Humanitarian Agencies Research Articles

Impact of internally displaced persons on forest and vegetation of Jere LGA, Borno State, Nigeria

Deforestation is described as changes in the structure and composition of an area of forest after there has been some form of human intervention such as firewood, charcoal and logging. The study examined impact of internally displaced persons (IDPs) on forest and vegetation cover of Jere L.G.A. of Borno State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to determine the extent of impact of deforestation and depletion of vegetation cover caused by displaced persons to forest of Jere L.G.A. and also identifies the socio-economic needs of the displaced persons in camps. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were generated through field observation and focused group discussion with displaced persons, while the secondary data was obtained from relevant available literature. Findings revealed that about 12 square kilometers of forest and vegetation cover were destroyed by displaced persons. The Findings also revealed that displaced persons engaged in cutting of trees for shelter, firewood, charcoal and debarking trees for medicinal purpose to earn money. The study revealed displaced persons conditioned in camps are deplorable far from the ideal situation. The study concluded that environmental impact assessment should be incorporated in the strategies for displaced persons welfare before their arrival. The study recommended that host governments, humanitarian agencies and NGOs should support the living conditions of displaced persons through socio-economic, education, skill and vocational training development that promotes lifelong learning opportunities.Keywords: Displaced persons, Deforestation, Vegetation, Firewood and Charcoal

La niñez chilena exiliada en Buenos Aires. La escuela como ventana a la experiencia infantil (1974-1983)

Este artículo analiza la experiencia de la niñez chilena exiliada en Buenos Aires durante el tercer gobierno peronista y la última dictadura militar. Un porcentaje significativo de esos niños fueron asistidos junto con sus familias por la Comisión Argentina para los Refugiados (CAREF), una agencia humanitaria creada en los últimos meses de 1973 para ayudar a los chilenos que diariamente cruzaban la frontera escapando a la represión de la dictadura de Pinochet. La mayoría de esos niños en Capital Federal fueron admitidos en la escuela primaria de orientación protestante Laura y Henri Fishbach, que decidió, en acuerdo con CAREF, implementar un proyecto de integración destinado a la equiparación académica y a la socialización afectiva del grupo refugiado. En este artículo demostraremos 1) que muchos de los problemas que presentaba la población infantil eran efecto del contexto represivo sufrido tanto en Chile como Argentina; 2) que el paso por la escuela cumplió una función de contención significativa en la vida de los niños y; 3) que el proyecto de la institución debe entenderse tomando en cuenta la adhesión explícita de los directivos y docentes a las pedagogías críticas.

Localisation and cross-border assistance to deliver humanitarian health services in North-West Syria: a qualitative inquiry for The Lancet-AUB Commission on Syria

BackgroundIn a growing number of humanitarian crises, “remote management” is negotiated across borders and implemented by humanitarian agencies through “local actors” to deliver assistance. However, the narrative describing the involvement of local actors in the delivery of humanitarian aid in armed conflict settings remains reductionist and unreflective of the complex and circular course of the “localisation of aid”. This paper explores cross-border humanitarian assistance within the Syrian conflict. We document how humanitarian actors operate to deliver humanitarian health care in North-West Syria (Turkish border), explore their challenges and critique the language used within current debates on the localisation of aid.MethodsWe undertook key informant interviews with Turkey-based humanitarian aid professionals involved in the humanitarian health response inside Syria. We integrated data previously collected for The Lancet-American University of Beirut Commission on Syria during field work in Gaziantep, Turkey, through meetings, conversations, discussions and expert consultations with Syrian health professionals, WHO-Turkey staff members and members of Syrian health directorates. We also drew from background desk reviews conducted by the Commission on health systems responses and timeline of events in Turkey during the Syrian conflict.ResultsThis paper uncovers creative and effective bottom-up strategies that enhanced cross-border coordination of aid delivery into Syria. Our findings unravel the key role played by Syrian providers in accessing vulnerable populations and in reshaping coordination and funding mechanisms inside Syria, as well as the disproportionate risks local actors bear within the response. Our findings also reveal an iterative negotiation of decision-making dynamics, a “low-profile approach” promoted to gain access to populations of concerns, and an environment that is heavily shaped by close interpersonal relationships and social trust.ConclusionsOur multifaceted narrative unpacks circular flows of interactions among actors and uncovers strategies developed by practitioners on the field, which are often left undocumented. We argue that there is an opportunity for the humanitarian sector to learn from these synergies to rethink how medical humanitarianism is framed (hopefully leading to a more collaborative framing that resists mainstreaming “local” actors within a “traditional” system). There is also an opportunity for the humanitarian and global health communities to reflect on how value attributed to human lives needs to be questioned in contexts where national staff face a disproportionate risk to deliver aid.

