IOM MHD (Regional Office Brussels and IOM Croatia and Slovenia) in collaboration with UNFPA, organized a Training course for health professionals, health mediators and general service providers on Sexual Reproductive Health and Gender-Based Violence (SRH-GBV) on 8-10 May 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia.

Hosted by Matica hrvatska, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution, the three day training course organized in Zagreb had the objective to provide health mediators, health professionals and other general services providers working with migrants and refugees with relevant knowledge and skills concerning general concepts and guiding principles of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV), including as related specifically to migrants and refugees. In particular, topics such as SRH in emergencies, identification and referral of GBV cases, clinical management of rape, and roles and responsibilities of services providers as regards GBV, were presented during the training. Furthermore, a specific session was carried out on male victims of violence. The sessions included lectures, and role-playing games which enhanced the learning process of participants who also received materials for health promotion.

Participants included professionals from IOM, the Slovanian National Institute of Public Health, the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Croatian Red Cross, Medecins du Monde, the Croatian Ministry of Interior, and the Dom zdravlja Zagreb Centre.

The training course is part of IOM’s Re-Health project’s efforts to facilitate the implementation of the Electronic Personal Health Record (PHR) through the recruitment and training of health mediators to work with refugees and migrants, particularly with vulnerable groups and children. The trained health mediators will support the services and assistance provided to migrants and explain the process and benefits of undergoing a health assessment.