°Õ¾±³Ł±ō±š»åĢż“Beyond Presence: Who Shapes Decisions in Global Refugee Governance?”, this piece asks a straightforward but essential question. In a system where everyone now talks about “inclusion,” are refugees actually influencing the decisions that affect their lives, or is their presence mostly symbolic?

The reflection looks honestly at what happened during the Progress Review. While over 250 participants with lived experience attended and the language of partnership was everywhere, the note questions how much has really changed. It asks whether refugees are being brought into the room to speak or to truly shape outcomes.

“These displacements have made the people very vulnerable and especially the men, our most vulnerable people, although when you go to the organization for help they say no, we donā€™t help men we only help women and ladies, but I’m telling you, our men have become very vulnerable and this has led to GBV in their homes, because now it is the woman who goes out and comes back with food, itā€™s now the woman who is working and has taken the traditional role of providing for the family, which was a manā€™s role.” – A quote from a female refugee leader

Displacement in the East African region refers to forced movement of individuals or communities from their homes due to conflict, persecution, natural disasters, climate change, or economic instability. This displacement can be internal (within a country) or across borders (as refugees).

Refugees in Kenya are mostly from Somalia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, communities that have deeply rooted patriarchal systems, as is still much of the region.

Gender dynamics significantly impact refugee leadership in Kenya, both in the camps and in urban areas. These dynamics, influence who leads, how leadership is perceived, and what barriers or opportunities exist for inclusive governance within refugee communities. Therefore, understanding and addressing gender disparities is imperative for advancing equitable participation and effective community representation. Leadership structures in refugee camps and urban settlements are often male dominated, and this extends to refuge-led organizations or camp committees, where women are often given secondary roles, such as secretarial duties rather than being included in the decision-making processes. It is no wonder that programmes have over focused on empowering women, yet, this is causing an imbalance where the development of men and boys is concerned.

Historically, in many societies, women were denied access to formal jobs, land ownership, and were often restricted to domestic roles. Patriarchal systems reinforced male dominance in politics, economy, and social structures, whereas women had limited legal rights and were often seen as dependents of men. In many cultures around the world, women mostly gained voting rights in the 20^th century and presently many societies still lack gender- inclusive policies in governance and economy.

These injustices and discrimination over the years gave rise to feminist advocacy movements that led to the in 1995, which was a turning point for womenā€™s rights worldwide, where countries committed to eliminating gender-based discrimination and promoting equality. The also aims to achieve ā€˜gender equalityā€™ and empower all women and girls.

In a recent study conducted by LERRN, findings from refugee leaders in Nairobi suggest that gender-focused programming, while crucial, can unintentionally neglect the unique challenges faced by men and boys, particularly in contexts where access to education, employment, and leadership is already constrained. This perceived imbalance can foster resentment, social tension, and even backlash against womenā€™s gains. Gender equality should not be seen as a zero-sum game. A more inclusive and equitable approach requires designing programs that respond to the needs of all genders, ensuring that initiatives are seen as collective gains rather than individual privileges. When both women and men are supported to lead, contribute, and access opportunities, refugee communities are most likely to thrive, with leadership that is representative, collaborative, and sustainable.

In refugee camps, leadership structures often replicate patriarchal norms, with men dominating formal leadership roles whereas in urban settings, informal leadership spaces offer opportunities for women, yet these roles often lack institutional recognition or support. In resource scarce settings, the perception that womenā€™s empowerment equals menā€™s disempowerment can emerge ā€“ not out of resistance to womenā€™s rights, but from feelings of exclusion. This reinforces gender inequality by shifting resentment, not toward the systems that marginalize everyone, but toward the gender that appears to be gaining recognition.

