Following the Westgate terrorist attack in Nairobi on 21 September 2013, asylum space in urban areas has been considerably reduced. The Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) discontinued the registration of new arrivals in Nairobi and other urban centres, and froze the issuance of new refugee certificates. As a result, protection risks faced by the refugees have grown. PANET Kenya together with other partners especially primary schools in slum areas is initiating interventions that integrate climate resilience and livelihoods for urban refugees in Kawangware and Kayole slums in Kenya.

An estimated 83,000 refugees and asylum seekers live in Kenya’s urban areas especially in informal slums. The majority live in the capital of Nairobi’s slums situated in Kawangware, Mathare, Kibera, Kayole and Mukuru. Refugees living in cities often have access to fewer protections than refugees living in camps. They often fall through the cracks of complex referral networks. The result is that their needs go unmet.