STRATEGIES PUT IN PLACE TO FACILITATE REFUGEES` ACCESS TO HUMANITARIAN AID IN KAKUMA REFUGEE CAMP, KENYA
Abstract
In the last decade, there has been an upsurge in the number of forcibly displaced populations globally. This has been attributed to climate change, population explosion, intra state contestations and in some instances Complex Humanitarian Emergencies among other vices. This study evaluated the strategies used to facilitate refugees` access to humanitarian aid in Kakuma refugee camp. The camp had continued to receive displaced population which was impacting humanitarian aid accessibility. This study was an attempt to fill this lacuna. Evaluation and descriptive research designs, Purposive, proportionate and random techniques, Quantitative and Qualitative data collection, verbatim and narrative quotations were employed. The target population was household refugees and asylum seeker household heads, 4 FGDs and 12 key informants. The sample size was 394. Study findings on strategies: commodity distribution (99%), Cash transfer (37%) among others. The study also revealed other factors inhibited refugees` access to aid: corruption (98%), intra and inter-ethnic conflicts (98%), long queues in service centres (94%) discrimination and abuse (96%) among others. The study concluded that the existing distribution strategies were faced by a number of challenges that negatively affected access to humanitarian aid which led to mortality and morbidity thus the need to fully implement comprehensive refugee response mechanisms in pursuit of refugee autonomy was inevitable. The study recommended cash intervention as a panacea to humanitarian aid distribution access.
Key words: Refugee, Access, Strategies, Humanitarian Aid, Distribution
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