The Kiunga Refugee Integration and Empowerment Initiative (KRIEI) is a community-led social change initiative implemented in Kiunga, Lamu County, Kenya, a fragile coastal border region adjacent to Somalia. The initiative was designed to address long-standing tensions between refugee and host communities arising from protracted displacement, climate-induced resource scarcity, and limited access to basic services. KRIEI adopted a participatory and conflict-sensitive approach, centered on inclusive community dialogue forums that brought together refugees, host community members, elders, youth, women, local authorities, and security actors. Through these forums, the initiative facilitated trust-building, collective problem-solving, and the co-creation of locally owned solutions to shared challenges. Key intervention areas included shared resource governance (water access, fishing grounds, and farmland), livelihood integration, education access for refugee children, and strengthening relations between communities and local security agencies. A locally agreed water rationing system and joint management of fishing and agricultural resources significantly reduced conflict and improved social cohesion. Refugee children were integrated into public schools, and trust between refugees, host communities, and security actors was strengthened through continuous engagement. The initiative aligns with Positive Peace, Human Security, and Social Capital frameworks and offers practical evidence for non-camp, community-based refugee integration. Notably, KRIEI operationalized the principles of Kenya’s Ushirika Plan at the local level even before formal national rollout, demonstrating the potential of localized approaches to advance durable solutions for refugees. Overall, KRIEI contributes to policy and practice debates on refugee governance, localization, and peacebuilding in border and climate-affected contexts, and presents a model that may inform similar integration efforts in other regions
Shee kupi Shee (Fri,) studied this question.