Building a humanitarian sector career: understanding the education vs experience tension

Each year over the last decade, there were on average 400 humanitarian disasters or emergencies, killing more than 100,000 people and affecting a further 200 million. Such humanitarian events require immediate responses as well as effective longer-term activities to aid communities recover. The global response is now valued over US$27 billion annually. More than half a million people are estimated to work in this sector, the majority being locally engaged staff. The international community provides significant resources to assist local communities impacted by these humanitarian emergencies. This aid flows through multiple channels, including national and regional governments, international non-governmental organisations and local community based organisations. Increasing the skills and knowledge of leaders and managers of these responses is a critical need to ensure the most effective recovery in communities as well as use of resources. Understanding the professional journey in the humanitarian sector is vital, but currently limited. As the humanitarian sector continues to expand, greater focus on the skill-set needed by humanitarian workers responding to these events is needed. However, tensions exist between the primacy given to the experiences and soft-skills of humanitarian workers over the value of academic qualifications. This paper provides some suggestions how this tension within the humanitarian sector may be addressed and reconciled. This paper presents new data based on interviews with 20 humanitarian professionals from a range of humanitarian aid agencies and considers their experiences and reflections on building a career within the humanitarian sector.

Oases of Humanity and the Realities of War

Abstract The rehabilitation of international humanitarian law (IHL) has become a priority for those who think that the horrors of contemporary wars are largely due to the blurring of the distinction between civilians and combatants and for those who think that campaigning for the respect of IHL could result in more civilised wars. Similarly, respect for humanitarian principles is still seen by many as the best tool available to protect the safety of aid workers. In this text, I argue that both assumptions are misled. The distinction between civilians and combatants, a cornerstone of IHL, has been blurred in practice since the late nineteenth century. In addition, humanitarian agencies claiming to be ‘principled’ have been victims of attacks as much as others. History and current practice tell us that neither IHL nor humanitarian principles provide safety or can guide our decisions. Accepting their symbolic value, rather than their unrealised potential to protect and solve operational dilemmas, would free humanitarian agencies from endless speculations.

Discovering Best Practice Establishing Evacuation Centers for Vulnerable Populations: Findings from Australia and Japan

Introduction:Potentially vulnerable population groups in disasters include the elderly and frail, people who are isolated, and those with chronic diseases, including mental health conditions or mobility issues. The disasters such as the Queensland flood and Great East Japan Disaster in 2011, affected regions of Australia and Japan. This study is followed by two pilot studies in both countries after the disasters. While both countries have different evacuation center procedures for evacuees, the issues regarding the role and responsibility across governments involving planning, setup, and management of evacuation centers demonstrate similarities and differences.Aim:This paper will report the preliminary findings of a pilot study undertaken with local government officials and humanitarian agencies in Australia and Japan concerning their involvement in planning for, setting up, and managing evacuation centers for vulnerable populations in recent natural disasters. The objective is to illuminate the similarities and differences that officials and agencies faced, and to highlight the resolutions and lessons learned in the preparation of evacuation centers through this event.Methods:This is the final stage of the study. After completing an analysis of both phases, a comparative framework to highlight similarities and differences was developed.Results:Each government’s role in relation to the establishment of evacuation centers is legally defined in both countries. However, the degree of involvement and communication with non-governmental organizations from the planning cycle to the recovery cycle demonstrates different expectations across governments.Discussion:While the role of governments is clearly established in both countries based on the legal frameworks, the planning, set-up, and management of evacuation center differs.

