North American Refugee Health Conference in Niagara

The GAWB Research Team presented three research studies at the North American Refugee Health Conference in Niagara. For more details about the conference click here.

Screenshot from NARHC's website (04.10.2025)

Key Takeaways from the North American Refugee Health Conference (NARHC) 2025

The 2025 North American Refugee Health Conference (NARHC), held in Niagara Falls, brought together an exceptional cross-section of professionals working at the intersection of health, migration, and protection. Clinicians, policymakers, researchers, and settlement practitioners convened to examine some of the most pressing challenges facing refugees and displaced populations today.

Plenary sessions addressed a wide spectrum of issues — from the application of international human rights law to refugee health, to the realities of detention policies in Australia, systemic racism within healthcare systems, protection risks for LGTBIQ+ refugees, and the specific vulnerabilities faced by refugee women during the perinatal period.

What distinguished this year's iteration of NARHC was its emphasis on actionable solutions. Speakers and participants consistently grounded discussions in practical models of care, culturally informed approaches, and community-led responses. The leadership of Dr. Anna Banerji — whose decades of work in refugee and Indigenous health continues to set a benchmark for compassionate, evidence-driven advocacy — was a defining pillar of the event.

Across sessions, a clear message emerged: advancing refugee health requires more than clinical intervention. It demands collaboration across disciplines, protection-oriented policy frameworks, and a commitment to equity in access, voice, and representation.

For those engaged in refugee health, settlement, or humanitarian response, NARHC reaffirmed both the complexity of current challenges and the power of coordinated action.