The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (MFA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have entered into af a contract regarding a joint evaluation of the integrated solution model in Kalobeyai, Kenya.
Kenya is host to a large number of refugees from neighboring countries. In Turkana in the north-west part of Kenya, the government of Kenya and its international partners have developed an Integrated Social and Economic Development Programme, a multi-agency collaboration to develop the local economy and provide for refugees residing in Turkana. The programme constitutes a new model for providing protection, assistance and solutions to refugees while also benefitting host communities by promoting self-reliance and development for both refugees and host populations.
MFA and UNHCR is jointly commissioning an evaluation to understand the dynamics and roles of development and humanitarian actors in improving the situation for refugees and host communities in and around Kalobeyei, Turkana. The overall objective of the evaluation is to learn collectively from new models of providing protection, assistance and solutions to refugees and host communities alike. MFA and UNHCR are undertaking a joint evaluation to collate lessons learned from the implementation of the refugee response in the context of the integrated solutions model in and around Kalobeyei in Turkana, Kenya.
Kenya is one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest host countries for refugees, hosting more than 480 000 refugees, primarily from Somalia and South Sudan. Kenya is an important driver for economic growth in the region and has been one of the fastest growing economies in Africa for over a decade. However, Kenya is also marked by high regional inequalities, with Turkana in North-Western Kenya being one of the poorest areas of the country, and also the host to about a third of officially registered refugees in Kenya. The Kakuma refugee camp and the Kalobeyei settlement in Turkana host over 185 000 refugees and asylum-seekers.
In order to provide an integrated solution to refugee protection and assistance, also benefitting host communities in the region, the government of Kenya and its international partners developed the Kalobeyei Integrated Social and Economic Development Programme (KISEDP) in northern Kenya for the settlement of refugees. KISEDP is a 15 year plan and multi-agency collaboration to develop the local economy and service delivery at Kalobeyei and it is part of the County Integrated Development Plan. KISEDP has been developed with close involvement of UNHCR, UN-Habitat, the World Bank, as well as other stakeholders and aims at benefitting both the local community and refugees through enhancing socio-economic integration of refugees into local society. This approach forms the basis of the KISEDP and represents a major paradigm shift in the approach to refugee settlement in Kenya because it links humanitarian assistance with long-term development.
The evaluation, therefore, looks at the intended aims, purpose and vision explicit or implicit in the KISEDP model, including intentions and underlying assumptions on how to succeed in providing protection and solutions to refugees while also benefitting host communities, and how the KISEDP model envisaged that the aims for integrated protection and assistance to refugees and host communities should be obtained.
The evaluation includes the following areas of inquiry:
— the intended aims, purpose and vision of the KISEDP model,
— the implementation of the model, including opportunities, barriers and challenges for its implementation and the implications for protection and assistance,
— the interplay between key stakeholders engaged in providing protection and assistance and solutions in and around Kalobeyei.
The evaluation will start in December 2018 and the final evaluation report will be submitted by June 2019.