Discovering Best Practice for Establishing Evacuation Centers for Vulnerable Populations: Findings from an Australian Pilot Study

Introduction:Potentially vulnerable population groups in disasters include the elderly and frail, people who are isolated, and those with chronic diseases, including mental health conditions or mobility issues. The 2011 Queensland flood disaster affected central and southeast Queensland, resulting in 2.5 million people being adversely affected. Seventy-two local government areas disaster were activated under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, which was more than 99 percent of Queensland. The issues regarding the role and responsibility across governments relating to planning, setup, and management of evacuation centers will be discussed.Aim:This paper will report the preliminary findings of a pilot study undertaken with local government officials and humanitarian agencies in Australia concerning their involvement in planning for, setting up, and managing evacuation centers for vulnerable populations in Australia during the Queensland floods in 2011. The objective is to illuminate the challenges officials faced, and the resolutions and lessons learned in the preparation of evacuation centers through this event.Methods:The study involved interviews with local government and relevant agencies’ officials who have been involved in establishing evacuation centers for vulnerable populations during the 2011 floods. Six officials were recruited from local government areas affected by the disaster in Queensland, Australia. Semi-structured phone interviews were audio-recorded and thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo software.Results:Three core themes emerged: 1) understanding of the importance of preparation, 2) challenging evacuation center environments, and 3) awareness of good governance principles.Discussion:This pilot study demonstrated that communication with stakeholders during the preparation period prior to a disaster is essential to best practice for evacuation center management. Understanding and being aware of good governance is also an important element to establish evacuation centers effectively.

Shelter planning for uncertain seismic hazards using multicriteria decision approach: A case of Nepal earthquake

AbstractThis paper explores the location and relocation decision problem of temporary shelters under uncertain damage situations in humanitarian relief contexts. The article proposes a multicriteria decision support framework based on fuzzy sets, analytic hierarchy process, technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution, and weighted goal programming to address the issue of temporary shelter planning. The paper formulates a multiobjective location–relocation model that considers multiple objectives of risk, number of sites, unmet demand, qualitative suitability of locations, unmet demand, and nature of land ownership while generating solutions under different scenarios of earthquake damage. The robustness and performance of the proposed model are illustrated using a real case study of 2015 Nepal earthquake. The framework can benefit governments and humanitarian agencies in high‐seismic areas for adequate shelter planning under damage uncertainties.

All Lives Are Equal but Some Lives Are More Equal than Others

Abstract In 2015, Action Contre la Faim launched a campaign calling on the UN to create a new post, that of a Special Rapporteur for the protection of humanitarian aid workers. Critics of the proposal claimed, inter alia, that creating such a post would imply that aid workers were a special category of civilians, worthy of protection over and above that accorded the wider population in the contexts in which they work.1 This raises an important issue which runs deeper than the campaign for a Special Rapporteur. The present article argues that, with or without such a post, the current situation is one in which humanitarian agencies treat aid workers as distinct and separate from the wider civilian population, and take significantly different measures for the safety of their staff from those they take for other civilians. For the most part, the distinction and associated differences are uncritically accepted, and this article sets out to challenge such acceptance by highlighting the nature of the differences, assessing possible explanations for the underlying distinction and considering its implications. Through this analysis, the article argues that this distinction not only reflects but also reinforces an unequal valuing of lives internationally.

Repressive Compassion: Deportation Caseworkers Furnishing an Emotional Comfort Zone in Encounters with Illegalized Migrants.

The treatment of illegalized migrants in Western liberal states has been often characterized by a duality of compassion and repression. Within this dyad, repression is said to be applied with the right hand of the state by the police, border control, refugee status determination units, etc., and compassion with its left hand by social workers, medical staff, as well as civil society organizations and humanitarian agencies. Drawing on the toil of deportation caseworkers in the Netherlands, this article argues that compassion is prevalent not only among those who show benevolence and support illegalized migrants but also among many who work on the repressive side of the divide. However, expressions of compassion by deportation caseworkers do not seem to mitigate an otherwise repressive bureaucratic work. Instead, compassion often helps caseworkers to furnish a comfort zone in which emotions can be discharged and from which caseworkers neutralize potentially disruptive affective dynamics by experiencing them as intrinsic to the law they implement. Compassion not only fails to produce vertical commonality with deportable migrants in vulnerable positions; it also willfully fosters the self‐image of civil servants as humane and sensitive actors as they effectively implement controversial state policies.

The culture, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Rohingya refugees: a systematic review.

