Facebook this Tweet this Print this Email this The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) have signed a cooperation agreement to engage in high impact migration-related research in Africa.
The partnership aims at documenting and facilitating creative ways of addressing health challenges facing migrants and mobile populations in Africa. It provides an opportunity for IOM, as a major player in migration governance, and APHRC, as a leading research institution in Africa, to work together in generating evidence that can support policy driven research which positively influences the lives of migrants and mobile populations.
The agreement allows for, among others: collaboration in conducting research that provides a better understanding of migration and health; the promotion of migration and health as a substantive research agenda with academic and other research institutions; joint publication in peer-reviewed journals; as well as capacity building initiatives for IOM and APHRC employees.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Executive Director of APHRC, Dr. Alex C. Ezeh, emphasized the importance of translating research into policies. “APHRC is keen on high-quality policy-relevant research that can change lives. I am happy for the opportunity this agreement provides in addressing the health concerns of migrants and mobile populations”, he said.
The IOM Migration Health Coordinator and Chief of Mission of IOM South Africa, Dr. Erick Ventura, underscored the important role that migration health plays in the realization of attaining global health goals. “Migrants and mobile populations face many obstacles in accessing healthcare services due to a number of factors; these include, irregular immigration status, language barriers, a lack of migrant inclusive health policies, and inaccessibility of services.”
IOM’s vision in migration and health is for migrants and mobile populations to benefit from an improved standard of physical, mental and social well-being, enabling them to substantially contribute towards the social and economic development of their home communities and host societies. Accordingly, IOM promotes evidence-informed policies and holistic integrated preventive and curative health programmes which are beneficial, accessible, and equal for vulnerable migrants and mobile populations.
APHRC is a leading pan-African research organization that generates and delivers policy-relevant scientific evidence for policy and action on population, urbanization, health and education issues across sub-Saharan Africa; while working to strengthen the capacity of African researchers and their institutions to undertake rigorous research across the continent.