Determinants of Urban Refugee Youths Self-Reliance, in Nairobi City County, Kenya

In urban centers, humanitarian assistance to refugees can be sparse, and insufficient to foster self-reliance, which is shaped by social and economic factors. Thus, urban refugee youths exercise a higher degree of self-reliance than those in camps. The study sought to establish the determinants of urban refugee youths self-reliance in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study targeted 2972 refugee youths but sampled 297. It draws on data from questionnaires and analyzed questions using content analysis and descriptive and inferential statistics. Most refugee youths, 80%, said they received support from their social networks, with 74.2% valuing and 5.8% not valuing self-reliance. Self-reliance increased where they depended on these networks for housing, work, and emotional support, but was absent where social capital was unavailable. The correlation (r = 0.30, p = 0.00) and regression (β = 0.726, p = 0.00) results revealed that social networks significantly influenced self-reliance. On financial training, 63.3% of the refugee youth indicated having participated in financial training, with 43.5% valuing and 19.8% not valuing self-reliance. Financial training increased self-reliance by helping them to save, pay back loans, or borrow to invest, but hindered it by increasing over-dependence on credit. The correlation (r = 0.738, p = 0.00) and regression (β = 1.871, p = 0.00) results also indicated that financial training significantly influenced self-reliance. On education training, 77.6% of the refugee youths stated having participated in education training, with 54.5 % valuing and 23.1% not valuing self-reliance. Education and Training enhanced their self- through increased employability and pathways to decent work through wage or self-employment. At the same time, some refugee youths lamented they were still unemployed after completing TVET. The correlation (r = 0.151, p = 0.020) and regression (β = 0.1512, p = 0.00) results also indicated that education significantly influenced self-reliance. Regarding legal support, 64.3% of the refugee youths reported having sought legal representation, with 51.6 % valuing and 12.7% not valuing self-reliance. Legal support enhanced the refugee youth self-reliance by facilitating their access to business permits, and pro-bono lawyers’ services. Legal support failed to foster self-reliance where the refugees lacked awareness of their economic, social, and education rights. The correlation (r = 0.260, p = 0.020) and regression (β = 1.497, p = 0.002) results also revealed that legal support significantly influenced self-reliance. The study proposes that humanitarian actors offer selected skilled refugee youths financial start-up capital for micro-enterprises as well as conduct business incubation and follow-ups after financial training. The study also recommends that TVET designers and funders develop curricula that are responsive to market demands to be relevant and deliver skills that are useful in the local labor markets.