Innovative approaches to providing SRH services to refugees & migrants in urban settings

1. 2nd IAWG on RH in Crises MENA Regional Conference –Cairo March 19-21 , 2012 Innovative approaches to providing SRH services to refugees & migrants in urban settings An overview of activities in Egypt Dr. Ashraf Azer – UNHCR Cairo

2. Refugee populations in Egypt

3. Cairo urban context • ± 40,000 refugees mainly from Iraq, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan (North & South) • Cairo also hosts tens of thousands of migrants • Egypt transit country for people trying to cross Sinai into Israel and subjected to kidnapping, sexual violence and human trafficking • Refugees and migrants are particular vulnerable to social, economic and health related access issues including vulnerability to exploitation, SGBV and HIV/AIDS

4. Interventions aimed at refugees and other PoCs • Refugees in Cairo have access to primary health care, MCH and emergency obstetric care at NGO-based and public health services • Long standing cooperation and sustained advocacy by MoHP National AIDS Program (NAP), UNAIDS and UNHCR has enabled an environment of universal access to HIV services for refugees • Since 2003, HIV VCT services and access to treatment of HIV-related illnesses is available through Refuge Egypt (NGO) • Since 2008, NAP supports access to ARVs for PLHIV among refugee community on equal footing to nationals, thus favoring a human rights approach

5. Inter-agency SGBV working group innovative approaches to enhancing SRH responses in urban Cairo • Study by Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) identified services provider’s response gaps to SGBV in public and NGOs medical care settings (2011) • The study emphasized the importance of building capacities of care providers in public and private health facilities to standardize clinical assessment and treatment responses on medical consequences to SGBV • UNHCR coordinated with the SGBV Inter-agency medical sub-group a capacity building response supported by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the IOM Egypt Migration Health project

6. Responding with SRH capacity building initiative • SGBV and SRH in crisis training conducted in Matrouh governorate in Nov 2011 for the jointly operated MoHP/ IOM/ UNHCR health services at Salloum land port site • In 2012 a training initiative on MISP and STI syndromic management was started for MoHP, NCCM, Caritas and Refuge Egypt medical practitioners • The training will be rolled out over 6-months • The training is facilitated by UNHCR, IOM, FHI 360 (Family Health International), El Nadeem, Refuge Egypt and other partners

7. Key technical guidelines • IOM guidelines on survivors of trafficking, • National STIs case management, • Clinical guidelines on survivors of torture and • Clinical management of rape survivors will be rolled out during this training

8. Strength and Challenges • This innovative capacity building response has stemmed its strength from being rooted in an Inter-agency commitment involving international and national actors • However, knowledge of the humanitarian domain must be linked to the practices and networks of civil society partners and the national response capacity • To build and maintain these linkages remains the real challenge

9. THANK YOU