Public Health Institute of GeorgiaCaucasus · Central Asia · Eastern Europe · Türkiye ქართული

Health and Migration

Who is working on the health of refugees and migrants worldwide, how the field is governed, where the gaps are — and what it means for the Caucasus, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Türkiye.

One in eight people in the world is a migrant or forcibly displaced (WHO). PHIG’s Health and Migration programme generates evidence, builds regional capacity, and operates the Health and Migration Observatory — a public knowledge platform mapping the organisations, frameworks and research shaping migrant and refugee health globally and in our region.

1 in 8people worldwide is a migrant or forcibly displaced personSource: WHO, 2023
0WHO Collaborating Centres on migration and health in the Caucasus or Central AsiaSource: WHO/Europe, 2022
2030the WHO Global Action Plan on refugee and migrant health runs to 2030Source: WHO, 2023

The programme

PHIG’s Health and Migration programme focuses on the Caucasus, Central Asia and Eastern Europe — a region that hosts one of the world’s largest labour-migration corridors yet has no dedicated regional research hub and no WHO Collaborating Centre on migration and health. The programme works across three tracks:

Evidence generationRegional research on health access, labour migration health, and data gaps in the South Caucasus and Central Asia — feeding into PHIG publications and the Georgian Medical Journal.
Capacity buildingTraining health workers on refugee and migrant health competencies, in line with WHO Global Competency Standards, through PHIG and GMJ Academy.
Knowledge platformsThe Observatory below, plus the Research Library, the Organisations Directory and the Global Calendar — open-access tools for the field.
Working on health and migration in our region?Tell us about your organisation or research — we include all serious actors in the directory and calendar.
Contact the programme

Health and Migration Observatory

A public knowledge platform — free and open access — mapping who works on migrant and refugee health worldwide, how the field is governed, where the evidence is strongest, and where the gaps are.

Global governanceFrameworks, resolutions, global consultations and the timeline from 2008 to today. WHO Collaborating CentresThe centres on migration and health — all in Europe — and the regions without one. Research library123 curated references — systematic reviews, WHO & IOM reports, PhD theses, open-access papers. Global calendarConferences, seminars, webinars and trainings on health and migration for the next 12 months. Organisations directory81 organisations worldwide — searchable by type and region, open to new entries. Global directoryUN agencies, multilateral bodies, academic networks, journals and conferences. Regional profilesWho works on health and migration in each world region, with sources. Country modelsTürkiye, Thailand, Colombia, Italy and others — what works and what transfers. NGOs, faith-based and fundersFrontline organisations, faith-based programmes and the funders of the field. Gap analysisSix gaps in the global field — several concentrated in our region. PHIG strategy and action planFive workstreams and a 12-month action plan for the Caucasus and Central Asia. ReferencesEvery source used across the Observatory, with links.

Key findings from the Observatory

  1. The global framework is long-term. The World Health Assembly extended the WHO Global Action Plan on promoting the health of refugees and migrants to 2030 (WHO). Migrant health is now treated as part of universal health coverage, not only as a humanitarian issue.
  2. WHO has a dedicated programme and an advisory body. The WHO Health and Migration Programme coordinates across all technical departments (WHO); its Technical Advisory Group, launched in November 2025, guides priorities for 2026–2027 (WHO).
  3. High-level dialogue runs through three global consultations — Madrid (2010), Colombo (2017) and Rabat (2023) — co-organised by WHO, IOM and, since 2023, UNHCR (WHO).
  4. All WHO Collaborating Centres on migration and health are in Europe. Zero are in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Africa, or the Americas (WHO/Europe).
  5. Labour migration is the most neglected dimension — especially along the Central Asia–Russia–Kazakhstan corridor, where TB and HIV risks are elevated (ECUO).
  6. Strong national models come from middle-income countries: Türkiye, Thailand and Colombia have built scalable migrant health systems that our region can learn from.
WHO Collaborating Centres on migration and health, by WHO region
Europe3
Americas0
Africa0
Eastern Mediterranean0
South-East Asia0
Western Pacific0
Active centres: INMP (Rome), Uppsala University, University of Limerick. All previous designations were also in Europe.

Why Tbilisi

Tbilisi sits where the Caucasus, Central Asia and Eastern Europe converge. Georgia is simultaneously a country of origin, transit and destination for migrants, and hosts populations displaced by conflict. PHIG works in Georgian, English and Russian, publishes open-access research through the Georgian Medical Journal, and trains health workers through GMJ Academy — the foundation for a regional knowledge centre that the field currently lacks.

This Observatory is being built in stages. A searchable evidence repository, a regional research agenda and research-to-action briefs are in development.

Sources

WHO 2023 · WHO Health and Migration Programme · WHO 2025 · WHO 2023 · WHO/Europe 2022 · Lancet Migration · ECUO