Some of the IRC team in Kenya all logo’d up ready to promote our work. Photo: Joanne Offer/The IRC

This year’s theme was protection, so the International Rescue Committee talked about the need for more awareness-raising around the Refugees Act here in Kenya. Country director Kellie Leeson said the 2006 Act, which confers rights on refugees, was a major step forward in protecting refugee communities. But she called for the Kenya government to release clear regulations on how to implement the complex act, “so that refugees can have their rights protected effectively and consistently across Kenya.”

Kenya country director Kellie Leeson talks to a local radio journalist about our work in Kenya.
Photo: Joanne Offer/The IRC

The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, also used the day to raise awareness about the plight of refugees, in particular those from Somali. He said more must be done for their hope for “an Africa at peace”. As an organization working with thousands of Somali refugees, IRC in Kenya joins the Commissioner in his plea.

I’m now back in Nairobi after a whistle-stop tour of Kenya. The International Rescue Committee is working with refugees and their neighboring communities even here. In Eastleigh and Huruma, for example, we’re helping women’s groups with education classes, accessing legal or healthcare services, and setting up small businesses such as tailoring, selling rice and making injera (flatbread.)It’s a tough life for these women – they live in some of the most rundown and neglected areas of town. For example, Halima and her family live in a shack made of tin sheeting and wooden planks. They have no electricity and have to buy water for drinking, cooking and washing.

The IRC gave Halima a grant to start selling rice and she now has a little extra income to buy essentials such as food and school uniforms for her 3 children. She’s even been able to diversify into selling cloth, but things are far from easy. As Halima says, “It’s hard to do business in a place where there’s so much poverty. People often ask me to give them rice and let them pay later.”

Unfortunately, things have been getting worse recently not better. Rising food prices mean that Halima’s overheads are higher and her customers are buying less. But at least some rice is still selling – it’s such a staple part of the diet here that she’ll always have some customers – and being part of a women’s group means that Halima has friends who can support each other in the times ahead.