• Disruption. Whatever their reasons for moving, to varying degrees the lives and circumstances of virtually all migrants, refugees, and internally displaced persons have been disrupted. They have left behind the support of traditional values, extended families, friends, and familiar ways of life and must deal with a host of new challenges. Refugees and internally displaced persons, in addition, have often lost their possessions, their jobs and income, their social status, and even their human dignity in the move (100, 265). People who have been dislocated face many risks to their health, including their reproductive health.
• Different characteristics. People who move often differ from the people in places to which they move—in their age, socioeconomic status, financial circumstances, and sometimes even culture and language. Not all mobile groups are alike, of course, nor do their characteristics necessarily mean that their need for reproductive health services is greater than that of other groups. Nevertheless, it is important that programs know more about migrants, refugees, and internally displaced persons in order to tailor information and services to meet their specific needs.
• Difficulties gaining access. People who move need reproductive health care but often lack access to services (25, 228, 287, 308, 318, 344). For example, they may be ineligible for health care benefits, unfamiliar with family planning programs and other services, unable to obtain information easily, and uncertain where to turn.

Some countries have recognized the presence of large numbers of migrants and have moved to provide reproductive health services (94, 208, 254, 275, 337). For example, China has acknowledged the need to provide better family planning services to its migrant "floating population" of some 80 million people (122), while in the Dominican Republic an AIDS prevention program and in Portugal a family planning program have focused on migrant groups (14, 121).

The reproductive health needs of refugees and internally displaced persons have received little attention until recently (74, 308, 323, 325). The burdens of providing for huge numbers of dislocated people on short notice, often with limited funds, have largely precluded attention to anything except emergency needs for food, shelter, and sanitation. Recently, however, the reproductive health needs of refugees are being recognized (242, 299, 304, 332). Similarly, in Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere, recent reproductive health care projects have focused on internally displaced persons (117, 216).