This project develops and evaluates innovative, community-based and digitally supported interventions to improve the mental health, sexual and reproductive health, and overall wellbeing of Ethiopian women migrating for domestic work to the Middle East.
The project addresses the health and social vulnerabilities experienced by Ethiopian migrant domestic workers (MDWs) across the migration journey.
The project combines epidemiological research, co-creation, peer-led support, digital health, and implementation research to develop interventions that are feasible, culturally relevant, and responsive to different levels of vulnerability.
Expected outputs, relevance, and application: INNOVETH will generate evidence on the effectiveness, feasibility, implementation, and scalability of an integrated intervention for MDWs. The project aims to strengthen mental health and SRHR support, social connectedness, early identification and referral, and access to appropriate services.
Findings will inform policy and practice in Ethiopia and along the Ethiopia–Middle East migration corridor and provide transferable knowledge for improving the health of vulnerable migrant populations internationally.
Participants
More about the project
Ethiopian MDWs in the Middle East may face multiple and intersecting risks, including psychological distress, violence and exploitation, social isolation, limited access to mental healthcare, and sexual and reproductive health challenges.
Despite substantial needs, MDWs remain underserved by conventional health systems and underrepresented in intervention research. The project addresses this gap by moving beyond documenting vulnerability towards developing and evaluating practical interventions that can reach women before, during, and after migration.
The intervention is co-created with MDWs, returnees, service providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. It combines peer-led Empowerment Workers and self-help groups, mental health and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) education, digital health support, and referral pathways to professional services.
A key feature is a risk-differentiated approach, using information on vulnerability to tailor the intensity and type of support to women's needs. The intervention will be evaluated using mixed methods, including a cluster randomized controlled trial, implementation research, and economic evaluation.
Project team and expertise: A multidisciplinary and international team with expertise in migration and global health, epidemiology, mental health, SRHR, implementation science, digital health, data science, health economics, and intervention research.
Collaborating institutions
- Addis Ababa University
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Armauer Hansen Research Institute
- St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College
- University of Hamburg
- Wollo University
- Sefed Software Systems
