Nairobi, Kenya: The City of Choice 

In 2022, the City of Nairobi, Kenya, was selected as a grantee of the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees (GCF), the MMC’s instrument to channel international funding directly to cities to implement inclusive projects of their own design. 

With support from the GCF, the City of Nairobi established its first-ever CHOICE Innovation Center, a one-stop shop for youth employment and entrepreneurship. The center is advancing Nairobi’s inclusive and just green transition by training over 100 youth in green job readiness and incubating start-ups that will improve Nairobi’s waterways and raise awareness about climate mitigation.

Kenya is home to more than 600,000 refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless people, nearly 100,000 of whom live in Nairobi. Nairobi’s migrant communities often live in insecure conditions and lack access to basic services and dignified, formal employment. These challenges grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, as lockdowns curtailed the informal economy and slowed remittances. 

Simultaneously, climate change and environmental degradation continue to threaten refugees, many of whom live in low-income informal neighborhoods. Not only are climate disasters a key driver of human mobility to Nairobi, but the city has also struggled with water pollution, flooding, and other environmental challenges. 

The City of Nairobi, in partnership with the local organization Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (KARA), used the GCF to improve access to employment for migrants and other marginalized members of the community while supporting the local green economy, promoting inclusive climate action, and improving the city’s public spaces and waterways. 

The City of Choice project team worked alongside refugee-led organizations like Relon and L’Africana to survey migrants and internally displaced people about their skills and employment needs. Using the insights from this survey, Nairobi established its first-ever CHOICE Innovation Hub, a one-stop shop for youth employment and entrepreneurship. Located in the city’s Central Business District, the center trained over 100 youth on green job readiness and incubated 10 green start-ups. These businesses will clean the Nairobi River, introduce environmentally friendly production methods, and raise awareness on climate mitigative behavior through youth-friendly platforms, such as social media, radio, and television.

As a result of the City of Choice project, Nairobi is providing migrants with access to sustainable, green employment; improving its public spaces and waterways; and strengthening its commitment to a just and inclusive green transition. 

In partnership with the Kenyan Alliance of Residents Association and led by the Safer Nairobi Initiative, the project delivered livelihood training to 100 youth interested in green jobs in the creative sector, including migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people. Trainees and other young entrepreneurs have access to the CHOICE Innovation Centre’s audiovisual equipment and studios, and the project has connected 40 trainees with employment opportunities.  The CHOICE Innovation Center is also incubating ten sustainability-oriented start-ups, ranging from a woman-owned farm-to-table restaurant to a tree nursery now employing 15 migrants and refugees. Six of these start-ups are generating revenue, and 80 percent of their members are migrants and refugees. Through these services, Nairobi is not only creating crucial income-generating opportunities, but also fostering a sense of belonging and welcome for its migrant population. 

The City of Choice project has also deepened relationships between Nairobi and its migrant community. To date, the city has engaged more than 2,800 Nairobi residents, including migrants, through community events focused on climate change awareness and mitigation. In addition, the project was able to hire refugee researchers to conduct a baseline survey about the city’s migrant population and contributed to the formation of a Nairobi refugee-led consortium. These new linkages build trust between migrants and the city government and help ensure migrants’ voices and needs are reflected in local migration governance. 

The city’s initial investment in this project is helping spur further commitments to inclusive climate action. For example, Governor Arthur Sakaja has appointed Nairobi City County’s first-ever Chief Officer for Social Services and Refugee Affairs, with the mandate to improve socioeconomic programming for displaced communities. The City of Choice project’s goals are also reflected in the ongoing work of Nairobi’s River Commission, which plans to create an inclusive green jobs corridor along the city’s riverfront. 

These successes will prove instrumental as the Kenyan Government and the UN Refugee Agency roll out the SHIRIKA plan, Kenya’s pioneering approach to transforming its refugee camps into integrated settlements and supporting the socioeconomic inclusion of refugees and receiving communities in cities, including Nairobi.

Building on the success of Nairobi’s GCF project, the city government is seeking international support to realize the following priorities in support of Nairobi’s migrant and displaced communities:

1. Strengthen the economic inclusion of migrants, refugees, and marginalized receiving community members, particularly within the green economy. Nairobi is seeking financial support to A) scale and replicate its CHOICE Innovation Center; and B) build new market stalls and modern kiosks to promote safe and regular commerce among migrant and refugee entrepreneurs.
2. Institutionalize social protections for migrants and refugees within Nairobi City County Government. Nairobi is seeking financial and technical support to A) introduce new city-run social protection service centers managed to serve as safe and accessible sites for refugee registration, work authorization, and residency permits; and B) increase awareness of and access to city-led services for migrants and refugees. 
3. Serve as an exemplar of inclusive climate action, extending economic and social services to climate migrants while mitigating the effects of climate change on marginalized and newly arrived residents.  Nairobi is seeking financial support to engage migrants, refugees, and communities at risk of climate displacement in designing and driving climate-resilient improvements to the city’s at-risk public spaces, including the riverfront and within low-income informal neighborhoods.