Devolution in Kenya: Opportunity for Transitional Solutions for Refugees?

The 2010 Constitution of Kenya enacted a process of devolution with wide ranging consequences on the nature of local governance and service delivery. This study assesses whether county governments can provide an opportunity to reach transitional solutions for refugees, recognising that any solution to displacement will require a community-based approach. Host communities and local populations require attention in planning for transitional and durable solutions, and hence county governments may also have a role to play in refugee affairs. In a heated political and security context framing refugee affairs in East Africa, there is an acute need for evidence-based strategies to find durable solutions. This is especially true in light of the “protracted situations of displacement”, by which refugees get “trapped in limbo (…) having been in exile for more than five years with no immediate prospect of finding a durable solution for themselves.”