UNHCR Kakuma Operation hosts Ms Annelies Withhofs from IKEA Foundation

By Sam Otieno  |  1 Jul 2017

1 July 2017 – UNHCR Kakuma operation hosted a two-day mission by Ms. Annelies Withhofs from IKEA Foundation.

Ms. Annelies was accompanied by the UNHCR’s Assistant Representative (Programme), colleagues from UNHCR Private Sector Partnership Office in Copenhagen and UNHCR Branch Office in Nairobi. The purpose of the visit was a monitoring mission to Kakuma and Kalobeyei for the Brighter Lives for Refugees Project. This 3-year project aims to install a total of 1,260 Solar Street Lights and to distribute 59,160 Solar Lanterns to beneficiaries in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kalobeyei Settlement and the neighbouring Host Community.

The team had an interactive session with the Solar Street Lights Users Association in the Host Community, institutions that have benefitted from the project and finally Kalobeyei Settlement, which has a potential opportunity of transitioning into a “green camp” given the readily available renewable energy.

Among the key issues drawn from the mission was the need to link up the project with the livelihoods and education sector as well as develop a solid sustainability plan that is centred on community ownership of the entire project particularly the solar street lights.

As of 26 June 2017, the overall population stood at 179,362 individuals of which 100,291 are from South Sudan. A majority of the population are women and children.