Strategic plan: Strategy and Action Plan for Refugee and Migrant Health in the WHO European Region 2016-2022

Overview

At the High-level Meeting on Refugee and Migrant Health, held in Rome, Italy, on 23–24 November 2015, Member States of the WHO European Region agreed on the need for a common framework for collaborative action on refugee and migrant health, acting in a spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance, to promote a common response, thereby avoiding uncoordinated single-country solutions. This agreed framework has led to the development of the present Strategy and action plan for refugee and migrant health in the WHO European Region. Member States made this commitment keeping in mind that migration is a global phenomenon, which poses key political, social and economic challenges, and – given the recent influx of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to Europe – requires a coherent, regional response. Discussions at the Highlevel Meeting were informed by the broader scope of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in which countries pledged that “no one should be left behind”, and its Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3 on health, Goal 5 on gender equality, and Goal 10 on reducing inequalities within and among countries.