FIELD REPORT

A POWERFUL VOICE FOR LIFESAVING ACTION

November 30, 2010

Contact:
Elizabeth Campbell
AGE, GENDER, DIVERSITY MAINSTREAMING
INITIATIVE KEY TO URBAN PROTECTION
The UN Refugee Agencys (UNHCR) approach to urban refugee protection in Nairobi, Kenya
should serve as a model and best practice for programs worldwide. By embracing the Age,
Gender, and Diversity Mainstreaming Initiative, UNHCR has significantly improved their rela-
tionships with the refugee community and has drawn upon resources within that community
to strengthen protection. UNHCR has forged new partnerships with NGOs and local officials
as well as senior management of schools and health clinics. With minimal resources, UNHCR
Nairobi was able to achieve these positive results mostly through its willingness to develop a
new approach to urban refugee protection.

FROM GATEKEEPERS TO COMMUNITY OUTREACH and provision of services to refugees in Nairobi. Some of
the issues identified in the assessment were later incorporated
UNHCR once had a strained and even hostile relationship
into urban refugee programming and refugees themselves
with refugees and civil society in Nairobi. Communica-
often become key actors in protection strategies. For in-
tion and cooperation was limited, and UNHCR was viewed
stance, through the participatory assessment UNHCR dis-
largely as a gatekeeper to accessing protection and not as a
covered that there was a high number of young refugee
partner. Only those refugees who were willing and able to
girls working as domestic laborers who were often exploited
approach UNHCRs offices received assistance or protection.
and abused. In response, UNHCR partnered with a local
In 2005 UNHCR initiated a new approach to its urban Kenyan social service organization to begin to offer train-
program, the so-called Nairobi Initiative, and used the ing to refugees in home care management as well as em-
Age, Gender, and Diversity Mainstreaming (AGDM) ployment placements in more healthy work environments.
participatory assessment to apply a collaborative intra and Refugees are trained on human rights issues so that they
interagency approach to improve coordination, protection, are also better able to defend their own rights as well.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
UNHCR should appoint clear leadership at headquarters to ensure that staff is trained on the new urban refugee policy,
that best practices from pilot cities are gathered and disseminated, and that country offices are implementing the policy.
UNHCR needs to develop an accountability framework similar to the AGDM framework for its new urban refugee policy
to ensure that it is implemented in country programs with protracted and emerging urban refugee populations.
UNHCR needs to ensure that urban refugee needs are well reflected in their global needs assessment.
UNHCR must clearly link community services with protection and elevate the role of community services within the
overall structure of UNHCR, especially in urban settings.
To help advance the urban refugee policy, UNHCR senior management must dedicate sufficient resources to ensure
that the AGDM Initiative is fully mainstreamed throughout UNHCR operations worldwide.

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 UNHCR also committed itself to an ongoing dialogue with partment, most refugees now have access to primary
refugees throughout the year. This has been successfully health care. By showing ones Mandate Refugee Certifi-
achieved in part from UNHCRs establishment of some 20 cate and paying a minimal fee which is required for all
community-based outreach workers. These refugees serve patients, refugees are largely able to access city run health
as points of communication between UNHCR, its partners, clinics. In areas where there is a large concentration of
local NGOs and officials, and the wider refugee community. refugees, UNHCR provides minimal financial as well as
They are trained on how to respond to refugee arrest and staff support to these clinics.
detention, how to refer SGBV survivors to appropriate ser-
vices, and how to identify extremely vulnerable individuals. In 2003 primary education was made free for all children
in Kenya. UNHCR capitalized on this change and began
For the first time in recent history in Nairobi, UNHCR reaching out to headmasters in schools located in refugee
was able to establish contacts with refugee communities neighborhoods to educate them about the right of refu-
at large and better understand community structures. In gees to attend school. UNHCR and its partners also built
accordance with the AGDM guidelines, UNHCRs Deputy up a relationship with the Department of City Education
Representative helped to establish and facilitate a multi- who was able to provide information about refugees di-
functional team consisting of UNHCR and various NGOs rectly to its headmasters and teachers.
to conduct the outreach and interviews. The involvement
of UNHCR senior management in the exercise helped
contribute to its success. CONCLUSION
Most refugees today credit UNHCR for dramatically
changing and improving its approach toward refugees liv-
PARTNERSHIPS AND TRAINING ing in urban areas and agree that the communication be-
In the AGDM assessment all refugee groups highlighted tween UNHCR and refugees has improved. Refugees ap-
the lack of legal documentation, which often leads to arbitrary preciate the organizations providing legal aid and liaising
arrest and detention, as a top issue of concern. For the first with police stations and courts. They are grateful for the
time UNHCR began to more systematically and intentionally existence of the refugee community outreach program
register and document any refugee wishing to reside in Nairobi and also have benefited in recent years from greater access
rather than in one of the camps. UNHCR also expanded its to education and health services.
formal partnerships to include local legal aid organizations.
This positive change is a direct result of UNHCR and local
Today, UNHCR and its partners regularly communicate NGOs outreach efforts, partnership building exercises,
directly to police stations as well as the Department of and institutional trainings on refugee law, principles em-
Prisons to inquire about refugee arrests and detention. bodied in the AGDM Initiative. It has been achieved with
Kenyan lawyers, magistrates, and judges have also been minimal resources; however, to expand on these initia-
trained on the provisions in the Kenyan Refugees Act of tives, more resources would be requiredbut a little can
2006 as well as on identifying and responding to vulner- often go a long way in an urban context.
able refugee groups. Some have gone on to become train-
ers themselves, holding meetings and workshops for their UNHCRs urban refugee policy will undoubtedly further
colleagues, including trainings on the Age, Gender, and help solidify and legitimize these important efforts in Nairobi,
Diversity Mainstreaming Initiative. but it is essential that UNHCR headquarters appoint clear
leadership on ensuring the implementation of this policy
UNHCR has also worked to establish relationships with worldwide. Developing an accountability framework similar
local authorities, including district commissioners re- to the one used for AGDM may be helpful in this effort.
sponsible for areas in which there is a large refugee pres- In comprehensive needs assessments, country offices
ence. As a result of this relationship, many of the district must include the needs of urban refugees, something that
commissioners are for the first time more aware of refu- was largely lacking in 2010. Finally, the experience of Nairobi
gees rights and the particular challenges they face. In one clearly reveals that community services play an important
instance a district commissioner invited UNHCR to par- protection function, especially in urban settings. UNHCR
ticipate on the district board as a key stakeholder, high- must acknowledge this and elevate the function within its
lighting the crucial role that local officials can play in help- Department of International Protection Services.
ing to protect refugees in cities.
Elizabeth Campbell assessed the needs of urban refugees in
Due in large part to UNHCRs community outreach and Nairobi in November 2010.
partnership with the Nairobi City Councils Health De-

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