Kenya has a long history of welcoming forcibly displaced people from its neighbouring countries. The country is currently formally hosting over 650.000 refugees – this number still increasing every day due to drought and conflict in neighbouring counties. Most refugees are in refugee camps situated in the two counties Garissa and Turkana. This influx of people and demand for services can pose numerous challenges to the host (county) governments.

To address these challenges, VNG International launched the Sustainable Development through Improved Local Governance (SDLG) programme last week in Nairobi, Kenya! The SDLG programme in Kenya will support Garissa and Turkana counties in providing quality services to both the host and refugee communities by strengthening their capacities in different areas including refugee management and service delivery, as well as collect evidence-based data and unite County Governments lobby and advocacy efforts on this theme vis-à-vis the national government. The main aim is to ensure both refugee and host communities have equal access to basic services provided by government.

“With our programme and its launch, we have brought together all important stakeholders – from both national and local government, to UN-agencies and other NGO’s – in this field, agreeing that working with local governments is crucial in ensuring a Kenyan-owned process in housing refugees in the country. Citizens and refugees need to decide over the way in which services need to be delivered – working closely with municipalities, the government closest to the citizen, is essential in doing so,” said Bo Altena, Project Manager of SDLG Kenya.

The event was visited by key stakeholders in the sector, including the Governor and Speaker of Garissa County, officials from the Turkana County Government, the Commissioner of the Department of Refugee Services (DRS), the Kenya School of Government, representatives from UNHCR, UNICEF and other UN-agencies, and representatives from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kenya. The Chair of the District of Yumbe and the SDLG team from Uganda were invited to showcase best practices in VNG International’s approach in refugee management on the local level in Uganda.