There is often a lack of health knowledge amongst displaced people including migrant workers and refugees living along the border, particularly the understanding of women?s reproductive health as it is a taboo subject.

The health project provides an integrated women?s health education which focuses on the design, production and dissemination of culturally appropriate materials in Burmese ethnic languages such as Karen, Karenni, Lahu, Mon, Kachin, Shan and Burmese. The health materials cover topics such as reproductive health, HIV/AIDS awareness, nutrition, family planning, childcare and violence against women (VAW). The distributed WEAVE health materials use pictures, diagrams and simple language so that people with a low level of education can understand the messages being conveyed.

WEAVE collaborates with local health service providers, women?s groups and international health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) along the Thai-Burma border who are involved in refugee, IDP and migrant health issues. WEAVE conducts workshops with local health and women?s groups to exchange knowledge and find out which topics need to be covered in the development of new health materials. The materials are widely distributed to local partners who then use the material in their respective general health education.

WEAVE offers a six month internship program to train an individual from a local women?s group. A learning plan is developed to equip the intern with knowledge and skills on the identified subject areas that are most useful to the intern and their organization. The program also reaches out to groups inside Burma and Burma’s bordering countries like China, India and Malaysia.

If you would like to be involved or learn more about WEAVE’s Health Project, please contact?health@weave-women.org .