Kalobeyei Forum - Panel

Published: Nov. 6, 2019, 10:24 a.m.

In June 2015, the Turkana County Government, UNHCR and the Central Government allocated a site near the Kalobeyei Township, 3.5 kilometres northwest of Kakuma refugee camp and measuring 15 square kilometres, to host the ever-growing number of South Sudanese refugees in Kakuma refugee camp. Kalobeyei offers a new system for welcoming and hosting refugees by not only offering a market-based settlement in which they can integrate with host communities but also ensuring that refugee hosting is transformed into an opportunity for the development of the host community. On 6 August 2019, the Rift Valley Forum, in partnership with Amnesty International, hosted Professor Alexander Betts of the University of Oxford and the Director of Refugee Economies Programme to discuss the successes, challenges and opportunities of the Kalobeyei initiative. The Refugee Economies Programme undertakes research on the economic lives of refugees, analysing refugee self-reliance, the role of the private sector and refugee economies in various countries, including Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.