Thousands of refugees in Kalobeyei camp, who have been living in temporary structures for years, are set to be moved to permanent structures by the end of this year.
This follows a partnership between UN Habitat and United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to put up 2,000 permanent houses at the refugee camp in Turkana West.
Mr Sukru Cansizoglu, UNHCR head of Kenya office said the refugees will be allowed to choose the type of house they prefer as well as have access to the funds to buy building materials.
“We intend to complete the houses by the end of this year. The houses will also have individual latrines as opposed to communal ones currently existing,” said Mr Cansizoglu.
Kalobeyei refugee camp has 38, 122 refugees and is divided into three villages: Village 1, 2 and 3. It is estimated that the 2, 000 housing units will host about 8, 000 people.
Construction of the houses is already underway in Village 1.
UN Habitat programme manager Ms Yuka Terada said the project will be implemented through a cash-based initiative.
“The shelter programme is one of the ways of improving the lives of the refugees and is also set to benefit the host community,” said Ms Terada.
UN Habitat programme associate David Kitenge said the entire project aims to build 8,000 houses by 2025 to integrate refuges with the host community.
Mr Kitenge said the UN agency will also build houses for the Turkana people who border the camp, with the funding set to come mostly from Japanese government.
“In 2016, when we started the settlement we had to construct temporary shelters because there were so many refugees who were coming in,” said Mr Kitenge.
The project will be built in three phases, each taking four years.
“We are working with UNHCR and the Turkana County government. It is the idea of the governor, Mr Josphat Nanok, not to have many temporary shelters here as the settlement should be a sustainable one,” he said.
The project comes at a time when the UN refugee agency has partnered with the world famous architect Mr Shigeru Ban to come up with suitable model that will be used in the large-scale construction.
Mr Ban working with his protégé French architect, Mr Phillipe Monteil, has already designed five house models for the refugees to choose from.
The most popular model is the one that consists of a wooden frame and burnt brick.
“This model does not need skilled people to put up. It is economically cheaper as the bricks can be made locally at the camp,” said Mr Ban.