Past capacity-building measures
Part of our service is also the legal intervention and community legal empowerment program. Back in April of 2023 we have led a workshop on the legal empowerment and capacity building for RLOs in the fields of financial management, leadership and governance structures.
Our training for RLOs to enhance their capacity building abilities includes training on financial management for RLOs. Further, our trainings entail training on matters concerning leadership and governance structures of RLOs. Further, training is conducted on leadership skills and accountability.
Refugees face myriads of difficulties in society, lack of access to justice is one major hindrance to security and protection. Access to justice among refugee communities is limited, which is why we have made the training of paralegals one of our objectives.
The goals of the paralegal training include:
The 2023 Paralegal training targeted 20 participants from the Daadab and Kakuma camps and Nairobi. We made sure that all participants had different countries of origin and that the group had both women, men and LGBTQIA+ persons present.
The goal of all our trainings is to equip our community paralegals with the ability to provide accessible legal services as to enhance community resilience and prevent exploitation of the refugees. The access to legal aid is enhanced in the process and bridges as well as decentralizes the access to legal services for the community. This way, all paralegals trained under RELON-Kenya authority function as community gatekeepers.
During this capacity building meeting with law students from Mount Kenya University (MKU) and the University of Nairobi (UON), our team was able to educate the attendees on the issues surrounding legal aid refugees in Kenya face on a daily basis.
The objective of the meeting with MKU and UON students was:
The goal of these workshops is to expose current law students to refugee law through the observation of legal aid work provided by our organization. This cooperation offers the opportunity for current students to find a platform for their refugee law related articles, i.e. in the form of publication.
Further, the students were invited to sit in on mediation sessions at our office to continue their training on ADR. A selection of students was also granted the opportunity to help our team with legal aid matters, workshop and seminar preparation.
The workshop on Gender-Responsive Advocacy within Refugee-Led Orga-nizations was organized with support from the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and took place from January 30 to February 1, 2023, at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Nairobi.
This event served as a platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange among regional organizations, inter-national non-governmental organizations (INGOs), public institutions and academia fostering discussions and presentations on a wide range of critical topics. The workshop culminated in a series of resolutions aimed at enhancing the support and empowerment of Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs).
The participating organizations included representatives from RELON-Uganda, Makerere University Refugee Law Project, the Samuel Hall Foundation, Amnesty International Kenya, UNHCR, HAAR-Kenya, and GIZ. All participants contributed to the workshop by sharing their insights and expertise in areas such as inclusive technology, trafficking in persons, financial inclusion, participating in online campaigns as well as legal aid and governance, peacebuilding and social justice, women's empowerment, and mental health.
The resolutions generated during this workshop are a testament to the collective commitment to improving the support and empowerment of RLOs. By advocating for direct funding, fostering collaboration, and allocating a sig-nificant portion of annual budgets, these organizations are taking concrete steps to enhance their impact on refugee communities. This workshop's success lies not only in the insightful discussions held but also in the actionable resolutions that will shape the future of refugee advocacy.
Participants listening to the team’s presentation
The goal of this workshop was to enhance the decision-making processes that RLOs partake in by providing training on how to make these processes more inclusive and simultaneously effective.
In September of 2020, RELON-Kenya conducted an advocacy
strategy training in cooperation with the Global Refuge Network (GRN), Urban
Refugees and Amnesty International. This workshop marked a significant
step towards growing the capacity of refugee-led organizations in using their
voice to advocate for the rights and well-being of refugees in Kenya. This
will ultimately benefit the local refugee community and advance the overall
cause of refugee advocacy.
Workshop situation, group discussion
From May 15th to 19th RELON-Kenya held a capacity-building workshop on peace-building and conflict transformation at Kasarani Sport View Hotel in co-operation with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH) for a total of twenty beneficiaries re-presenting four RLOs.
With the help of this workshop the conveners have provided the participating RLOs with information on the promotion of peace in their daily work. The goal of this workshop was to empower and strengthen the participant’s capacities to address conflict on the community level.
The objective of this capacity-building measure was to:
Participants from Action Pour le Progres, Youth Voices Community, Nguono farmers of Poultry and Permaculture, Umoja Tunaweza,YEDA Africa.
The “Voices Rising” event brought together a diverse group of participants, which included 65 RLOs, nine donor organizations, and 28 participant organizations that actively engaged in panel discussions. Altogether there were 102 individuals who participated in the conference.
The objective of the event was to emphasize the importance
of RLOs in addressing the challenges within Kakuma and Kalobeyei, enable
opportunities for partners and government entities to support RLOs in
achieving their objectives, and facilitate mea-ningful conversations among
re-presentatives from RLOs, International Non-Governmental Organi-zations,
This conference was a pivotal event that shed light on the challenges faced by refugees living in Kakuma and Kalobeyei. This is done by emphasizing the role said challenges play and creating opportunities for support. By facilitating meaningful conversation, the event paved the way for a more inclusive and effective approach to refugee issues. It is imperative that the momentum generated by this event is sustained to ensure a more promising future for refugees in Kakuma & Kalobeyei.
RELON-Kenya team and participants
The Wezesha training program, conducted in collaboration with the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI), took place from July 11 to July 13, 2022, at the Kasarani Sports View Hotel. The program aimed to build the capacity of refugees and RLOs from the Kakuma and Dadaab camps, as well as urban centers in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Part of the program was the introduction of all participans to the concept of human rights, advocacy work and the significance of promoting the rights of refugees. All participants were encouraged to actively engage in the advocacy process. Specific areas of advocacy work that were discussed included the improved access to education, economic inclusion, proper documentation and recognition of refugees’ identification cards to access services. Further, the issue of addressing mental health challenges, refugees face and the implementation of effective advocacy strategies in this context were discussed. Also, the process of identifying actors and target groups were discussed. Participants were guided through the process of how to research, analyze, and engage with stakeholders in an effective manner. This step is considered particularly crucial as the actions of these groups can significantly impact the success of advocacy efforts.
The Wezesha training program successfully equipped refugees and RLOs with the knowledge and skills required for conducting effective advocacy work. By being able to identify key actors and target groups, understanding the advocacy process, and focusing on essential areas of refugee rights, the program has paved the way for meaningful and impactful advocacy work in the future.
RELON-Kenya presentation during Wezesha advocacy training
The three-day capacity-building work-shop took place from November 6th to November 8th, at Bamburi Beach Hotel in Mombasa. This workshop aimed to build the capacity of refugees and RLOs located in Mombasa.
All participants were taken through the topics that will be discussed during the upcoming Global Refugee Forum (GRF). RELON-Kenya collected the participant’s expectations for the event. Specifically discussed were the issue of freedom of movement and the documentation status of refugees in Kenya. The main objectives were for the participants to understand Kenya’s policies regarding refugees and how they apply to them and the RLOs in the country.
RELON-Kenya’s goal was to empower the participating RLOs in:
The policy dialogue session also entailed education on
existing refugee policies, service and support opportunities for refugees as
well as Kenyan law and the rights and responsibilities of refugees.
Group photo: RELON-Kenya team with workshop participants