From Kakuma: Refugee-Led Organizations Are Holding the System Together

Why refugee-led organizations are essential for sustainable humanitarian response

Humanitarian cuts are not abstract numbers in Kakuma they are empty classrooms, hungry children, and exhausted families. And when support disappears, someone must step in.

That someone is often refugee-led organizations.

 I live and work in Kakuma Refugee Camp, where humanitarian cuts are no longer statistics, they are very real lives disrupted every day. Schools have fewer teachers, classrooms are empty, and children who once had hope now face the risk of dropping out. Families go hungry because food rations are reduced, and basic services like healthcare, psychosocial support, and protection programs are overstretched. When these gaps appear, the question in the community is always the same: who will step in? Most of the time, the answer is Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs).

We are refugees ourselves. We do this work not because it is funded, but because it is necessary. We understand the needs because we live with them. Every day, we work to re-enroll children who have dropped out of school, provide psychosocial support to youth carrying trauma, and respond to protection concerns long after project timelines end. While large agencies rotate staff, close programs, or leave the camp when funding dries up, we remain because this is our home, and our communities depend on us.

Yet sustainability remains our biggest struggle. The humanitarian system depends on our access, our trust, and our lived experience but rarely invests in our survival. Most funding flows through UN agencies or international NGOs, while refugee-led organizations are treated as temporary helpers. We are asked to mobilize communities, collect data, and deliver outreach, often without contracts, salaries, or long-term support. This is not partnership; it is extraction.

Even when international actors recognize the value of refugee-led organizations, structural barriers prevent meaningful support. Funding is often short-term and project-specific, making long-term planning impossible. Capacity-building programs exist in theory, but without resources and genuine authority, building capacity becomes almost impossible. Sustainability cannot exist without power, and power cannot exist without trust, autonomy, and direct funding.

Despite repeated commitments to localization, refugee-led organizations are still locked out of decision-making spaces. We are consulted after priorities are set, invited once budgets are already allocated, and expected to “build capacity” without the tools or resources necessary

to do so effectively. This imbalance keeps us dependent on systems that were never designed to support us. It also perpetuates a cycle in which international agencies benefit from our labor without genuinely strengthening our organizations.

In Kakuma, the impact of this imbalance is visible every day. Food rations have been reduced to historic lows. Healthcare and education services struggle to reach everyone in need. Social support programs are cut back, leaving vulnerable children, youth, and families at risk. Amid all of this, refugee-led organizations are holding the system together. We provide volunteer labor, emotional support, community guidance, and practical services that keep life moving in the camp. But goodwill is not a strategy. Communities cannot rely forever on unpaid work and emergency responses. If refugee-led organizations collapse, the humanitarian system collapses with them.

A real humanitarian reset must be structural, not symbolic. It must include direct and flexible funding for RLOs, multi-year support that allows organizations to plan and grow, and genuine inclusion in coordination and leadership spaces. Refugee-led organizations are not a risk to manage they are a solution to sustain. They are uniquely positioned to respond quickly, efficiently, and with accountability to affected populations because we live among them.

Sustainability requires more than just recognition. It requires power, investment, and a shift in mindset. Donors and humanitarian actors must see refugee-led organizations as equal partners in designing, implementing, and evaluating programs not as volunteers filling gaps left by international agencies. Direct funding allows us to retain staff, plan for long-term projects, and ensure the continuity of programs that communities rely on. Without this support, our work will always be fragile, and the people we serve will continue to face instability.

From Kakuma, I say this clearly: investing in refugee-led organizations is not charity or generosity. It is accountability. It is sustainability. And it is the only way a humanitarian system can truly serve the people it claims to support. We are not just helping communities survive we are building the foundation for stronger, self-reliant, and resilient communities.

Our work proves that refugee-led organizations are not temporary actors they are essential. They are the bridge between global funding mechanisms and the real needs on the ground. Supporting RLOs is not just a moral obligation; it is practical, effective, and necessary. If humanitarian systems want to endure and truly serve the displaced, they must invest in us. We are here. We are capable. And with the right support, we can sustain the communities that depend on us.

 By Ajabna Hassan Kuku,

Executive Director,

Voice for Equity,

Kakuma Refugee Camp