Despite the magnitude and protracted nature of the Rohingya refugee situation, there is limited information on the culture, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of this group. This paper, drawing on a report commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), aims to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the literature on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Rohingya refugees, including an examination of associated cultural factors. The ultimate objective is to assist humanitarian actors and agencies in providing culturally relevant Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Rohingya refugees displaced to Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries. We conducted a systematic search across multiple sources of information with reference to the contextual, social, economic, cultural, mental health and health-related factors amongst Rohingya refugees living in the Asia-Pacific and other regions. The search covered online databases of diverse disciplines (e.g. medicine, psychology, anthropology), grey literature, as well as unpublished reports from non-profit organisations and United Nations agencies published until 2018. The legacy of prolonged exposure to conflict and persecution compounded by protracted conditions of deprivations and displacement is likely to increase the refugees' vulnerability to wide array of mental health problems including posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. High rates of sexual and gender-based violence, lack of privacy and safe spaces and limited access to integrated psychosocial and mental health support remain issues of concern within the emergency operation in Bangladesh. Another challenge is the limited understanding amongst the MHPSS personnel in Bangladesh and elsewhere of the language, culture and help-seeking behaviour of Rohingya refugees. While the Rohingya language has a considerable vocabulary for emotional and behavioural problems, there is limited correspondence between these Rohingya terms and western concepts of mental disorders. This hampers the provision of culturally sensitive and contextually relevant MHPSS services to these refugees. The knowledge about the culture, context, migration history, idioms of distress, help-seeking behaviour and traditional healing methods, obtained from diverse sources can be applied in the design and delivery of culturally appropriate interventions. Attention to past exposure to traumatic events and losses need to be paired with attention for ongoing stressors and issues related to worries about the future. It is important to design MHPSS interventions in ways that mobilise the individual and collective strengths of Rohingya refugees and build on their resilience.

Humanitarian governance and resilience building: Ethiopia in comparative perspective.

Humanitarian governance is usually understood according to the classic, Dunantist paradigm that accords central importance to international humanitarian agencies. However, this is increasingly paralleled by ‘resilience humanitarianism’ that focuses, among other things, on including national actors in humanitarian governance. This article views humanitarian governance as emerging through interactions between authorities, implementing agencies and communities. It is based on interactive ethnography in five countries by Partners for Resilience (PfR). Using the Theory of Change (ToC) tool, it analyses the various interpretations and priorities of actors involved in humanitarian problems, solutions and programme governance. For example, PfR had a ‘software’ focus, aiming to unlock communities’ potential for resilience, whereas communities and authorities preferred to receive tangible ‘hardware’ support. The findings highlight the crucial role of local authorities in shaping humanitarian aid. This is especially pertinent in view of the international agenda to localise aid, which requires the understanding and support of national actors in order to responsibly protect the vulnerable.

Mapping combined wildfire and heat stress hazards to improve evidence-based decision making

Heat stress and forest fires are often considered highly correlated hazards as extreme temperatures play a key role in both occurrences. This commonality can influence how civil protection and local responders deploy resources on the ground and could lead to an underestimation of potential impacts, as people could be less resilient when exposed to multiple hazards. In this work, we provide a simple methodology to identify areas prone to concurrent hazards, exemplified with, but not limited to, heat stress and fire danger. We use the combined heat and forest fire event that affected Europe in June 2017 to demonstrate that the methodology can be used for analysing past events as well as making predictions, by using reanalysis and medium-range weather forecasts, respectively. We present new spatial layers that map the combined danger and make suggestions on how these could be used in the context of a Multi-Hazard Early Warning System. These products could be particularly valuable in disaster risk reduction and emergency response management, particularly for civil protection, humanitarian agencies and other first responders whose role is to identify priorities during pre-interventions and emergencies.

‘Occupied Enclave’: Policing and the underbelly of humanitarian governance in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya

This article transports discussions on the geographies of occupation to the refugee camp and infers that rethinking militarised policing in camps as a form of occupation brings into sharper relief the everyday violence of humanitarian governance. While most research on the administration of camps has focused on the biopolitical control of humanitarian agencies and NGOs that register, sustain, and manage refugee lives in exile, far less is known about the role of the police and paramilitary. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, this article provides an alternative reading of the militarised spatialities of the camp, in which Kenya's (post)colonial disposition for state violence has merged indistinguishably with the contemporary securitisation of refugees, and the humanitarian need for unobstructed management of aid operations. This article proposes that these converging trajectories have transformed the refugee camp into a zone under military-style occupation: an ‘occupied enclave’. In this tightly controlled space, Kenyan police act as enforcers of humanitarian violence that is inflicted on a civilian population of refugees with precarious life chances and limited freedom of movement. This is analysed through four domains of occupation – architecture, bureaucracy, physical force and material extraction – that work in conjunction to produce violent spatial effects of immobility, exclusion, and exception. Revisiting the camp through this lens bridges the gap between the literatures on humanitarian governance and military occupation and reiterates the continuing importance of enclave spaces for governing mobile and unwanted populations.