“Jack is a young man who is able to articulate what he does in his community. Jill is not doing the same thing that Jack is doing. But imagine if Jill was doing the same, articulating what she has been doing for all those three decades, and shining the same light to what other women are doing. I think for women, they take what they do very lightly, and they don’t voice it out. They don’t show you; they don’t document it. Because they feel like, ā€œwe’re just helping our people.ā€ –Ģż A quote by female refugee leader

** Jack and Jill not real names of leaders. Names changed to protect leaders. **

Women is a lauded move but not at the expense of men and boys, as this creates an imbalanced society, while contradicting the term ā€˜ā€™. Some men perceive womenā€™s empowerment as a threat rather than a solution which can lead to increased gender-based violence, broken families, and resistance to gender policies. Refugee men and boys who feel economically and socially powerless are prone to depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse and suicide due to lack of purpose. Excluding men from economic and leadership opportunities, leads to family breakdowns because men feeling disempowered and women end up carrying double burdens i.e., working and handling family responsibilities. As traditional male roles shift, men need new identities based on respect, partnership and shared responsibilities. Without guidance, some men turn to aggression, hyper-masculinity, or social withdrawal. When refugee males, especially youth or marginalized sub-groups face barriers to employment, education, and leadership without targeted support, it creates a gap in programming. This absence may lead to social tensions, identity crises, and backlash that hinder the progress of women empowerment efforts.

“Women are already leaders in their community but they are humble/modest about it. I come from a community where men have been weakened because women have been empowered by most of the organizations, many of the project initiatives support mostly women and not men.”Ģż – A quote by male refugee leader

Women empowerment is essential, but excluding men is creating new complications and while the solution is not to stop empowering women and girls but men and boys should be included in the conversation, to ensure that both genders thrive together and not one, at the expense of the other. Addressing gender dynamics in refugee leadership is critical to achieving inclusive and equitable governance in both camp and urban setting in Kenya. Strategic investment, policy reform, and community engagement can foster an environment where all refugees, regardless of gender, can lead and participate meaningfully in shaping their future for a thriving and well-functioning posterity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lavender Mboya brings to the East Africa Research Team over eight years of experience in project administration, coordination, and research, with a focus on migration. In her previous work, as a research team leader within a regional consortium, she led studies examining the dynamics, drivers, and implications of mobility, migration, and displacement across the Horn of Africa. She holds a Bachelorā€™s degree in International Studies from The Open University, United Kingdom.

ABOUT THE STUDY:

To learn more about the study results, please visit: /lerrn/refugee-leadership-in-south-america-and-east-africa/

²ś²āĢżConstanza Lobos, Stephanie LĆ³pez Villamil

Panel: ā€œVenezuelan refugees in Latin America: protection gapsā€ during the Global Refugee Forum 2023. In the photo: Fernanda Bedoya (El Derecho a No Obedecer), Roberto Blanco (Alianza VenCR), Robert Tigrera (AsociaciĆ³n Lluvia de Arcoiris), Lublanc Prieto (Refugees United)

As part of the project ā€œThe Politics and Process of Refugee Leadership: A Comparative Analysis of Factors Conditioning Refugee Leadership in Global Southā€ our team of researchers from Colombia and Chile conducted fieldwork in both countries to understand the conditions that enable or constrain refugees to demonstrate leadership in navigating local, national and regional power structures to influence the development and implementation of policies and programs aimed at affecting their daily lives.

During the first semester of 2024, we approached Venezuelan and Haitian leaders in both countries to learn about their trajectories and experiences. We discussed their needs and expectations and the obstacles they have encountered in their paths for the meaningful participation of their communities and in carrying out advocacy processes. Methodologically, this involved approaching refugee and migrant leaders considering research ethics and the challenges to approach the different actors, including organizations, and associated institutions. In this blog, we will reflect on the main implications of doing research with refugee and migrant leaders from the global south.

Methodology design and first approaches to the field

One of the team’s first tasks was to approach refugee and migrant communities, leaders, and relevant actors by attending different events related to migration and refugees. We also collected secondary data that was very useful to build a contextual overview of the migration and refugee situations in Colombia and Chile. All of the above made it possible to do a mapping of actors that was key to understanding the realities of both countries and to select possible participants for the research.

