Sustainable Integration – Local Interventions and Urban Refugee Policy

Cities Alliance and Kenya's Turkana County Government co-host Sustainable Integration – Reflections on Local Interventions and Urban Refugee Policy. The peer-learning event will take place in Lodwar, Kenya, from 31 January to 2 February 2023.

The event is organised within the framework of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF): Inclusive Urban Development and Mobility – Regional Network and Dialogue Action, a platform led by Cities Alliance that supports secondary cities in the Horn of Africa to address the challenges of urbanisation and the rising number of refugees and displaced.

The three-day gathering will include a series of roundtable discussions and technical sessions on topics such as: 

• A model of integration - The experience from Turkana County, Kenya
• The role of local actors in managing migration along the Eastern Desert Route, Ethiopia
• Using ecosystem mapping to engender social cohesion and sustainable livelihoods
• The role of data in legal protection and inclusive urban planning in cities hosting refugees: the case of Arua, Uganda
• Urban planning and management approaches for the integration of refugees and IDPs - Experiences from Ethiopia and Somalia
• Integration of refugees in resource-constrained municipalities: The case of Koboko, Uganda
• IGAD's work on cross-border programming on migration and mobility.

Funded by the European Union, through the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the CRRF Action has established a regional dialogue among seven cities in the region: Arua and Koboko in Uganda, Kakuma-Kalobeyei in Kenya, Assosa and Jigjiga in Ethiopia, and Gabiley and Boroma in Somalia.

This is the fourth event, in a series of five, dedicated to fostering dialogue and synergies among national and local authorities, community representatives, and international partners. The network seeks to help the partner cities better manage the migration influx and improve service provision for migrants and host communities.

The previous peer-learning events had focused on:

1. Drawing attention to urban refugees and their host communities
2. Refugee response resource mobilisation
3. Urban planning and refugee integration