Development Cooperation for Refugees and Its Effect on the Self-Reliance of Urban Refugee Youth in Nairobi City County
| dc.contributor.author | Wambugu, Iddah Wangui | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-01-31T09:44:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-01-31T09:44:15Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-11 | |
| dc.description | A Research Project Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration of Kenyatta University, November 2024. Supervisor Heather Eddah Kipchumba | |
| dc.description.abstract | Conventional forms of humanitarian aid have a limited impact on shaping refugees' independence in protracted situations. Instead, development cooperation to bolster refugees' self-reliance becomes more critical. However, fostering their self-reliance through cooperation can make it difficult since its implementation reduces the refugee's dependency on aid, which can threaten their livelihoods. Thus, the study aimed to establish how development cooperation influences the urban youth refugee's self-reliance in Nairobi City County. The objectives included determining the effect of financial literacy, social networks, human and physical capital, and legal support on self reliance. The theories of Change and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs underpinned the study. The target population consisted of 36,450 urban youth refugees but sampled a population of 276. The study adopted questionnaires that were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression and presented using means and standard deviation via tables. Still, open-ended questions were analyzed using significant themes. Descriptive results indicated that financial literacy enabled most urban youth refugees to access credit, repay loans on time, borrow money for investing, and save for the future. Social networks enabled the youth refugees to borrow money from someone they knew outside the community and participate in communal activities, thus enhancing their sense of belonging and connection to other community members. Human and physical capital through vocational training enabled the refugees to gain self-employment, credential recognition, and receive primary healthcare training that allowed them to manage their healthcare needs. Legal support enabled the refugees to be aware and exercise most of their economic, social, and educational rights. Regression results indicated that all the development cooperation variables (financial literacy, social networks, human and physical capital, and legal support) positively and significantly influenced the urban youth refugees' self-reliance. That implies that financial literacy, social networks, human and physical capital, and legal support provided by donors resulted in better refugees' self-reliance. Recommendations for donor organizations include initiating social and cultural activities between the youth refugees and the host locals and looking at how refugees engage in the savings cycle and how that builds resilience. Policymakers are advised to enact laws that provide refugees the right to work and access to higher education, creating equal opportunities for refugees to develop their desired lives. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/29497 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Kenyatta University | |
| dc.title | Development Cooperation for Refugees and Its Effect on the Self-Reliance of Urban Refugee Youth in Nairobi City County | |
| dc.type | Thesis |