Dadaab

Dadaab
Ifo II camp in Dadaab.
Dadaab Location in Kenya
Coordinates: 0°03′04″N 40°18′50″E / 0.051°N 40.314°E / 0.051; 40.314Coordinates: 0°03′04″N 40°18′50″E / 0.051°N 40.314°E / 0.051; 40.314
Country	Kenya
County	Garissa County
Population (January 2016)
• Total	~256,868
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Dadaab is a semi-arid town in Garissa County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR base hosting 256,868 refugees in five camps (Dagahaley, Hagadera, Ifo, Ifo II and Kambioos) as of January 2017, making it the largest such complex in the world. The center is run by the UNHCR, and its operations are financed by foreign donors. In 2013, the governments of Kenya and Somalia signed a tripartite agreement facilitating the repatriation of refugees at the complex.

The Dadaab camps Dagahaley, Hagadera and Ifo were constructed in 1992. The more recent Ifo II and Kambioos camps were opened in 2011 after 130,000 new refugees from Somalia arrived, due to severe drought. The Ifo II camp extension was originally constructed in 2007 by the Norwegian Refugee Council, in response to major flooding that destroyed over 2,000 homes in the Ifo refugee camp. However, legal problems with the Kenyan Government prevented Ifo II from fully opening for resettlement until 2011. As of August 2015, Hagadera was the largest of the camps, containing just over 100,000 individuals and 25,000 households. Kambioos, on the other hand, is the smallest camp with fewer than 20,000 refugees.

Ifo camp was first settled by refugees from the civil war in Somalia. The UNHCR subsequently made efforts to improve the premises. As the population of the camps in Dadaab grew, UNHCR commissioned the German architect Werner Schellenberg to draw the original design for Dagahaley Camp, as well as the Swedish architect Per Iwansson, who designed and initiated the establishment of Hagadera camp.

People first began arriving at the Dadaab complex shortly after its construction in 1992, with most escaping the civil conflict in Somalia. When refugees arrive at the camp, they are registered and fingerprinted by the Kenyan government. However, the camps themselves are managed by the UNHCR, with other organizations directly in charge of specific aspects of the resident' lives. CARE oversees social services and the World Food Programme (WFP) distributes rations. Until 2003, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provided refugees with access to health-care. Now, healthcare is being provided by German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ). Although refugees arriving at Dadaab receive assistance from each of these organizations, aid is often not immediate due to overcrowding. Other relief organizations, such as the Red Cross, also provide assistance. Specifically, the Red Cross provides refugees in the Ifo II camp access to health services, sanitation, and clean water. In an attempt to prevent the spread of disease, they also installed 8,000 latrines in the camp, as well as hand washing stations in schools.