This quantitative study analyzes access to basic services among refugees and host communities in Kenya’s Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei settlement—establishing the levels of access between refugees and hosts, identifying disparities between Kakuma and Kalobeyei, and modelling how much more needs to be done in terms of investments in service delivery infrastructure (important with respect to the Shirika Plan framework for integrated service delivery). The study draws on Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and World Bank–Kenya datasets. The first level of analysis examines whether access to services is related to displacement status (for refugees and hosts) or location (for refugees) based on chi-square tests of independence. The second level analyzes the extent of disparities in access, if any, using descriptive statistics. The third level focuses on the gaps and models what more can be done, using regressions. Preliminary results show that refugees were doing better on most fronts—birth notification, delivery in health facilities, school enrolment rates, water source and human waste disposal—while nationals had better access to economic opportunities, fuel for cooking and fuel for lighting. Access to services is better in Kakuma than Kalobeyei.
Mr Patrick Mutinda Muthui is a Consultant with the Poverty and Equity Team at the World Bank in Kenya and previously a National Research Coordinator for the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, as part of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) Visiting Fellowship programme, under the mentorship of Professor Naohiko Omata.