In an effort to strengthen health system response and to better understand the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) needs of migrants from Venezuela and Central America, a collaborative call for research proposals was issued in 2019. Eleven projects from eight countries -Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru- were finally implemented. General findings will be presented during the webinar. Selected principal
investigators will provide more detailed information about their research projects. The call was led by the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), in collaboration
with TDR, AHPSR, CLAP/SMR and CEMICAMP.
Objectives
- Share the findings from 11 research projects implemented in eight countries in Latin America depicting the impact of mass migration on SRHR, infectious diseases, and health system response.
- Discuss with key stakeholders the possible actions to mitigate the impact of migration on SRHR through a South-to-South collaboration.
- Share lessons learned on innovative responses to similar needs, including successes and failures.
Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in Spanish, English and Portuguese
In 2018, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) established mass migration as a regional priority health issue in national, sub-regional, and
regional agendas. In recent years, two simultaneous mass migratory regional phenomena in the Americas are occurring as people from Central American countries and Venezuela migrate to other countries in the region. Sexual and reproductive health and rights
are integral to health and ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health services among migrants remains an important public health priority. There has been some evidence, though this has been limited, that migrants face greater challenges with regards
to achieving their SRHR.