Protection
Voluntary Return to Somalia
A cross-border meeting on Voluntary Repatriation to Somalia was held on 26th August. During the meeting, it was observed that the way stations in Dobley and Mogadishu had been expanded and can now accommodate 250 and 300 individuals respectively.
During the second half of August, 296 returnees were assisted with return support package and arrived safely in their respective destinations. In total, 3,634 Somali refugees returned home since 8th December 2014, when UNHCR started supporting voluntary return of Somali refugees in Kenya.
Ration Card Exchange
- The Ration Card Exchange exercise that started on 15th August was concluded on 21st August. During the exercise, a total of 76,586 ration cards were changed out of 78,599 households with valid ration cards and 83,061 active households. 97% of the valid ration cards were exchanged. A food ration card can be used for up to 34 food distributions and therefore needs to be exchanged after 17 months.
Training camp journalists
- On 28th August, Radio Gargaar organized a two days training for 25 camps based refugee journalists in Dadaab on humanitarian response reporting. The journalists were trained on humanitarian reporting, role of media in humanitarian operations, identifying audience and their information needs as well as on ethics and code of conduct for humanitarian journalism. UNHCR contributed to the training with a session on refugee rights and UNHCR’s protection mandate.
Three local FM radios are broadcasting in the area of Dadaab refugee camps. Working with various media channels, the newly trained refugee journalists will be playing a critical role in sharing information inside the camps and communicating refugees’ voices to the wider audience outside Dadaab.