[/caption]Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world. Composed of three individual camps (Ifo, Hagadera, and Dagahaley), it contains over 250,000 people and has been declared by Oxfam as unfit for humans. Founded in the early 90's, the camps were established with the intended lifespan of only one to two years, the continued growth of the population and expansion of the camps has required continuous adjustments to camp infrastructure, management, and policy.
The camps are located in a semi-arid region that is otherwise largely inhabited by a nomadic pastoralists. This environment greatly limits livelihood opportunities within the camps, and it is highly unlikely that the refugees would survive there without assistance from international and national organizations. At the same time it is highly unlikely that the refugees would survive there without the assistance from international and national organizations. At the same time, it is highly unlikely that they could survive only on the assistance from the international community. Food distributions include maize, pulses, wheat, oil, and salt, along with a few non-food items. The agencies offer ‘incentive’ job opportunities for refugees, which pay a maximum monthly amount of 6,000 Ksh. The only jobs in which the refugees can engage legally, as they are not allowed to formally work in Kenya. Alternatively, refugees engage in business or at times are employed by other refugees for manual work and household tasks. According to researcher Cindy Horst, earlier research suggested 10-15 percent to receive remittances, although this has certainly expanded.
[caption id="attachment_109" align="alignright" width="368" caption="WFP Rations Distribution at Ifo Camp"]
[/caption]The main reason why improvements in socio-economic conditions in the camps are very gradual and levels of self-sufficiency are still limited is obvious; the refugees are confined in a semi-desert area with very limited economic opportunities. Agencies working to improve livelihoods within Dadaab must address the structural constraints that refugees face within the camp as well the value of their interventions for a future outside of the camps. However, upgrading the physical infrastructure of the camps is a daunting tasks, not only due to expected financial costs, but also because of the legal and political complications. With no legal right to the land, the refugee populations and international agencies bear tremendous risks to invest in camp developments, especially as the Kenyan government would just as likely prefer the refugees to repatriate to Somalia. Clearly, new ideas of "infrastructure" must be explored for the advancement of economic health within the Dadaab camps.
Not only are prospects for economic growth limited by the physical and political constraints, but so are opportunities for social justice and environmental health. I have attached a power point presentation that provides an overview of how all three of these issues are interconnected within the camps.
[slideshare id=2252252&doc=justiceequityandsustainability-091016213057-phpapp02]
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