UN launches new initiative for Africa's refugee crises

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Kenya on Thursday launched a new initiative dubbed the “Luquluqu” campaign to garner financial support for refugees in Africa in the wake of diminishing donor funds.

The new initiative is aimed at raising funds towards the support of refugees in six African countries -- Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal -- Yvonne Ndege UNHCR spokesman told Anadolu Agency.

“There are nearly 500,000 refugees in Kenya mainly from Somalia and South Sudan. What we launched today was basically a new approach [...] a home-grown solution.

"Traditionally refugee issues have been handled [...] by donor countries like the United States and today we launched a campaign called Luquluqu which basically calls on Kenyans and people across the continent to take the refugee crisis and the refugee problems as their own and help raise funds for them.”

Of the 500,000 refugees who are in Kenya, 78 percent are women and children while 57 percent are under 18 years of age.

Increased displacement crises across the world have led to a drop in earmarked funding for Africa thus leading to the call for Africans to stand up and help their own.

Luquluqu is a word coined by the United Nations that encompasses the spirit of the African philosophy of sharing or “Ubuntu” also “Ujamaa” which is the notion of sharing resources and caring for one another, according to the UNHCR.