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

Refugee populations in Egypt

Refugees Hosting Areas In Egypt up to January-2012

Salloum 1544 70

1754 251

35900

3972

± 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

Cairo urban context

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

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

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

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

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

THANK YOU