More than 100 women have received certificates to commemorate their participation in a study on the reproductive health of female migrants and refugees from Sahel African and Middle Eastern (SAME) countries.

They attended a Celebrating Women’s Voices lunch meeting hosted by the Key Centre for Women’s Health that is conducting the study.

The women–from Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Ghana–took part in focus groups and individual interviews as part of the three-year SAME Women’s Health Study: Reconciling Culture and Reproductive Health Study.

The study is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

It was set up in collaboration with service providers, policy advisers and community groups and has strong links with the Department of Human Services’ Family and Reproductive Rights Education Program (FARREP).

Main aim of the study is to highlight reproductive health issues and priorities of women from the SAME countries for inclusion in policy and practice.

Preliminary findings of the study identify:

• Problems with lack of communication about contraception and access to family planning;

• A strong perception of discrimination, miscommunication and poor quality service provision within health and welfare agencies;

• Major settlement difficulties ranging from access to housing and employment to social isolation;

• Spousal and intergenerational family conflict because of differences in cultural values.

Foundation Chair of Women’s Health at the University of Melbourne and Director of the Key Centre for Women’s Health Professor Lenore Manderson presented several certificates during the lunch meeting.

Recipients were representatives of community groups and older women in the SAME communities.