137 Building a community of experts in health and migration in the east and horn of Africa region

Abstract PTH 4: Mental Health and Refugees 2, B307 (FCSH), September 4, 2025, 14:00 - 14:48 Aim Migration and Health has been identified as one of the crosscutting issues in the African Unions’ Migration Policy Framework for Africa. There is high demand to build up a critical mass of expertise and experts on health and migration that can engage in policy, programme and practice development. Methods The Center for Health and Migration, Austria (CHM) in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM UN-Migration), and the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, in close cooperation with stakeholders at international, national, and sub-national level, are jointly organizing online courses on Health and Migration. It aims at capacity building in the East and Horn of Africa region in the field of health and migration, building a community of experts who work for and with migrants, refugees, and local communities. The initiative is funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. Results By 2024, 5 courses have been implemented. With the courses, a community of experts has been built up with 332 members from 15 African countries in 2024 in an Alumni database. Participants evaluation shows the importance of the course for capacity building on health and migration in participant’s countries as well as for personal development, and for the improvement of service provision for migrants. For sustainability and further capacity building, the initiative focuses on maintaining network and partnership by engaging alumni and collaborating with regional and national institutions and academia. Conclusions The online course proved to be important for building awareness and competence of professionals in the field of health and migration in the East and Horn of Africa region. Continuous engagement of alumni and networking can support intersectional and interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and experiences.