The inaugural CoRE-MH Winter School – in collaboration with the Gendered violence & poor mental health among migrants in precarious situations (GEMMS) Research Group – successfully ran from from 1-4 July 2025 at Wits University in Johannesburg. The Winter School attracted just over 40 participants; the majority joined in-person at Wits, with others from further afield joining online.
Bothwell Vumai presenting his doctoral research focusing on access to PreP for migrant sex workers
With expert contributions from diverse speakers and facilitators, the Winter School was themed ‘Researching Migration & Health in Africa: more than the right to health‘ and provided opportunities for interdisciplinary thinking and interrogation of the research field.
From debating the differences between ‘migrant health’ and ‘migration and health’, to centring epistemic (in)justice, to training in undertaking scoping reviews, participants also gained skills in creating online biographies and writing blog posts reflecting on their experiences.
Colleagues from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) ran sessions from their Global Migration Media Academy, providing participants with insights into the challenges faced when reporting research on migration & health in contexts associated with xenophobia & racism
It was four days of engaged discussion, networking & sharing of research experiences and marks the establishment of the CoRE-MH Early Career Researcher Network. Get to know the Winter School participants – all now Network members – here.
Session recordings
All session recordings, including English subtitles, are available on our new Youtube Channel and if you prefer a podcast format, we have you covered with our newly launched SoundCloud channel.
Day 1
Introduction to the Core in Migration & Health: Jo Vearey
Read or download transcript here
The global migration & health terrain: Soorej Jose Puthoopparambil
Read or download transcript here
Tackling Inequalities & Actioning Change for Health Justice – Anuj Kapalishrami
Read or download transcript here
Panel discussion: (inter)disciplinary approaches to researching migration & health
Facilitated by Jo Vearey, with Lorena Nunez; Langa Mlotshwa; Soorej Jose Puthoopparambil; Anuj Kapalishrami; Rebecca Walker, & Wellington Mvundura
Read or download transcript here
DAY 2
Nurturing the resilence of mobile you to navigate health & wellbeing crises in southern Africa (NURTURE4YOUTH) – Langelihle Mlotshwa
Read or download transcript here
Histories of global health & migration in the context of epistemic injustice – Jo Vearey
Read or download transcript here
Research pitches: Blessing Mukuruva, Lydia Moyo, Bothwell Vumai, Adetola Oyuenbi & Stanley Muravha
Read or download transcript here
DAY 3
The Global Migration Media Academy – Abibo Ngandu, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Pretoria
DAY 4
What is and is not a scoping review? – Soorej Jose Puthoopparambil
Read or download transcript here
Health, migration & displacement in South Africa: existing evidence & knowledge gaps – a scoping review for the period 2014 – 2024 – Jo Vearey
Read or download transcript here
GBV among African Migrants in Africa: a scoping review – Melisa Dlamini
Read or download transcript here
Syndemics of Gendered Violence and Mental Health among migrants: a systematic review – Tanatswa Chinkea
Read or download transcript here