South Africa - IOM and the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) have signed a cooperation agreement to engage jointly in migration health research in the African continent.

The agreement will enable the two organizations to join hands in documenting health cases of migrants and mobile populations in Africa, and to generate health evidences that will support policies and new researches.

The agreement also will foster collaboration in conducting researches that will provide a better understanding of migration and health; promotion of migration and health as an important research agenda for academia and research institutions; joint publication in peer-reviewed journals and   provision of capacity building initiatives for IOM and APHRC employees.

“Migrants and mobile populations face many obstacles in accessing healthcare services because of factors such as irregular immigration status, language barriers, absence of inclusive health policies and lack of access,” says Dr. Erick Ventura, IOM Migration Health Coordinator in South Africa.

IOM’s vision is that migrants and mobile populations should benefit from an improved standard of physical, mental and social well-being, to enable them to make substantial contributions towards social and economic development of their home communities and host societies, he notes.

For more information please contact

Jason Theede
IOM South Africa
Email: jtheede@iom.int

Or

Ruthpearl Wanjiru Ng'ang'a
APHRC
Email: rnganga@aphrc.org