A Bold Call to Action for the Health and Rights of Displaced People
The 2025 International Refugee and Migration Health Conference (IRMHC) brought together over 600 participants—health professionals, scholars, students, advocates, artists, and community leaders—in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a place steeped in migration history and resilience.
Together, we addressed some of the most urgent issues facing forcibly displaced populations—from trauma-informed care, infectious disease, and reproductive justice to child health, primary care innovation, and health equity.
From this gathering, a powerful vision emerged:
The Halifax Declaration — a shared commitment to uphold the health, dignity, and human rights of displaced persons worldwide.
Co-created through an inclusive and participatory process—guided by those with lived experience of displacement—the Halifax Declaration is both a moral imperative and a roadmap for change.
•It affirms health as a fundamental right, regardless of legal status.
•It demands action to dismantle structural inequities, racism, and exclusion.
•It calls on health systems, governments, educators, and civil society to act—together.
Key recommendations include:
✔Universal health coverage for all displaced persons
✔Integration of refugee health into professional education
✔Protection for health workers and academic freedom
✔Sustainable, equitable funding and global solidarity
✔Centering lived experience in research, policy, and service design
We invite all who believe in justice, compassion, and human rights to read, endorse, and share the Halifax Declaration.
📄 Read more here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(25)00198-X/fulltext
