UB - Community Connections to Improve Refugee Health and Wellbeing

Summit aims to improve access to culturally and linguistically appropriate services, efficient clinic and transportation systems and operations, and available economic opportunities.

Speakers and workshop sessions addressed the theme of improving health literacy for Buffalo’s refugee population.

Annual summit convenes scholars, resettlement agencies, service providers, community support centers, municipal agencies and refugees to explore barriers and solutions to promote culturally engaged health care for refugees in Buffalo.

Refugee Health Summit and Global Innovation Challenge highlight offerings organized by two global-focused offices at UB.

She will discuss the work of the U.S. government to address the global refugee crisis and the efforts of cities like Buffalo to welcome refugees.

From refugee housing plans to help spur economic development on Buffalo’s East Side, to a health summit and a symposium, UB faculty and students are actively engaged in refugee efforts.

Issam Smeir is the keynote speaker for UB's third annual Refugee Health Summit, which runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, at the Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity Center, 555 Ellicott St., Buffalo.

The event is part of the School of Public Health and Health Professions' celebration of National Public Health Week.

Every year, 1,500 to 2,000 refugees and asylum-seekers come to Buffalo, one of the top refugee resettlement areas in the United States, driven by social and political upheaval, war, economic and agricultural distress, and poverty. To explore these challenges and develop models for exemplary refugee health care systems, the University at Buffalo will sponsor Buffalo’s first collaborative Refugee Health Summit 2014 on April 24.