Change The Perspective

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It is important to step outside the box we live and operate in, to understand and grasp a broader, ‘helicopter’ vantage point of the situation and the context. Unlearn. Couldn’t be truer for migration and health, and their bidirectional journey. There was a lot of discussion on the need to look at both systems response and global governance and be conscious of the rhetoric of migrants’ health at the Gender and Migration week in South Africa. Current public health policies do not engage with migration or mobility of populations, which raised some pertinent questions, on whether the local conversations are reflective of global realities? And about the drivers of policymaking? Is it a fear or a rights-based approach? Then again, as long as health is discussed in the humanitarian paradigm where migration is discussed in the securitization paradigm, challenges will continue to grow. We must remember Ellis Island. Exceptionalism in policy frameworks can further hurt a cause. #Mobility is the new normal. It is time that we accept it. We also need to know what we do not know, to truly understand and learn. It is important that we acknowledge the lack of evidence, rather than pretending that we have all the answers/ solutions. We need more data, better data to feed into politics and decisions, and understand the issue enough to take action.

Who Holds The Power

Are we aware of what the rights-based arguments may drive...