Kenya: 'My Biggest Fear Is Starting From Square One'

NORCAP policy expert Cate Osborn warns that long-term programmes for displaced people has to continue through the pandemic.

«Pre-covid I did a lot of travel in the region. I would engage in big coordination meetings, give presentations on behalf of ReDSS and our members and support regional policy processes. Now everything has moved online", says Cate Osborn from her home office in Nairobi, Kenya.

As a NORCAP expert Cate has been working with the Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat (ReDSS) - a coalition of 14 organisations that aims to support durable solutions for displacement-affected communities in East Africa and the Horn of Africa.

Durable solutions

A durable solution is achieved when the displaced no longer have any specific assistance and protection needs that are linked to their displacement, and can enjoy their human rights without discrimination on account of their displacement. It can be achieved through return, local integration and resettlement (IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for IDPs).

Global refugee forum in Geneva

Osborn was engaged by ReDSS to support civil society engagement in the preparations for the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) held December 2019 in Geneva. In 2020 she was supporting the development of new policies and follow-up on the pledges made in the Forum.

"The forum itself was one of the highlights of my work. I think ReDSS played a critical role in creating a common agenda going forward", says Osborn.

ReDSS worked closely with governments, UNHCR and a wide range of humanitarian and development partners to ensure that learning from the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework would inform both the pledges to be announced by governments but also donors and humanitarian and development partners.

With the global pandemic everything about the way she worked changed.

"I go into the office once or twice per week, but it is very strict to get access. It is such a luxury these days to have uninterrupted work time away from my children" she smiles.

Her two nine-year old twin boys had been home since March when the schools in Kenya closed.

Read the original article on Norwegian Refugee Council.