Understanding the Socioeconomic Conditions of Refugees in Kalobeyei, Kenya

The Global Compact on Refugees represents a new approach to managing forced displacement situations, one in which evidence and data are central to its success and key to link humanitarian and development actions. Kenya is exemplary of the challenges and opportunities of this new approach. Since 1992, it has been a generous host of refugees and asylum seekers, a population which today exceeds 470,000 people, engendering both positive and negative impacts on local Kenyans. The Kalobeyei Settlement, located in Turkana County along the northwestern border of Kenya, was established in 2015 as an alternative to a camp setting, based on principles of refugee self-reliance, integrated delivery of services to refugees and host community members, and greater support for livelihood opportunities through evidence-based interventions.