On 16–17 March 2023, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is hosting the second high-level meeting on the health needs of migrants and refugees in the Region, in coordination with the Regional Offices for Africa and Europe with support from WHO’s Health and Migration Programme. The meeting will focus on ways to ensure that refugees and migrants across the migration route have equitable access to health care in line with universal health coverage (UHC) and continuity of care.
The meeting will explore opportunities for expanding cross-border and inter-regional collaboration through adoption of an action-oriented approach that aims to safeguard and improve the health of refugees through five identified transformative objectives, or pillars of action. It will also reaffirm commitment to the WHO Global Action Plan on Promoting the health of refugees and migrants (WHO GAP). On conclusion of the meeting, an outcome statement will be issued highlighting the need for a whole-of-route approach to strengthen collaboration along migration routes and ensure the inclusion of refugees and migrants in efforts to achieve UHC.
The meeting is supported by the UHC Partnership, one of WHO’s largest platforms for international cooperation on UHC and primary health care. It is funded by Belgium, Canada, European Union, Germany, Luxembourg – Aid & Development, Ireland – Irish Aid,
France – Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères, Japan – Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the United Kingdom – Department for International Development.
