Scope and purpose of the WEB based conference entitled:
Health / occupational health conditions of migrant population living in rural regions
According to UN DESA, in the year of 2019, about 272 million people were estimated to be international migrants. Out of them UNHCR recorded 20.4 million as refugees and 3.5 million as asylum seekers. According to ILO nearly 60% of them, an estimated 164 million are migrant workers and a significant share of them are living in rural regions. From the point of view of the health / public health stability and security of the host countries and their economy, consistent data would be required about their health / public health and occupational health data, but there is a shortage of detailed researches. That is why in 2019 the WHO Collaborating Centre (WCC) at University of Pécs (UoP), in cooperation with WHO European Office, organized an WHO European Region level event entitled:
Migration related health/ public health challenges and needed responses – defining conditions for establishing a European level migration health database – a consensus conference. As a first follow up of the event a Task Force had been established.
Unfortunately, health, public health and occupational health data of migrant population living / working on rural regions are also seriously missing. According to a recent report of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), migrants in rural areas face particular challenges (https://phys.org/news/2019-07-migrants-rural-areas.html) While on average migrants are more present in urban areas than in rural ones, their share in some rural villages and regions can be much higher than in a city. They do essential jobs in these rural areas, especially on farms that are in constant need of temporary work. In the same time high percent of migrants living in rural areas are at risk of poverty, are unemployed, compared to those living in cities. The precariousness and vulnerability—coupled with the important role played by migrants in sustaining certain types of agriculture in specific regions—means migrants in rural areas require special attention when designing integration policies.
The International Association of Rural Health and Medicine (IARM) in cooperation with the WHO Collaborating Centre for Migration Health Training and Research (WCC) at University of Pécs (UoP), has decided to organize and host a scientific conference addressing this highly needed topic. The main goal of this event is to bring together leading experts in rural and migrant health with the aim of providing an overview on the current situation and adopt a statement calling the attention of the international scientific community, international organizations like WHO, ILO and relevant decision makers. Considering the current COVID-19 pandemic related challenges, the event entitled:
Health / occupational health condition of migrant population living in rural regions
will be delivered in a form of web conference, using Microsoft TEAMS platform.
Additional information:
The participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Intentions for web based presentation could be signalized until 30 of September 2020 with e-mail submission to the address:
Date and time of the event: 29 October 2020, 09:00 – 14:00 (CET)
Program of the Health / occupational health conditions of migrant population living in rural regions
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