Kenya, January 12, 2026 – President William Ruto has called on the international community to rally behind Kenya\u2019s plan to transform refugee camps into integrated, self-reliant settlements, saying global support is critical to the programme\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
Speaking at State Lodge Sagana in Nyeri County after meeting United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, the President said the initiative marks a decisive move away from long-term humanitarian aid towards sustainable development.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs this noble and ambitious plan is being implemented, we ask the international community to support the programme,\u201d Ruto said.<\/p>\n
He noted that Kenya has long been recognised as a welcoming and secure country, having hosted refugees and immigrants for decades. According to the President, the government has worked closely with the UNHCR for more than 40 years to support people fleeing war, conflict and instability in neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past four decades, Kenya has offered refugees comfort, a home away from home and a stable environment in which they can rebuild their lives,\u201d he said. The programme, known as the Shirika Plan, was launched last year and seeks to fundamentally change how refugees are hosted in the country. Its goal is to integrate refugees into local communities, promote socio-economic inclusion and reduce reliance on humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n
Under the plan, long-established camps such as Dadaab and Kakuma will gradually be transformed into integrated settlements that operate as municipalities. Refugees will have greater freedom of movement, access to national services and opportunities to participate meaningfully in local economies.<\/p>\n
The government also plans to expand access to education, healthcare, livelihoods, land use and legal documentation for refugees, while investing in infrastructure and social services that benefit host communities as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kenya, January 12, 2026 – President William Ruto has called on the international community to rally behind Kenya\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[63,1100,1104,854,1102,1107,1109,1106,1098,1096,1101,1103,1108,1105,1094,302,83,1099,1028,1095,321,262,1097,80,96,261],"class_list":{"0":"post-19850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-african-business","10":"tag-african-culture","11":"tag-african-development","12":"tag-african-economy","13":"tag-african-education","14":"tag-african-entertainment","15":"tag-african-healthcare","16":"tag-african-media","17":"tag-african-news","18":"tag-african-politics","19":"tag-african-society","20":"tag-african-sports","21":"tag-african-technology","22":"tag-analysis","23":"tag-breaking-news","24":"tag-business","25":"tag-continental-news","26":"tag-current-affairs","27":"tag-dawan-africa","28":"tag-east-africa","29":"tag-economy","30":"tag-horn-of-africa","31":"tag-kenya","32":"tag-news","33":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}