In September 2025, the Second World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health was held in Lisbon, Portugal building on the success of the First World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Health, held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2018. The Second World Congress in Lisbon entitled “Migration as a Driver of a Healthy, Racism-Free, Multi-Ethnic World,” championed the positive impact of migration in creating healthier, more diverse and inclusive societies. This important event attracted over 540 participants from 60 countries, bringing together diverse disciplines across the world to foster unity and exchange ideas through integrated dialogue on “A Call to Action to Close the Equity Gap in Health” thereby highlighting the urgency of addressing health disparities and achieving health equity for all, irrespective of ethnic background or migration status. The Second World Congress explored the vital role of migration in enhancing population health and fostering diversity in both societal and workplace settings, as well as how to bridge the health equity gap and promote inclusive policies that ensure equal access to healthcare services for ethnic minority and migrant populations in the current political landscape. This was achieved through 10 plenary presentations, 43 workshops, 175 oral presentations, 79 pitch presentations and 114 E-Posters. The abstracts of the presentations and workshops are published in this Supplement of the European Journal of Public Health.
Major topics covered during the Second World Congress include human rights and access to health care, the role of racism and xenophobia, challenges of ethnic categorization, people in vulnerable situations such as refugees and asylum seekers, the rights and health conditions of indigenous people, reproductive and mental health, and the need for intersectional approaches. These topics were built on the First World Congress, however, the methodological quality clearly improved including theoretical frameworks, design and data, analysis and interpretations. In addition, the standard of presentations was highly professional in all groups including early carrier presenters. Furthermore, newer themes relating to climate change as a push factor for migration and a special challenge for migrants as well as conflict and peace building were given special attention during this conference. As the conference happened during ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a dedicated plenary lecture was given to address the plight and human suffering as the results of the war in Gaza as well as in Ukraine. Emergency preparedness, decolonization in global health practices to ensure equitable health outcomes for all, co-creation, co-designing and participatory approaches in policy making, practice and research were also addressed. Lastly, the importance of responsible language and diversity competence in communication, health care and teaching was given attention. Such a successful congress could not have been achieved without the support by many, particularly the InConference team, local organising committee, members of the International Scientific Committee, and the Conference Committee. We are also grateful to the sponsors and funders especially the Oak Foundation and Wellcome trust that enabled the participation of over 40 earlier career researchers from low- and middle-income countries who may otherwise not had the opportunity to attend the congress.
Charles Agyemang
Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Bernadette Kumar
Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
Sónia Dias
NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), LAREAL, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Allan Krasnik
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Oester Farimagsgade 5A, Copenhagen, DK-1353, Denmark