(Rabat, Morocco 10 May 2023). The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Morocco has organized, in close collaboration with IOM Egypt, an academic forum on migrants’ health, including physical, mental and social, on the 9th and 10th of May in Cairo.

Funded or co-funded by IOM, this academic forum aimed at presenting results of different research studies on migrants’ health conducted in Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen. The academic forum was attended by university researchers, Middle Eastern and Northern African government representatives, as well as IOM and civil society representatives.

“The regional health project that we coordinate from IOM Morocco has a genuine added-value as it allows us to fund research and to act with decision makers,” Said Luciana Ceretti, Migration Health Coordinator at IOM Morocco. “Indeed, the evidence-based data from the studies are essential for an informed decision making, public policy and program making in migrant health, and to conduct advocacy about migration health with key stakeholders.” 

The sessions and discussions thorough this academic forum allowed the identification of concrete ways to facilitate the use of data from these studies as well as the enhancement IOM and its partners’ interventions in migrants’ health and development of health policies that consider the needs of migrant populations. 

Indeed, the sessions of the academic forum focused on four main themes namely reinforcing data collect on migrants’ health, the supply of healthcare services and the demand of migrant populations, COVID-19’s socio-economic impact on migrants, and gender mainstreaming in policies and programs on migration health. 

“For us, in Finland, it is important to support the origin and transit countries of migration and to contribute to the protection of the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, and ensure their just treatment.” Ms. Jenni Mikkala, the 2nd Secretary of the Embassy of Finland in Egypt. “ Finland is very proud to support IOM in this important work to ensure an orderly and humane management of migration. Today, we have a unique opportunity to learn more and discuss the findings and impacts of this project with various experts from different countries and backgrounds.” 

This forum came a part of the regional project “Fostering the health and well-being of vulnerable migrants in Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Sudan”, funded by 2015 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and led by IOM Morocco. The aim was to enhance the health of migrant populations through the development and implementation of inclusive health policies and the advancement towards a migrant-inclusive universal health coverage. 

For further information, please contact:
Meryem Massaia - IOM Morocco mmassaia@iom.int