Years of Commitment and Progress
For over twenty years, we have led efforts to protect and promote the well-being, voice, and dignity of displaced populations and their host communities, ensuring their rights are respected and their needs are met.
Discover Our Journey: Explore the milestones that shaped our impact:
Since our inception, RCK has evolved significantly while maintaining our core mission. We have:
Influenced government policies, partners, and donors to invest in changing social attitudes and norms.
Worked tirelessly to shape public opinion with the aim of protecting and promoting the well-being, voice, and dignity of those seeking refuge.
Built strong partnerships with the Government of Kenya at all levels.
Established robust systems and earned the trust of the communities we serve.
Milestones
1998(Incubation)
Ideation, Foundation and Vision: Responding to crisis through expertise
Ideation of the founders led to the establishment of a consortium of expertise in 1998, responding to the
aftermath of the fall of Siad Barre in 1991 and the Rwanda genocide of 1994.
2000
Registered to address Refugee crisis
The Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) was founded to respond to an increasingly complex and deteriorating refugee situation in Kenya and the East African region with its office based in Nairobi.
It focused on addressing the protection needs of forced migrants through legal aid, psychosocial
counselling and advocacy.
2009
Dadaab Office Legal Advocacy Partner
Our Dadaab office became the UNHCR implementing partner for legal protection and advocacy with offices situated in four areas to date: Ifo camp, Dagahaley camp, Hagadera camp and Dadaab main office.
2010
Kakuma Office Legal Advocacy Partner
Our Kakuma office became the UNHCR implementing partner for legal protection and advocacy.
2010
Launched Refugee Tracing project
We made a major stride by developing a first of its kind innovative project intervention in Kenya dubbed the Refugee Tracing Project.
The project integrated technology to help refugees reconnect directly with missing loved ones through a safe, secure internet search tool that allowed for full anonymity and was free of charge.
The first phase of the project (June 2010-May 2011) saw a total of 32,146 refugees registering in the Refugee United (RU) platform.
2011
Drafted IDP Protection Bill
A Parliamentary Select Committee on the Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (PSC) was established in March to examine the Government’s interventions with regard to IDPs and to make recommendations on the same. One of these recommendations was to develop a legal framework for the protection of IDPs.
The PSC initiated the drafting of an IDP Bill to this effect and RCK, together with the Protection Working Group on Internal Displacement (PWGID), collaborated with the PSC to ensure that the draft bill substantively domesticated international instruments on internal displacement. The draft bill has since been passed into law (IDPs Act, 2012).
2012
Urban Refugee Advocacy Success
On 18th December, 2012, the Government of Kenya through the Department of Refugee Affairs issued a directive on relocation of all urban refugees to the respective camps and that refugee agencies should stop providing assistance to refugees living in urban areas.
As challenging and unprecedented as the directive was to the protection needs for refugees, it provided RCK with an advocacy opportunity in ensuring that the rights of refugees and asylum seekers are safeguarded.
RCK was instrumental in providing legal and technical assistance to Kituo Cha Sheria in successfully initiating a court proceeding against the Government regarding the relocation directive. The directive was quashed by the High Court which declared it unconstitutional.
2013
Garissa Office Legal Advocacy Partner
We established the Garissa office as the UNHCR’s implementing partner for legal protection and advocacy to refugees and asylum seekers arrested while in transit and charged at the Garissa Law Courts.
2014
Regional Forced Migration Course
We conducted the first ever Annual Regional Course on Forced Migration. This was held at the Kenya School of Government, Nairobi. The course attracted high level participation from Kenya and the region.
A total of 63 practitioners in the forced migration sector in the region, including government officials, civil society organizations, academicians, among others, attended the course.
2018
Strategic County Government Engagement
We rolled out targeted and strategic engagement with the County Governments beginning with the County Assembly of Turkana through a letter of agreement.
This is to strengthen effective citizen participation, including the displaced populations, in Turkana County with regard to legislation and policy making.
2021
Participatory Legislative processes supported
We supported the County Assembly of Turkana in undertaking exhaustive public participatory approaches in legislation making.
Diverse views, including those of the displaced populations, were consolidated and formed part of the reports discussed and approved by the Assembly.
This resulted into several significant Bills passed into laws including the Finance Act, Village Administration Act, and the Climate Change Act.
2021
Advocated for Refugees Act 2021
We successfully advocated the passage of the Refugees Bill 2019, now the Refugees Act 2021, into law on 17th November, 2021.
The law, among others, proposes changes in the legal protection regime as well as the structure of accessing registration, and promotes socio-economic inclusion of forced migrants.
We are glad to highlight the key developments during the process as captured below:
2021
Legal Environment Enhancement recognized
We were proud recipient of the Law Society of Kenya’s award recognizing efforts of various institutions and organizations in enhancing the legal environment. We were ranked 1st Runner Up In-House Corporate Department of the year.
2022
GBV Response Center established
With support from the UN Women, we set up a modern one-stop Gender Based Violence (GBV) response center at the Dadaab Sub-County Hospital to enable Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) survivors acquire urgent assistance.
The center offers multi-sectoral support in the form of medical, legal, and psychosocial support for SGBV survivors.
2022
Border Monitoring data tool developed
We worked with the UNHCR Dadaab to develop a border monitoring data collection tool hosted on our border monitors office smart phones. The tool has helped improve timely, traceable and effective data collection along the migration corridors, and provide first-rate analysis.
It is hailed as a significant component of international protection for identifying the triggers and trends of migration, protection issues, and number of arrivals and spontaneous returnees within the camps. The data collection tool has been considered as a best practice to be adopted in other countries that have UNHCR operations.
2022
Recognized by Law Society of Kenya
We received an award as the 1st Runner Up Civil Society (Justice and Legal Affairs) Organization of the year, from the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
2023
Best Civil Society Organization
We were ranked as the best Civil Society Organization of the Year (Justice and Legal Affairs) by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
2023
Launch of Strategic Plan 2023
The Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) proudly unveils its Strategic Plan for 2023-2027, marking a pivotal moment in our commitment to refugee support and advocacy. This comprehensive plan outlines our vision and objectives for the next five years, focusing on empowering refugees, fostering integration, and promoting sustainable solutions.
2023
2024 Mombasa field office
RCK through HIAS support launched an office, affirming our presence and expanding our reach to Mombasa, bringing vital support services closer to urban refugee communities in the coastal region. This strategic presence allows us to provide more localized assistance, improve access to legal aid, and enhance our advocacy efforts in the coastal part of Kenya.