Kenneth
Juror | Kenya
Imagine of a
scenario where your neighbor receives aid from the government yet you do not
yet you share the same religion, customs and you have virtually all
similarities albeit that you are separated by two countries. How well
thereafter would you relate to this neighbor?
This is the
situation of Kenyan residents living in Dadaab refugee areas. It is indeed
unfortunate that after the fall of Major General Siad Barre Somalia has never felt the petals
of peace thus its people sought refuge in Kenya.
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| Aerial view of Dadaab refuge camp courtesy of MSF |
Dadaab area
is semi arid and the locals are not spared either from the misgivings of Mother
Nature in the region. Perennial drought, scorching sun, lonely standing shrubs
characterize the landscape not to mention that the area hosts the biggest refugee
camp in the world.
Refugees in
these camps get aid (food, clothing and shelter) from the international
non-governmental organizations that locals equally need but regrettably they
are not beneficiaries of such “niceties” as they (NGOs) insist that they ought
to be catered for by the government.
This state
of affairs has led to a wave of criminal activities pitting the locals against the
refugees as more and more refugees arrived in the area stretching the already grim
situation of social amenities like water. An urgent remedy was thus needed to
avert a crisis where a refugee has run for safety only to be otherwise.
Luckily, the
Government through the Ministry of State for Special Programmes and The Federal
Government of Germany through the GIZ heard the locals’ plea and a project
known as “Stabilising host community livelihoods and enhancing peaceful conflict
management in the area around Dadaab Refugee camps” was initiated.
The main objective
of the project will be;
§ To support the development and
rehabilitation of economic and social infrastructure
§ To increase production and
diversification of agricultural produce
§ To better income-generating
opportunities such as marketing of agricultural and livestock products.
§ To strengthen capacity for dialogue
and non-violent conflict management
The project
will run till August 2014 funded at a total cost of Ksh 276,822,000 benefitting
over 50 families in Garissa and Wajir districts.
