On his first official visit as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih today called for stronger global support to develop the solutions refugees need to rebuild their lives.
Speaking in Nairobi after visiting Kakuma municipality in northern Kenya, Salih acknowledged Kenya’s decades-long generosity in hosting refugees and the farsighted policies that allow refugees to work and access health care, education and financial services.
“Despite scarce resources, Kenya continues to show remarkable solidarity for people in need through smart policies that foster self-reliance and economic growth,” said Salih. “Kakuma is a place of transformation and innovation, sending a powerful message to the world: rather than trapping refugees in aid dependency, we must urgently prioritize solutions that allow people to live in dignity and contribute to society.”
The Shirika Plan, led by the Government of Kenya, is a bold framework to move from humanitarian assistance towards refugee self-reliance and peaceful co-existence with host communities. Under the Plan, refugees can access legal identity papers, work permits, mobile money and banking services, public education and universal health care.
Over 800,000 refugees and asylum-seekers live in Kenya. Some 300,000 refugees, mostly from South Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have found safety in Kakuma, where the consequences of a lack of humanitarian funding are stark. Last year, less than a quarter of UNHCR’s needs-based budget for Kenya was funded. Refugees and host communities face cuts to health care, water and education. Protection services are being heavily reduced: reception centres are overcrowded and caseworkers supporting children and survivors of gender-based violence are being cut.
“The funding crisis is threatening lives and risks reversing the hard-won progress made. That is why I am urging development actors, international financial institutions, donors and the private sector to step up their support for the Shirika Plan,” said Salih. “These inclusive policies hold great promise for transforming the futures of both refugees and the communities hosting them.”
In Nairobi, the High Commissioner met with President William Ruto and other senior government officials. Salih lauded Kenya’s historic role in welcoming refugees and thanked Ruto for the government’s commitment to progressive refugee policies.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
