Participants at the opening of the “1^st Winter School on Sexual and reproductive health  and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for migrants” 3-7 February 2020. Photo: ENSP

Rabat – IOM and the National Institute of Public Health (ENSP) jointly organized a week duration school on migration and health. Participants ranged from government, academia, clinical practice, researchers, civil society organization mainly from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen as well as United Nations and Embassies partners accredited in Morocco.

At the opening session the Finnish Ambassador Mr. Pekka Hyvönen praised IOM work through the regional migrant health promotion project funded by the development cooperation funds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. The ENSP Director Prof. Abdelmounim Belalia said this event is amongst multiple in collaboration with IOM since 2018 to enrich participants knowledge in the migration and health themes.

The school also served as a venue among migration health actors and scholars to explore questions relating to migration and health at the global, regional, sub-regional, and national levels as well as focusing on specific themes on sexual and reproductive health rights and Mental health and psychosocial support.

It was the first ever of this kind and IOM working with partner organizations seek to facilitate such initiative. Members states represented encourage the cooperation under this regional project. They further aspire to coordinate cross border health for the most vulnerable during mobility. This learning week further leads toward multi-sectoral collaboration at regional and national level to leverage national and international public health interventions targeting health and protection for vulnerable migrants and migration affected communities. The 61 participants reflections are captured within this short video.

For more information please contact Mariam Abdelkerim_Spijkerman, Migration Health Coordinator at +212623970331 or mabdelkerim@iom.int