After the handover: Exploring MSF’s role in the provision of health care to migrant farm workers in Musina, South Africa

ABSTRACT Non-state actors, including humanitarian agencies, play a prominent role in providing health care in low- and middle-income countries. Between 2007 and 2009, Musina, a South African municipality bordering Zimbabwe, became the site of several interventions by non-state organisations as an unprecedented number of Zimbabweans crossed the border, putting strain on already burdened local systems. After the initial need for humanitarian relief dissipated, organisations started to implement projects that were more developmental in nature. For example, Médecins sans Frontières developed a mobile clinic programme to improve health care access for migrant farm workers, a programme that was subsequently integrated into the Department of Health. Since the handover of the programme, it has faced multiple challenges. Using qualitative methodology and a case study approach, this paper traces the development of the programme, exploring the changing relationship between MSF and the state during this time. This research raises questions about the implications of short-term ‘innovative’ interventions targeting the access that migrants have to care, within a context in which policy and programmatic responses to health are not migration aware. Furthermore, it highlights the ways in which the energies and resources of local DoH employees were redirected by MSF's involvement in the area.

Violence against women and girls with disabilities during and after the 2015 Nepal earthquake: thematic analysis of qualitative data

Abstract Background Disasters affect people with disabilities disproportionately. Violence against women and girls, including sexual and psychological violence, has been reported to increase during and after natural disasters. Despite worldwide attention on the devastation caused by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, the risk of violence against women and girls with disabilities and their experiences during the crisis and recovery phases remain under-researched. In this study, we aim to explore the experiences of violence against disabled women and girls immediately after the earthquake and during the post-earthquake recovery period. Methods We undertook a thematic analysis of qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with women and girls with disabilities from the districts worst affected by the 2015 Nepal earthquake: Kathmandu valley (n=16), Dhading (n=8), Sindhupalchok (n=8), and Gorkha (n=8). These qualitative data were a part of two larger studies; one that explored the experiences of people with disabilities during the 2015 Nepal earthquake and another that studied the effect of post-earthquake mental health and psychosocial support in women with disabilities. All participants for this part of the study were recruited through a snowball sampling technique. Findings We analysed data from interviews with 40 participants conducted between May, 2015, and February, 2018. Five focus group discussions each with eight participants lasted between 1 h and 1·5 h. Semi-structured interviews lasted between 30 mins and 45 mins. By comparison with their pre-earthquake experiences, women and girls with disabilities reported increased psychological, physical, and sexual violence immediately after the earthquake mostly in and around temporary shelters. Physical and psychological violence were reported to be committed by partners, family members, relatives, and sometimes by people who lived in the same community; sexual violence against girls with disabilities were reported to be committed by close relatives, family members, or an opportunist stranger. Interpretation Our findings highlight that being female with a disability, having limited rights and independence, and having limited access to financial resources lead to increased longer-term violence, even during the recovery and reconstruction phase of a natural disaster. We recommend that emergency responders undertake gender and disability sensitisation training to remove barriers and stigma against women and girls with disabilities. Government, national, and international humanitarian agencies should work together with local-level organisations to strengthen gender and disability-inclusive preventative, reporting, and justice mechanisms. Funding None.

Instituciones internacionales: políticas y problemas en la protección internacional de los desplazados internos colombianos

Este artículo analiza la protección internacional de los derechos humanos, en el campo de actuación de las Instituciones Internacionales, teniendo como base un estudio de caso que objetiva identificar las políticas y los obstáculos relacionados a la protección de los desplazados internos en Colombia. De este modo, este estudio se orienta por la pregunta, a saber: ¿cuáles son las políticas y los problemas relativos a la protección internacional de los desplazados internos colombianos? Se parte de la premisa de que la ola de conflictos intraestatales, que emergió en Colombia acentuó el cuadro de complejidad y persistencia de la migración forzada, configurada, en particular, por el flujo del desplazamiento interno. En ese contexto, concluimos que la actuación de las instituciones internacionales en la protección internacional a los desplazados internos en Colombia es limitada y presenta muchas fallas, teniendo en vista que el ACNUR aún no ha logrado desarrollar una coordinación más consistente y porque las agencias humanitarias no poseen una planificación y recursos suficientes para cubrir el plan de acción para las asistencias a los desplazados internos.

