Participation and policy in the making of a refugee city: Insights from Kakuma, Kenya

Abstract

This study aimed to understand how and why Kakuma has become an informal “refugee city” in response to global humanitarian policy frameworks that shape both local governance and everyday forms of integration for refugees and host communities in northwestern Kenya. In particular, it looked at the extent to which refugees and host community members participate in making local decisions around their newly transformed contexts created by the Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement and the municipalization of Kakuma. The study was anchored in governance theory and adopted a convergent parallel mixed-methods design to examine refugee participation in local governance. A sample of 100 respondents was drawn from a target population of approximately 400,000 refugees using Yamane's (1967) formula at a 10% margin of error. To answer the research questions, the researchers collected data through a series of household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings were integrated during interpretation to provide a thorough understanding of governance participation and integration dynamics. It was found out that with the existence of inclusionary governance frameworks and policies that support refugee integration, the nature and quality of governance participation differ greatly among different types of refugees and host community members in Kakuma and Kalobeyei. While refugee-led organizations, youth, and women’s organizations have been increasing their participation in consultation with local authorities/decision-makers, their ability to influence decision-making is limited by unclear legal authority and limitations based on the available resources and systems in place to support governance participation. The support of community actors within the host community for integration planning has been voiced via their perceptions of unevenly represented and distributed benefits, suggesting that these inclusion efforts may mean that local inequalities could actually be reproduced. The study concludes that while Kakuma is transforming from a refugee camp to a so-called hybrid civic space at the intersections of urbanization and displacement, successful integration will be dependent on having defined and inclusive ways for people to engage with their governments. The study recommends that to promote integrated development within newly emerging “refugee city” contexts, the study suggests ways to improve established ways of engaging with both host and refugee populations; provide clarity around legal and administrative responsibilities; enable sharing of resources to establish balance in development; and improve refugees' abilities to provide long-term support for themselves as a result of the integration process.