I am a Community Development Specialist with a passion for Social Work spanning to nearly 7 years under various capacities. I hold a Masters Degree in Project Planning and Management (Second Class Honours, upper division) from the University of Nairobi that I attained in 2020. I also hold three accredited certificates in Global Humanitarian Operations (60 credit hours) from Oxford Brookes University in England that I got in 2016. I also possess a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Community Development-Integrated (3.33/4.0 GPA) from Daystar University that I attained in 2014. I have had the privilege of serving the most vulnerable persons in the community such as refugees, Persons Living with Disability and the elderly in my line of work with several International NGOs that I have worked for such as World Vision Kenya, Save the Children International Kenya/East Africa, Lutheran World Federation Kenya/Somalia and LVCT Health Kenya. I am currently working as a Procurement Assistant at Windle International Kenya since August 2018 and I assist the organization to provide Tertiary Education, Secondary Education, Primary Education, Teacher Training and above all Education Scholarships targeting school-going refugees who live in Dadaab and Kakuma Refugee Camps as well as in urban areas in Kenya. I love listening to music and cooking chapatis among other various Kenyan delicacies.
Topic: Influence of Socio-Economic Factors on Empowerment of Urban Refugee Youths in Nairobi County, Kenya
Summary: The ever-increasing rate of urbanization has led to a surge of refugees and asylum seekers in the urban areas in the twenty-first century. Although there are well-wishers who ensure that rights of refugees living in urban areas across the globe including Kenya are protected and that they easily access their basic needs, much is not known whether these individuals can become self-empowered in coming years and avoid overreliance on humanitarian aid initiated through different projects. My study embarked to establish the influence of socio-economic factors on empowerment of urban refugee youths in Nairobi County, Kenya. Descriptive Survey Design is what this study confided itself on. The research targeted 2972 urban refugee youths aged between 18-36 years and had to be registered by UNHCR and Refugee Affairs Secretariat in Nairobi County. 297 respondents represented the sample size during the study and were selected through proportionate stratified sampling. Furthermore, quantitative and qualitative data was collected by use of research questionnaires. The data was analyzed by both descriptive analysis and inferential analysis so as to determine the extent to which the variables were related. The study’s key findings indicated that human, financial, social capital development as well as advocacy support positively influenced empowerment of urban refugee youths in Nairobi County and they all yielded strong positive Pearson Correlation Coefficients of r=0.896; r=0.868; r=0.787 and r=0.912 respectively. Overall, composite mean and standard deviations that were yielded by the four objectives were M=4.03; SD=0.966; M=3.72; SD=1.127; M=3.18; SD=1.050 and M=3.97; SD=.0997 respectively.
