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An estimated 5,000 girls living in Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps have benefited from the menstrual hygiene programme from a US-based humanitarian agency which has distributed over 500,000 sanitary pads in both camps for the last five years.

The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) which has been championing for refugee rights in East Africa over the period said the Keep Girls Dreaming Initiative is part of its programmes in the education and health sector targeting child refugees.

With an estimated budget of $250,000 (Sh33 million) for 2024, USCRI is seeking to expand the programme to Nairobi, noting that the city is becoming an increasingly important destination for refugees in Kenya but lacking the necessary infrastructure to absorb refugee children in its community at large.

Additionally, the agency revealed that it will be advocating for the transition of refugee camps to settlements as proposed in the Shirika Plan to be implemented by the government later this year.

USCRI is also pushing for economic and social integration of refugee populations in Kenya, stateless refugees born in Kenya to be offered citizenship, as well as the freedom of movement and right to work for refugees, as has been implemented in other East African countries.