The influence of financial management capacity of refugee-led organisations on education access of refugee children in Nairobi metropolitan area, Kenya

Abstract

Research has shown that refugee children around the world have limited access to education compared to their host community counterparts. In Kenya, it has been observed that encamped refugee children have better access to education than their counterparts in urban contexts. Whereas Refugee-Led Organisations (RLOs) have emerged as significant intermediaries to bridge this gap of access to education, the problem has persisted. This study, using an exploratory descriptive design, investigated how the financial management capacity of RLOs in the Nairobi Metropolitan Area influenced access to education for refugee children. It used a mixed-methods approach based on pragmatic philosophy and anchored to Batterlanffy’s open systems theory and Rostow’s modernisation theory. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire administered to 51 members of 20 RLOs, selected through stratified purposive sampling.  Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive, correlational, and linear regression methods, whereas qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis. A significant positive relationship was found between financial management capacity and access to education. Pearson correlation results demonstrated that fundraising capacity was the strongest predictor (r = 0.56-0.60), followed by financial control systems (r ≈ 0.49), while basic financial management infrastructure, though necessary, was insufficient alone. Regression of the financial management capacity against education access showed statistical significance [F(1,49)=18.049, p<.001], indicating that financial management capacity accounts for 26.9% (R² = .269) of the variance in education access. The regression equation, Education Access = 0.260 + 1.329 (Financial Management Capacity), demonstrated that for every one-unit increase in financial capacity, supported education access increases by 1.329 units. These results were corroborated by qualitative results, which demonstrated that most RLOs were unable to attract significant donor funding, limiting their ability to help refugee children access education.  The study concluded that the financial management capacity of RLOs significantly influenced the education access of refugee children in urban setups.  It recommends investment in financial management capacity-building for RLOs to enable them to be more attractive to potential donors.