A disadvantage in the Chilean case was that there were no official records of migrant and refugee organizations, so the mapping had to be built based on the knowledge of the research assistants in Chile and their involvement in different events through participant observation. In Colombia, both researchers leveraged their networks and previous collaborations with RLOs to recruit participants.

Another important challenge we faced in the case of Chile was the recent modifications of the political-legal context, with the enactment of a new migration law that modified the requirements and procedures for obtaining refugee status, as well as the presentation of different bills in Congress in a short period. This had an impact on the public political discourse in Chilean society, reinforcing a scenario of criminalization of migratory flows. We addressed this issue by developing various strategies to ensure respectful relationships with the participants and creating spaces of trust and security for both; us and them. Also, the collection of background information on the legal and political context allowed the team members to be aware of the situations that were occurring in Chile and to be informed when conducting interviews and focus groups.

While designing the data collection instruments for the fieldwork, a positive aspect was the collaborative creation of interview and focus group questions within the team. We considered relevant items for both the Chilean and Colombian cases. This allowed us to gain a broader perspective on the subject under investigation by contrasting elements of the context in each country and seeking commonalities and unique aspects of the experiences of migrant and refugee leaders.

Field data collection: obstacles, challenges, and achievements

Fieldwork was carried out between May and June 2024 in three cities: BogotĆ”, Riohacha, and Santiago. We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) with Venezuelan and Haitian leaders, representatives of institutions related to migration and refugee issues, representatives of international organizations, and experts.

One of the main challenges in recruiting people at the beginning of the fieldwork was the distrust and lack of interest in the participation of community leaders in the regions of Chile, especially from the Haitian community. Some leaders expressed their concerns about “academic extractivism” and the risk of disregarding their voices when disseminating research results. To address this issue, we primarily relied on the established trust with researchers and established new platforms for open dialogue and collaboration to further strengthen this trust. Additionally, we informed the participants about the opportunity to engage in discussions about the findings and to be involved in the dissemination process, which piqued the interest of some participants.

The main challenge we encountered was the difficulty in getting leaders in Chile to participate in interviews or FGDs due to their busy schedules. Most of them have full-time jobs and work simultaneously in their organizations, leaving them with little time for extra activities. Additionally, the fieldwork in Chile coincided with the end of the first semester of the work/student year and the vacations of some interviewees and their children, leading to limited availability and the need to reschedule appointments. We sought to accommodate their availability of time and locations and be flexible with the proposed times. We agreed to conduct interviews and the focus group discussion after 6 p.m. so that they could participate.

In the case of Colombia, the main challenge was to elicit responses from state institutions and international organizations for the interviews. The solution was to seek out alternative individuals or organizations.

We encountered various challenges during our fieldwork in both countries, prompting us to consider new approaches for involving migrant and refugee leaders in the co-design and co-development of our research. We aimed to gather their perspectives on the situation and to build trust between researchers and participants or organizations. We believe that involving leaders in other stages of the research process could help us recruit more people, particularly from the Haitian community and among Haitian women, who were initially hesitant to participate.

Takeaways from our fieldwork in Chile and Colombia

The fieldwork in South America provided valuable lessons for both the team and the participants. These are our key takeaways:

• Establishing strong and trusting relationships with communities, organizations, and authorities is essential for effectively involving them in the co-design process from the outset of the research. This will help ensure that the research objectives and outcomes have a meaningful and beneficial impact on the communities involved.
• Building trust with the participants and developing collaborative proposals for future work. Leaders expressed their interest in continued involvement in the research, such as writing articles or academic blogs, and other forms of collaboration beyond the initial interview.
• Gaining a deeper understanding of the dynamics within the communities we intend to investigate, such as gender and age relations, and power structures. This understanding could help us establish stronger connections and determine effective ways to engage with different communities, such as the Haitian community.
• Collaborating continuously with leaders to discuss the research results and involve them in various dissemination activities. Many leaders appreciated being asked about their needs, which is a significant outcome of the research, especially in contexts where information on this topic is scarce or non-existent.
• Listening to migrant and refugee leaders is crucial for any research, integrating their voices into debates, disseminating the results, and creating opportunities for dialogue with authorities and experts.