Menstrual Hygiene Management During Emergencies: A Study of Challenges Faced by Women and Adolescent Girls Living in Flood-prone Districts in Assam

Women and adolescent girls in disaster-prone and fragile contexts face many challenges. This study 1 brings out various cultural and logistical issues faced by women and adolescent girls in taking care of their menstrual hygiene needs during floods. Data were collected in the flood-prone state of Assam from village communities in three districts—Sonitpur, Biswanath and Nagaon—through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and observations. Although sanitary napkins were distributed in some situations, there seemed to be no strategic plan or prior preparation for disposal despite the fact that floods are an annual occurrence in Assam. The absence of separate toilet facilities and disposal systems for menstrual waste were some of the key challenges faced by women and adolescent girls in relief camps or temporary shelters. Although there are disaster management guidelines on gender-sensitive and inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene response, humanitarian agencies including the state departments are yet to adopt them during the annual floods in Assam.

From rain to famine: assessing the utility of rainfall observations and seasonal forecasts to anticipate food insecurity in East Africa

East Africa experiences chronic food insecurity, with levels varying from year-to-year across the region. Given that much can be done to prevent this level of suffering before it happens, humanitarian agencies monitor early indicators of food insecurity to trigger early action. Forecasts of total seasonal rainfall are one tool used to monitor and anticipate food security outcomes. Factors beyond rainfall, such as conflict, are key determinants of whether lack of rainfall can become a problem. In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis that isolates the value of rainfall information in anticipating food security outcomes across livelihood groups in East Africa. Comparing observed rainfall and temperature with food security classifications, we quantify how much the chance of food insecurity increases when rainfall is low. Results differed dramatically among livelihood groups; pastoralists in East Africa more frequently experience food insecurity than do non-pastoralists, and 12 months of low rainfall greatly increases the chances of “crisis” and “emergency” food security in pastoralist regions. In non-pastoralist regions, the relationship with total rainfall is not as strong. Similar results were obtained for livelihood groups in Kenya and Ethiopia, with slightly differing results in Somalia. Given this, we evaluated the relevance of monitoring and forecasting seasonal total rainfall. Our quantitative results demonstrate that six months of rainfall observations can already indicate a heightened risk of food insecurity, a full six months before conditions deteriorate. Combining rainfall observations with seasonal forecasts can further change the range of possible outcomes to indicate higher or lower risk of food insecurity, but the added value of seasonal forecasts is noticeable only when they show a strong probability of below-normal rainfall.

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS AND UPTAKE OF SOLAR COOKING PROJECTS- KAKUMA REFUGEE CAMP IN KENYA

Purpose: To investigate the influence of social determinants on uptake of solar cooking projects in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
 Methodology: A cross-sectional study of 122 systematically sampled households in Kakuma Refugee Camp was done. Questionnaires were completed to collect information about social norms, family size, security and safety, education level and beneficiary participation. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings.
 Findings: All the 122 questionnaires completed by respondents had a mean age (SD) 37.8 (8.6); 85% female. Households in Kakuma mainly acquire their domestic fuel via different means within the camp such as firewood collection, purchases from local vendors or donations from aid agencies. Firewood on open fires was the modal cooking practice at 83.6%, followed by charcoal at 15.6% and solar cooking at 0.8%, while use of alternative fuels like gas, ethanol or kerosene was found to be insignificant. Adoption of solar cooking was observed to be under influence of social norms, family size and education. A greater uptake of solar cooking was noted among respondents with higher education levels and lower uptake among large families. 
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Firewood is given to refugees for domestic fuel in Kakuma Refugee Camp; however, getting adequate supplies for the sprawling camp population is getting increasingly difficult, and environmentally damaging. Solar cooking projects have been implemented as possible solutions albeit with little success. There is a need for humanitarian agencies to make refugees aware and conversant with use of the free, sustainable solar fuel to cook and cognizant of benefits of shifting from wood-based cooking to the cleaner solar cooking option. Household cooking is such a socio-culturally embedded practice in Kakuma that context-specific solar cookers that can fry, boil, and bake using ordinally cooking styles of refugees would be key to a wider-spread solar cooking uptake. In addition, there is a gap between the refugees’ preferred fuel option and their ability to pay. To get solar cooking to scale, more investment is needed and agencies should explore working with local businesses to subsidize cost of solar cookers in camps. Finally, the Kenya and the ISO standards for clean cookstoves need developing since there is a gap and the existing standards mainly focus on solid fuel, biomass or ethanol cookstoves.