Context
Kenya’s history has been marked by forced displacement due to violent conflicts or natural disasters.
600,000 people were internally displaced during the post-election violence in 2007/08. Since then, conflicts over scarce resources, large-scale development projects, environmental degradation and climate-change-related extreme weather events continue to force people out of their homes. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre counted 394,000 internally displaced people (IDP) in 2020.
Civil wars, ethnic violence and extended drought periods in neighbouring countries have also forced hundreds of thousands to seek refuge in Kenya over the past decades. Kakuma and Dadaab camps currently host over 496,000 refugees and asylum seekers, with another 92,000 in informal settlements in Nairobi and other urban centres.
Forced displacement often leads to conflicts within the communities or with governmental authorities over access to already-scarce resources, basic services and livelihoods. This is particularly so when the displaced population is confined to economically weak regions or informal urban settlements.
Objective
Communities hosting displaced population in Kenya are now solving their conflicts in a non-violent and mutually-beneficial manner with the support of local governments and structures.