This blog builds on findings from the LERRN study ā€œThe Politics and Process of Refugee Leadership: A Comparative Analysis of Factors Conditioning Refugee Leadership in the Global Southā€, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. As part of this research, I conducted fieldwork in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee settlements in Kenya to explore the factors that enable or constrain refugee leadership. Using qualitative methods, I gathered data through one focus group discussion with twelve participants, four key informant interviews with representatives from three humanitarian organizations and one government agency involved in refugee protection, and four individual interviews with leaders of Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs).

Photo Credit: Pascal Zigashane

Most of the refugee leaders I interviewed in Kakuma refugee camp were not leaders in their countries of origin. While in their home countries, the refugee leaders I spoke to throughout the research project were not involved in any leadership roles. One expressed that while in Uganda, ā€œI was involved as a leader in a church function of a group of young people.ā€ Refugees are inspired to take on leadership roles because of the circumstances and gaps in humanitarian services. Refugee leadership is very important to them as they mobilize their communities to collectively respond to their needs.

What motivates refugees to take up leadership roles in Kakuma refugee camp?

Gaps in humanitarian services drive refugees to take on leadership roles. Humanitarian organizations provide assistance to refugees in various sectors such as education, livelihoods, and health care, but they donā€™t always meet every need. In the implementation of humanitarian services, refugee leaders see gaps and feel motivated to take action to address them. They start initiatives and mobilize communities to fill these gaps. In the education sector, refugee leaders start initiatives to provide afternoon classes to help students perform and get good grades in school. Some of these leaders have established formal schools to address quality education issues. The teacher-student ratio in NGO-run schools reveals a huge gap in the quality of education, with one teacher serving a class of more than 180 students. This leaves some students unattended. Refugee leaders would go the extra mile to mentor those who have completed secondary school and guide them through the process of applying for tertiary scholarships to increase enrollment in tertiary education.

Refugee leaders take initiatives to equally address the needs of those who don’t have secondary education and those who canā€™t enter tertiary education due to poor performance in the national exam. Refugee leaders take the initiative to develop vocational training to equip their fellow refugees with various skills that will enable them to participate in the informal economy. Throughout the implementation of these initiatives, refugee leaders demonstrate solidarity with their communities. Refugees will mobilize resources to provide their peers with tools to engage in entrepreneurial activities to achieve self-sufficiency. They build infrastructure where their community members can access services and support.

Most of the female refugee leaders who participated in the research are motivated to take on leadership roles in order to change cultural norms. During the interview, the Executive Director of the She Can Initiative expressed her drive to establish the initiative to support young girls who have long been denied equal status with men in society by their culture. In some cultures, young girls are married off before the age of 18 and have no say in family decisions. They drop out of school to start a family at an early age. Some refugee women who have taken on leadership roles have initiatives that empower women, drive change and influence cultural norms that affect women. They address cultural issues and advocate for women’s rights. As part of their support for young girls, they provide training on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Refugee-led, women-owned organizations empower young girls to make their own sexual choices.

Roles and Responsibilities of refugee leaders

Refugee leadership is crucial for their role in speaking out about refugee issues. Refugee leaders are advocates for refugee issues. Through advocacy, refugee leaders become the voices of voiceless refugees and raise awareness of systemic issues. Leaders advocate for changes to gaps in services provided by humanitarian organizations. They advocate for refugee education, economic inclusion, health care, livelihoods, safety, employment, and identification documents. Through advocacy, refugee leaders speak out about the harassment and arbitrary arrests their communities experience at the hands of authorities and security officials. They use structurally available platforms and social media to make the voices of their community heard.

