The meeting centered on the intersection of Migration, Health, and Transnational Family dynamics, bringing together experts to explore policy perspectives and develop actionable outcomes. On the first day, contributions from Dr. Girum Hailu (IGAD) and Dr. Davide T. Mosca (UN-IOM) emphasized the importance of family ties in health and social development, framing migration as a reality to be managed. Discussions addressed the socio-economic and cultural challenges in regions like Europe and East Africa, with a focus on the policy implications for health.
Day two highlighted the link between family dynamics and brain health, with a presentation by Dr. Kirti Ranchod. Participants engaged in conceptualizing the relationship between transnational families and health, using tools to explore the geographical and emotional distribution of family members. The meeting concluded with the development of a structure for a policy brief, an infographic, and a peer-reviewed article, aiming to influence both policy and academic discussions on migration and family dynamics.
Report
Day One
The first day of the meeting was dedicated to the involvement of policy stakeholders, getting policy perspectives on the intersection of Migration, Health, and Transnational Family. There was a focus on the geographical regions of Europe and East and Horn of Africa. Dr. Girum Hailu, Senior Policy and Partnership Specialist at the IGAD; the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa (https://igad.int/), gave an input on “Family and Migration in the context of Health and Social Development. The policy perspective”. Dr. Davide T. Mosca, former Director Health and Migration at the UN International Organisation for Migration, gave an input on “Migration Health and Family. Policy Implications”.
Inspired by these high-key-inputs from the policy arena, the group discussed elements that should be covered in a policy brief and developed a structure to be followed.
Day Two
The second day started with a focus on health issues and transcultural family. Dr. Kirti Ranchod, Neurologist and Brain Health Consultant, Founder of Memorability, Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, gave a talk on “Connecting cultural wealth and better brain health”. She highlighted the great potential that lies in family and community ties to have better brain health and better cope with life challenges.
To work further on the Conceptualizing the interplay of transnational family dynamics, health and migration, two instruments introduced by Ursula Trummer and Sonja Novak-Zezula to describe elements of transnational family dynamics were used to make an introspect on the family situation of participants regarding geographical distribution of and emotional bonds to family members.
The last session of the meeting was again dedicated to working on a structure and content of a policy brief. It was envisaged that ambition, conceptualization and evidence collection could be described in three consecutive products: an infographic, a policy brief, and a peer reviewed article.