HSRERRP
Health System Resilience, Enhancement and Refugee Response Project
The Health System Resilience, Enhancement and Refugee Response Project (HSRERRP) is a three-year research project (December 2022-February 2026), funded by UNHCR, which aims to document and learn on the most suitable approaches to achieve the inclusion of refugees in national health systems, strengthen health systems and ultimately improve health for refugee and host populations. The research is being led by Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh with in-country research partners, in Kenya, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Mauritania, Pakistan, Peru and Zambia.
As the number of refugees and forcibly displaced populations increases, and displacement becomes increasingly protracted over time, humanitarian actors, governments and communities face important challenges in the provision of equitable, accessible and quality healthcare in ways that are sustainable in the longer term. While traditional approaches to delivering services in parallel to the national health system are relevant in some situations, they are acknowledged to lead to fragmentation and high costs, especially in the case of prolonged displacement. As such, there have been calls, including in the Global Compact on Refugees, for greater inclusion of refugees into national health policies, strategies and plans, as well as integration of refugees in national health systems. However, the evidence base is still relatively thin regarding the most suitable approaches to achieve better integration, strengthen the resilience of health systems and ultimately improve health outcomes for refugee and host populations.
The project has conducted two literature review and six country case studies using a shared methodology to facilitate comparative analysis and for lesson learning on cross-cutting themes, drawing on documentary reviews, key informant interviews and Group Model Building (GMB) in each country.
- Briefs
- Academic Publications
- Events
Brief 1 -
Brief 2 -
Brief 3 -
Bertone, M., Palmer, N., Witter, S. (2025) Social Science and Medicine, 387, 118696.
Olabi, A., Palmer, N., Bertone, M., Loffreda, G., Bou-Orm, I., Sempe, L., Vera-Espinoza, M., Dakessian, A., Kadetz, P., Ager, A., Witter, S. (2025) , Social Science & Medicine, vol. 385, 118546.
Forthcoming Special Issue of the International Journal of Health Planning and Management, including three synthesis article, country case studies and editorial:
Bertone MP, Palmer N, Olabi A, Bou-Orm I, Rekani H, Ould Moctar H, Chuquimia R, Chama-Chiliba CM, Ngoye B, Memon A, Vera-Espinoza M, Diaconu K, Ager A, Witter S, The International Journal of Health Planning and Management (pre-print).
路听听听听听听 Academic workshop - Inclusion of refugees into national health systems: Sharing lessons across Research Programmes. Geneva, December 12th 2025聽
Staff involved in project: Sophie Witter (co-PI), Maria Bertone (co-PI), Natasha Palmer, Karin Diaconu, Ibrahim Bou-Orm, Mariel Horncastle, Marcia Vera-Espinoza, Alastair Ager, and Amina Olabi.
For more information, please contact Maria Bertone at mbertone@qmu.ac.uk.
IGHD Project Enquiries
We welcome enquiries relating to current and prospective research.
See panel at the bottom of the page for all staff involved in this project.
Show ContactsGRF Linked Event
UNHCR Geneva Offices Room MBT4 December 16th, 2025 8:00am - 9:30am