Despite limited access to resources, refugee leaders play a very important role in mobilizing their community members to collectively respond to the issues that affect them. Refugee leaders mobilize their communities to protest humanitarian interventions that affect them. In the recent protests in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei settlements, refugees protested the lack of access to clean water, cuts in World Food Program food rations, and insecurity. When refugee voices are not heard, leaders mobilize their community members to protest at the UNHCR sub office in Kakuma to make their voices heard. Refugee leaders also play the role of peacemakers. Kakuma refugee camp has experienced recurrent ethnic conflict, which has caused loss of life in the affected communities and sometimes escalated to their countries of origin, such as South Sudan. Formal leaders, those elected to represent and lead their communities, and ethnic leaders work together to bring peace and de-escalate conflict.

Challenges that refugee leaders face in demonstrating leadership

There are platforms for policy discussions, but refugee leaders face limited participation in these spaces. A few refugee leaders are invited to local and national meetings, but their voices are often ignored in decision-making processes. Refugee leaders who are invited to these platforms are often invited based on the interest of the organizer. Meaningful refugee participation is hindered by tokenism. According to the research findings, tokenism makes the participation of refugee leaders in decision-making very superficial, where their voices matter because they serve the interests of those who brought them. The other challenge that refugee leaders face that prevents them from exercising leadership is the delay in obtaining identification documents. This prevents them from attending important meetings outside their localities. Without proper documentation, they face restrictions on movement and limited access to services.

Conclusion

Most of the refugee leaders in Kakuma camp had no leadership experience in their countries of origin, but while in the camp, they took on leadership roles to address gaps in humanitarian services. They also demonstrate leadership in advocating for communities to influence change in the areas of education, health, economic inclusion, livelihoods, and security. Their efforts address not only humanitarian gaps but also harmful cultural norms in their communities including those that deny womenā€™s right to sexual autonomy and reproductive health. Refugee leaders mobilize their communities to respond to these issues and protest policies that do not effectively address their needs. Despite the important role refugee leaders play, they face significant challenges in having their voices heard in decision-making. They also experience limited participation in forums due to delays in accessing identification documents. Often, their involvement is reduced to tokenism, keeping their participation in decision-making superficial.

On 1 April, LERRNā€™s Project Director James Milner, and R-SEATā€™s Co-Managing Director Rez Gardi delivered a technical briefing on the global refugee regime at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York. The briefing was developed in collaboration with Leah Zamore from the Zolberg Institute at the New School of Social Research.

Within the UN System, refugee issues are typically seen as an issue to be addressed only in Geneva. Given the evolving nature of displacement, however, coupled with the critical role of the UN General Assembly and the UNā€™s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in the governance of the global refugee regime, the briefing was developed to highlight the role of Member States in New York in advancing the objectives of the global refugee regime.

Representatives from more than 30 Member States participated in the briefing, which provided an overview of the history and elements of the global refugee regime, how the UN in New York has contributed to the evolution of the regime over the past 75 years, and how UN actors in New York, especially development and peacebuilding actors, can contribute to more comprehensive responses to the increasingly complex dynamics of displacement.

A prominent feature of the briefing was the role that advances in meaningful refugee participation can play in advancing more effective and efficient solutions for refugees. Given the role of participation of other groups in ECOSOC discussions, the briefing argued that enhanced opportunities for refugee participation in New York discussions would help ensure that the expertise of refugees contributed to outcomes for policy and practice.

The briefing was timed to help inform preparations for the ECOSOC Special Meeting on Forced Displacement and Refugee Protection on 24 April 2025.

