Living in difference and in common: urban refugees and convivial cultures in Kenya
Lead Research Organisation:
International Institute for Environment and Development
Department Name: Human Settlements Group
Abstract
This project seeks to improve knowledge on how relationships between urban refugees and local communities contribute to building trust and maintaining peace in Kenyan towns and cities. It explores the ways in which peaceful coexistence can be promoted between communities that have different cultural backgrounds, but share the challenges associated with urbanisation and poverty. It also seeks to strengthen an existing international network that brings together academic researchers in the Human Settlements Group at (IIED), with two institutions in Kenya: SDI-Kenya (a federation of organised low-income urban communities) and Koch Films (youth-led participatory film-makers).
Together the network will explore and document positive relationships and interactions between urban refugees and host populations in urban centres in Kenya, as well as sites of tension and mistrust. New knowledge will be generated through the use of participatory research methods, including urban ethnographic walks and documentary film-making. It will focus on three themes:
1. Community-based slum upgrading: how a federation of slum dwellers in Nairobi (SDI) has expanded its scope of work to ensure slum improvement processes are inclusive of forcibly displaced people, and that municipal authorities are aware of their challenges, aspirations and perspectives;
2. Protection of vulnerable people: how local grassroots safehouses established and run by the Kenyan-Somali community protect women in vulnerable situations and navigate relationships with the UN refugee agency and the local police;
3. Shared local livelihoods: how relationships of trust and cooperation are built through shared local livelihoods, and what factors and actors contribute to economic and social well-being in market hubs where urban refugees work.
This knowledge will be disseminated in a range of media, to inform different audiences. Alongside an article for academic publication, evidence generated by the project will be used to develop recommendations and a policy briefing for national and municipal governments, and for the UN refugee agency, to support protection of urban refugees and promote more inclusive cities. It will also inform a documentary film that shares the experiences of urban refugees and promotes public debate on peaceful coexistence between urban refugees and local populations. The film will be screened to local and international audiences.
Together the network will explore and document positive relationships and interactions between urban refugees and host populations in urban centres in Kenya, as well as sites of tension and mistrust. New knowledge will be generated through the use of participatory research methods, including urban ethnographic walks and documentary film-making. It will focus on three themes:
1. Community-based slum upgrading: how a federation of slum dwellers in Nairobi (SDI) has expanded its scope of work to ensure slum improvement processes are inclusive of forcibly displaced people, and that municipal authorities are aware of their challenges, aspirations and perspectives;
2. Protection of vulnerable people: how local grassroots safehouses established and run by the Kenyan-Somali community protect women in vulnerable situations and navigate relationships with the UN refugee agency and the local police;
3. Shared local livelihoods: how relationships of trust and cooperation are built through shared local livelihoods, and what factors and actors contribute to economic and social well-being in market hubs where urban refugees work.
This knowledge will be disseminated in a range of media, to inform different audiences. Alongside an article for academic publication, evidence generated by the project will be used to develop recommendations and a policy briefing for national and municipal governments, and for the UN refugee agency, to support protection of urban refugees and promote more inclusive cities. It will also inform a documentary film that shares the experiences of urban refugees and promotes public debate on peaceful coexistence between urban refugees and local populations. The film will be screened to local and international audiences.
| Description | Project outputs are still under development, and it is too early to point towards specific planned impacts. However, our partner organisation SDI Kenya has used the research process to make connections between participants and other organisations they work with (including on another IIED led project) to refer participants to the support they need, for example to address medical needs. We have also specified a focus on LGBTQI+ refugees within this work, through a new partnership with Amka Africa, and will continue to identify impactful ways of bringing attention to this particularly vulnerable group within the urban refugee community in Nairobi. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Impact Types | Societal |