Sikika

"Personally, Sikika means three words to me: love, hope and family. For love, I feel like Sikika brings about the acts of love in sharing and informing the people here in Kakuma about their rights and about things that affect them. Hope: Sikika is actually like a bridge or a step towards achieving my dreams in life. And family: Sikika is all about family. We help each other as a family."

- Nira Ismail, Content Generator

The project in brief

The project is implemented by DW (Deutsche Welle) Akademie in Kenya. It began in 2019 and is currently ongoing.

Sikika aims to improve access to information and opportunities for participation for people affected by displacement, including refugees and host communities. Improved communication leads to better service delivery and increased accountability to affected populations.

A team of local content generators in Kakuma refugee camp produces audio content in relevant languages for communities. The content is shared with listener groups. The groups provide feedback on the program and on humanitarian services. The feedback is shared with humanitarians. Their responses are shared with the communities.

Elements which helped facilitate the implementation of the project include that the project was designed based on a qualitative and quantitative information needs assessment. As DW Akademie we are experts in communication. Our local partner FilmAid Kenya has many years of experience working in Kakuma and already enjoyed the communities' trust when the project started.

Main activities of the Good Practice

DW Akademie continuously trains a multi-ethnic team of community members (both refugees and members of the host community) to be communicators. They produce audio content. The content is distributed to trained listener groups. Feedback is continuously shared with humanitarians.

Partners involved

• FilmAid Kenya

What challenges were encountered in delivering the project and how were they overcome?

Challenges

Communication hierarchies of humanitarian organizations made it difficult for refugees to get information from humanitarian actors. Often, workers in Kakuma had to get permission from Nairobi or even global HQ to talk.

How they were overcome

Years of working with the community, producing quality content and networking with organizations in Kakuma have built a basis of trust, so that content generators can directly communicate with experts of UNHCR and its partners working in the camp.

"There are so many stories to tell. Kakuma is a universe of stories. One day I'll write a book with this title."

- Sudi Omar Noor, Content Generator

Results of the Good Practice

It has become much easier for refugees to be well-informed in Kakuma. It has become easier for humanitarians to receive feedback on their services. And two-way communication between all stakeholders has improved.

In what way does the good practice meet one or more of the four objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees?

Objective 1: Ease the pressures on host countries

Sikika improved communication between refugees and host communities. For example, the project organized community dialogue events, in which community members discussed mutual challenges related to climate change and deforestation.

Objective 2: Enhance refugee self-reliance

As an audio programs created by refugees for refugees, Sikika shares good practices for refugee self-reliance that work in the local context. In the coming years, it is planned to develop the project itself into a community-based organization.

Objective 3: Expand access to third-country solutions

Sikika provides information on third-country solutions like resettlement and complementary pathways and facilitates discussions, which provide feedback on issues and concerns facing communities in Kakuma.

Next steps

As a next step, it is planned to develop Sikika into a registered, community-based organization managed by people affected by displacement.

Are there areas in which support would be required to continue and/or scale up your good practice?

Sikika is working well, although funding is tight. With more support, we would like scale up our efforts and adapt the model to other locations.