By Brianna Parent Long, ŠÓ°ÉŌ­““ University and Muzna Dureid, Concordia University

Executive Summary

Despite Canada’s recognition as a global leader in refugee resettlement and the introduction of the FIAP under the Trudeau’s administration, we identify a crucial oversight: the insufficient focus on forced displacement within its feminist international assistance framework. In this article, we critically examine Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) in the context of forced displacement, a crisis exacerbated by political turmoil and gender-specific vulnerabilities.

We draw on Canada’s policies before and after the election of Trudeau, highlighting a shift from a more conservative stance under the Harper government to a more progressive yet still inadequate approach under Trudeau, arguing that this gap challenges the integrity of the FIAP’s feminist ethos by overlooking the role of forced displacement in achieving sustainable development, gender equality and peace. We argue that the FIAP’s minimal engagement with displacement issues demonstrates a failure to recognize the political and security dimensions of displacement and its impact on women and girls. A thorough evaluation of Canada’s policy documents, speeches, and public statements reveals a pattern of essentialist and depoliticized treatment of displacement.

This article emphasizes the need for a robust and nuanced policy that incorporates local perspectives, particularly from women peacebuilders and organizations in conflict zones. It argues for the expansion of Canada’s definition of security to include the threats and concerns defined by those directly affected by conflict and displacement and addresses the complex interplay of gender, security, and peace.

View the full LERRN Working Papers Series here:

DOIĢż

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CitationĢż

Long, B. P., Dureid, M. (2025). Forced Displacement and Canadaā€™s Feminist Foreign Policy: What is Missing? Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN). Ģż

By Beenish Khan, ŠÓ°ÉŌ­““ University

Executive Summary

Since the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees articulated the commitment to ensuring meaningful refugee participation, forced migration scholars have engaged considerably with the disparities in how meaningful participation is understood, the expected outcomes, and the standards for achieving this goal. Considering the complexities of the relationship between refugees and different power structures, as well as the diverse ways in which refugees enact agency, this paper engages with various case studies of refugee participation to explore the following research questions: how should meaningful refugee participation be understood and achieved? In what ways do marginalized refugee communities assert their agency within diverse contexts to challenge the dominant power structures that shape their participation? What best practices for meaningful participation emerge from these expressions of agency?

Engaging with the key insights on participation presented by women and gender studies, development studies, and decolonization studies, this paper argues that refugees employ diverse strategies for participation in different contexts. It analyzes how various forms of power, including structural, productive, institutional, and compulsory power, significantly impact the forms of participation in which refugees engage meaningfully. Using examples of refugee women-led protests in Liberia, subtle forms of resistance by refugee youth in Uganda, and the participation of the Network for Refugee Voices in Geneva, the paper examines how the meanings, scope, goals, and outcomes of meaningful participation differ depending on particular social, political, economic, and geographic contexts. The paper concludes with best practices to support the development of meaningful refugee participation, and calls for stakeholders to consider the role of power and agency when determining standards of best practices for meaningful refugee participation.

Read the full Working Paper here:

View the full LERRN Working Paper Series here:

DOI

Citation

Khan, B. (2024). Forging the Path to Meaningful Refugee Participation: Interdisciplinary Analysis of Power, Agency, and Participation. Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN).

Angel Abbaticchio, ŠÓ°ÉŌ­““ University

Executive Summary

Though the global refugee regime was developed more than 70 years ago to find solutions for refugees, progress on truly sustainable solutions remains scarce. The international community recognizes the need to strengthen the humanitarian-development (HD) nexus or, in other words, to promote closer collaboration between humanitarian and development programming, to find solutions for refugees. African states have paid attention to the HD nexus since the 1960s, demonstrating that efforts to merge humanitarian assistance with development are far from new. However, HD approaches practiced in Africa began to fade in the 1980s and 1990s due to prolonged displacement, a rise in refugee numbers, and the pressures of economic liberalization and structural adjustment.

