Arua, due to its strategic geographical position, is a rapidly growing urban center in Uganda’s West Nile Region and an important base for humanitarian operations. The government plans to upgrade Arua to a “regional city”, to include the enlargement of its boundaries and the enhancement of air and rail infrastructure among others, envisioning it as a potential logistic node for North-Western Uganda. However, no strategic framework is provided at regional, city or neighborhood scales to promote a synergic development with neighboring towns (Koboko and Nebbi), districts, and countries (DRC and South Sudan).

This report outlines the results of the research activity undertaken by UN-Habitat and Politecnico di Milano’s Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, MS Lab - including desktop research and field studies, complemented by a fact-finding mission and workshops for the effective interaction with local experts and stakeholders, at both national and local level. Main findings are synthesized with the aim of providing a set of recommendations.

The integration of host communities with incoming refugees is a subject that has gained great interest in the last decade, owing to an increase in the number of people in protracted displacement situations. Kenya, which is strategically located in the high-conflict horn of Africa region, has been home to refugees for more than two decades. Some of these refugees have been accommodated in Turkana County, and specifically the area of Kakuma and Kalobeyei. Here the Turkana County Government, with support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been enabling the resettlement of refugees.

In June 2015, in alignment with the Kalobeyei Integrated Socio-Economic Development Program to respond to a new approach for refugee hosting, 1500 hectares of land in Kalobeyei, Turkana West Sub-County, were allocated for the establishment of a new integrated refugee and host community settlement called Kalobeyei Settlement, following negotiations between UNHCR, the National Government, the Turkana County Government and the host community of Kalobeyei.

This report is a Final Draft presentation of the Kalobeyei Settlement Advisory Development Plan. The plan report is for Turkana County Government’s consultation, approval and adoption. An extensive stakeholder consultation process was undertaken during the formulation of this draft plan to support the development of the settlement, and continues to be used as a key coordination tool by various partners in the region, and a pilot example to strengthen the humanitarian-development nexus and more sustainable approaches in refugee hosting.

Related programme:

Planning for Humanitarian-Development Practice: Connecting Normative to Operations

Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and UN-Habitat have been collaborating on addressing issues of urban resilience and regeneration in Kenya. They embarked on programmes for scoping studies in specific areas in Mukuru informal settlement, speaking and brainstorming with people from vulnerable groups, such as youth and women on potential risk reduction solutions and strategies. Building on this initial collaboration, in 2019, KRCS, UN Habitat and the International Centre for Humanitarian Affairs came together to organize an Urban Resilience Hackathon targeting youth from informal settlements and ASAL areas to brainstorm for solutions to pressing issues in Mukuru informal settlement, in Nairobi, Kenya. This report captures the finding and conclusions.

UN-Habitat, UNCTAD (United National Conference on Trade and Development) and IOM (International Organization for Migration) organized the East African Regional Dialogue on Migration and Development in Cities on the 22nd and 23rd October 2019 in Entebbe, Uganda. The two-day Dialogue brought together national and local government authorities from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as representatives of civil society, private sector, international organizations and development partners to exchange experiences and successful practices for fostering social and economic inclusion of migrants, refugees and IDPs in different local contexts.

This report summarizes the discussions, presentations, conclusions and next steps in the East African context for UN-Habitat’s and UNCTAD’s work in the field of migration and refugee response.

The Financial Sustainability Strategy for Kalobeyei Settlement aims to support the implementation of the “Kalobeyei Settlement Advisory Development Plan” developed by UN-Habitat, which provides a long-term and integrative approach to guide appropriate development for the Kalobeyei Settlement in Turkana, Kenya.

In the last years, there has been an increased consensus over the fact that the refugee response needs to embrace a more long-term approach that avoids unsustainable practices with recurrent investments being done in temporary infrastructures. The spatial plan for Kalobeyei thereby departs from traditional approaches towards an incremental development methodology that provides improved strategies to achieve a more durable, sustainable, mixed-used and socially integrated human settlement.

Related programme:

Planning for Humanitarian-Development Practice: Connecting Normative to Operations