Integration of Refugees in Host Countries’ Education Systems: Challenges Facing Refugee Led Lobby Groups in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya

• In Event: Intersectoral Approaches to Education in Humanitarian Crises and Emergencies (II)

Proposal

International human rights law guarantees the right to education. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights, adopted in 1948, proclaims in Article 26: 'everyone has the right to education'. Since then, the right to education has been widely recognised and developed by a number of international normative instruments elaborated by the United Nations, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966, CESCR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989, CRC), and the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960, CADE). The right to education has also been reaffirmed in other treaties covering specific groups (women and girls, persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees, Indigenous Peoples, etc.) and contexts (education during armed conflicts). It has also been incorporated into various regional treaties and enshrined as a right in the vast majority of national constitutions. In 2017, the Djibouti Declaration of the Regional Ministerial Conference on Refugee Education was ratified. This was a non-binding legal instrument produced by the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) with eight member states: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Eritrea. The declaration states the commitments of member states to implement and develop quality educational standards and inclusion in their national legal framework and educational system. This is accompanied by an Action Plan, which outlines the actions to be carried out in the delivery of quality education and learning outcomes for refugees, returnees and host communities in the region. Integration of refugee children to host country education systems could provide friendly learning environment and safe haven for refugee children. Refugee led lobby groups have been agitating for implementation of the Djibouti Declaration with little success. The implementation process is taking a slow process to realise this declaration. This study was undertaken between July and October 2022 to understand the key challenges faced by refugee lobby groups in agitating for the full implementation of the Djibouti Declaration in their Communities. The focus for this study was the Kakuma refugee camp population. Sampling was done among refugee community leaders, especially the refugee led lobby groups. This was a qualitative study undertaken through convenient sampling technique to select respondents to this study. Key results obtained from this study is that the refugee lobby groups had serious challenges in using the power of protest in a foreign land. Logistical challenges were the highest followed by non-responsiveness from host country government. There’s need, therefore, to empower local refugee led lobby groups in exercising their right to power to protest for education rights for all.

Authors

• Joash Abere Migosi, University of Nairobi

• Anne Waithira Gachoya, MOE EDUCATION