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Executive summary
Refugee-led organisations (RLOs) in East Africa play a vital role in meeting community needs.
To date, however, there is a lack of rigorous evidence on the impact of RLO responses on displaced communities, how RLOs are perceived by the communities in which they operate, and what factors condition the variation in response and impact of RLOs.
This study, led by Carleton University’s Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the Refugee-Led Research Hub (RLRH) at the University of Oxford, seeks to fill this gap in 11 urban and camp/settlement sites across Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. A team of researchers affected by displacement led the study from start to finish and implemented two phases of data collection between May 2021 and June 2022.
Conceptualising RLOs in East Africa
Our definition of RLOs is adapted to the diversity of forms they take in East Africa. RLOs include any organisations, associations, coalitions, formal or informal networks, faithbased groups, and initiatives led by refugees or asylum seekers in urban, rural, camp, and settlement settings. They may be registered or unregistered groups.
Their function is to respond to the humanitarian, developmental, or cultural needs of refugees and related host communities. They support their own members (self-help groups), their communities (special interest groups, ethnic groups), other refugees, and the host community. They generally prioritise their national community or the refugees who live where they operate, but also provide services to host community members where they are more integrated with nationals. RLOs may provide direct services or focus on advocacy. They may have for-profit elements, but those are used (fully or partially) to fund not-for-profit activities.