While renewed attention to the HD nexus and its latest manifestation ā€“ self-reliance ā€“ is recognized as vital to finding solutions for refugees, dwindling international support and cooperation has made it difficult to find solutions. This paper examines the self-reliance model in the Kalobeyei Integrated Socio-Economic Development Programme in Kenya to assess whether or not the HD nexus is leading to solutions for refugees. I argue that state interests continue to dominate the global refugee regime and its functioning in Kenya. Consequently, the rights, dignity, and well-being of refugees ā€“ the majority of which are hosted in the global South ā€“ continue to deteriorate, and it is increasingly difficult to find permanent solutions to their plight. As HD approaches are increasingly understood as important for finding solutions, these approaches including the self-reliance model in Kalobeyei must be centered on refugeesā€™ rights rather than state interests. I propose that addressing the power asymmetry within the refugee regime and the corresponding lack of inclusivity of refugees and host communities in the development and implementation of programs and policies, is crucial to realizing solutions.

View the full LERRN Working Paper Series here:

DOI

Citation

Abbaticchio, A. (2020). Is the Humanitarian-Development Nexus Leading to Solutions for Refugees? Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN).

Mohamed Duale, PhD Candidate, Education, York University

Executive Summary

Although not a new concept, refugee participation, or the involvement of refugees in decision making and service-delivery for refugees, has been gaining currency as a result of a recent shift in global refugee policy from humanitarian towards neoliberal developmentalist approaches. Refugee inclusion, self-reliance, and resilience, among other terms, can be seen as proxies for refugee participation in recent global refugee policy discourse. These policy shifts speak to the imperative of integrating refugees in host societies and of including refugees in decision-making about their lives and in refugee programming.

On the one hand, these terms can imply an opening of sorts for refugees to be given more substantive social and economic concessions within the global refugee regime. On the other hand, these keywords gesture to a conception of refugee participation as a solution to the ā€œproblemsā€ of refugee aid dependence and irregular migration. It can also present new challenges for refugees as the push for self-reliance runs the risk of abandoning them to the forces of the market without social political rights in the host country. As well, the emphasis on self-sufficiency, among other neoliberal policy imperatives, leaves out all the ways that refugees have already been participating in civic and economic activities in their host countries, and global refugee policy, in that regard, somewhat trails the realities on the ground.

As my research in Kenya in 2019 has revealed, there is a major disconnect between recent global refugee policy formulations and refugee experiences of participation. In the Kakuma Refugee Camp, refugee-led organizations have increasingly been providing education, health awareness, sports and recreation programs. Despite inclusion in the implementation of refugee programming, refugee leaders are excluded from meaningful input in decision-making and planning. In Nairobi, urban refugees, often ā€œinvisible,ā€ are forced to be self-reliant due to the relatively low-level of humanitarian operations in the city and, as a result, tend to have few connections to UNHCR and the NGOs, and even less access to participatory mechanisms than their counterparts in the camp. Despite some potential for recent refugee participation policies to modify the way refugees are consulted, involved, and served by humanitarian actors in Kenya, there are significant limitations as a result of the national encampment policy as well as the securitization of refugees. Policymakers will have to embed safeguards and protections into refugee participation processes to legitimate and allow refugees and refugee-led organizations to be heard and have their views meaningfully considered.

View the full LERRN Working Paper Series here:

More about the author

Mohamed Duale is a PhD Candidate in Education at the Faculty of Education, York University, and a Graduate Research Fellow with the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University. He is an interdisciplinary scholar with interests in refugee youth belonging, education and civic participation. Beyond his research with LERRN, his doctoral research examines the lived experiences of Somali refugee youth in the Dadaab refugee camps of north-eastern Kenya.

Watch this video to learn more about Mohamed’s work.

DOI

Citation

Duale, M. (2020). “To be a refugee, itā€™s like to be without your arms, legs”: A Narrative Inquiry into Refugee Participation in Kakuma Refugee Camp and Nairobi, Kenya. Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN).