Empowerment of Urban Refugee Youths in Nairobi County, Kenya: A Socio-Economic Perspective

Abstract

The ever-increasing rate of urbanization has led to a surge in the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the urban areas in the twenty first century. Much is not known whether these individuals can become self-empowered in coming years and avoid overreliance on humanitarian aid initiated through different projects. This study sought to establish the influence of socio-economic factors on empowerment of urban refugee youths in Nairobi County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to examine the influence of human capital development and financial capital development factors on empowerment of urban refugee youths. The study was grounded on the Empowerment and Assimilation theories. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The study’s target population was 2972 urban refugee youths aged between 18-26 years who were registered by UNHCR and RAS and lived in Nairobi County. The study’s sample size was 297. The study adopted proportionate stratified sampling techniques. Quantitative data was collected by use of research questionnaires and the data was coded by Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). The statistical tools of analysis used for descriptive data were arithmetic mean and standard deviation, with the variables attaining a composite mean ranging between 4.03 and 3.72 and standard deviation ranging between 0.966 and 1.127. The statistical tools of analysis used for inferential statistics was Pearson Correlation Coefficient, with the variables attaining a strong positive correlation ranging between 0.896 and 0.868. The study concluded that human capital development and financial capital development factors influence empowerment of urban refugee youths in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study recommended support organizations to engage more professionals to equip urban refugee youths with more relevant and numerous skills that will develop their human capital as well as increase funds that support urban refugee youths in starting their businesses in order for them to achieve financial capital development.