOM’s COVID-19 programming contributes to the WHO’s Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan as well as the United Nations Global Humanitarian Response Plan. IOM’s programming is developed to be responsive to population mobility and cross-border dynamics while adopting an inclusive approach towards all travellers and migrants - regardless of their migratory status - and countering misinformation which can lead to anti-migrant sentiment and xenophobia. This approach is anchored in IOM’s Health, Border and Mobility Management (HBMM) Framework.
The IHR (2005) are the only international legal framework for PoE. They are an agreement between 196 countries to work towards enhancing global health security through a multisectoral approach which includes a broad range of stakeholders. The aim is “to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade”.
