The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is facing a tremendous migration crisis. Women comprise nearly 50 percent of migrants in the region and have proved to be particularly vulnerable to violence and political and socioeconomic instability—factors that drive migration out of and within the region. The influence of migration on health is well recognized. Women, in particular, are potentially subjected to health risks at all stages of the migration experience and continue to face significant barriers in accessing quality health care.
LHSS is working with the government of Honduras, an origin country for migrants, to pilot measures which strengthen social health protection programs. These programs explicitly consider the health needs and preferences of women in high-migration contexts. To do this, we will:
- Conduct a landscape analysis exploring the link between social health protection and migration behaviors
- Support adapting a social health protection platform in one country that is a destination for large numbers of women migrants
- Strengthen the capacity of an origin country to adapt, implement, and sustainably finance social health protection for women at risk of migration
- Disseminate information, analysis, and experiences widely to national and regional-level stakeholders
Through this work, LHSS aims to increase access to essential health services through social health protection platforms for women migrants and women at risk of migration. The findings of the research and experience of these countries are being shared widely, to inform the many other countries in the region facing similar challenges to meeting health needs of women in high-migration contexts.
