On 7th July 2021, the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (WHO EMRO) conducted a consultation with ministries of health from the region, WHO Country Office staff, key academics, United Nations partners (IOM, UNHCR, UNRWA, UNICEF, UNFPA, ILO, UNCTAD, UNWOMEN), ESCWA and international nongovernmental organizations to discuss and providing expert input into the draft Refugee and Migrant Health Strategy for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Echoing WHO and UN commitment to prioritizing refugee and migrant health on the international agenda, WHO EMRO prepared the draft strategy with national and regional experts, including high level political representatives, to advocate for international cooperation between Member States regarding the right to health of these populations. The draft strategy is aligned with the World Health Assembly resolution WHA 70.15, and the subsequent report WHA A72.25 and the Global Action Plan (GAP) “Promoting the health of refugees and migrants” 2019-2023, which call upon Member States to promote the WHO Framework of priorities and guiding principles to promote the health of refugees and migrants, to inform discussion in the development of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), and not to consider the health of refugees and migrants separately from the health of the overall population.
Refugees and migrants should be included in existing national health systems, national plans and policies, in accordance with their national context, of the host country’s priorities and legal frameworks, in an effort to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 and specifically target 3.8 on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The draft strategy recognizes how the public health needs of refugees and migrants may differ from those of hosting communities and encourages the strengthening of resilient people-centred, health systems that are sensitive to refugees, migrants, age and gender.
The revised version of the Regional Strategy will be presented in 68th session of the Regional Committee (RC68), 11-14 October 2021, and will guide the agenda in the Region.
WHO Health and Migration Programme (PHM) was called to comment on the strategy and to participate in the consultation to bring in the global perspective on refugee and migrant health and ensure alignment with the WHO global strategic priorities on health and migration, including on country support as well as tools and products related to evidence, norms and research, integral to PHM strategic directions.
The WHO Global Action Plan (GAP) “Promoting the health of refugees and migrants” that Member States have agreed to in 2019 comes to an end in 2023 and a final substantive report is due at the 2023 World Health Assembly to include options for next steps for the Member States to consider. Therefore, the involvement of the PHM and the regional and global cross-fertilization are of paramount importance, as the Programme starts the rounds of discussions with Member States across all Regions to explore the way forward after 2023 to secure the health rights of refugees and migrants beyond the GAP and achieve universal health coverage.