10024964-Sustainable Economic Opportunities for Youth in Turkana West and Lokichoggio

Kenya hosts over 830,000 refugees and asylum seekers (UNHCR, December 2025), with 36% living in Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei settlements of Turkana West sub-county. Poverty affects 72% of the sub-county"s hosting community of around 240,000 people and 58% of the refugee population (KNBS, 2022) The youth, especially young women and refugees in protracted displacement situation, face significant barriers to acquiring skills, income, and economic self-reliance, resulting in strong dependency on humanitarian aid and other support services. The project Promoting Employability and Entrepreneurship in Turkana West and Lokichoggio (ProSEET) pursues the objective to strengthen the socio-economic self-reliance of youth in the refugee and host communities. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) follows an integrated approach to sustainable employment in Turkana West. ProSEET project cooperates with local training institutions, business skills training providers, business associations, and local authorities at a structural level. In its three fields of action, ProSEET takes a holistic approach to employment promotion and simultaneously addresses multiple barriers to employment and economic participation affecting both the refugee and hosting communities: Action Area 1 improves the conditions for socio-economic self-reliance of youth in the refugee and host communities, by sharing labor market information through listening groups, game shows, mobile counselling services and digital campaigns. These activities also cover remote areas of the sub-county providing access to information. Action Area 2 addresses access to employment-oriented skills training for youth by strengthening the capacities of local trainers and institutions, introducing new qualifications, and offering technical and entrepreneurial courses. Action Area 3 focuses on building the capacities of local government and private-sector stakeholders to expand their business-related services and provide target-group-specific support for microentrepreneurs, aiming to boost MSME competitiveness, incomes, and create jobs. Activities include public-private dialogues, financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills trainings for micro and small enterprises, promotion of loan and saving groups (especially among women-headed households) and supporting start-ups through business incubation, mentorship, and grants.