Humanitarian innovation and refugee protection

Betts, Alexander; Bloom, Louise; Omata, Naohiko

doi:10.4324/9781315756257-4

Cited by 18 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The agency achieves these objectives via partnerships with both Kenyan governmental and international nongovernmental institutions, such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Here a robust informal economy also flourishes, with more than 2300 unregulated refugee businesses offering a wide variety of goods and services that both supplement and redistribute the rations that refugees receive from humanitarian aid agencies (Betts, Bloom, & Weaver, ; Oka, ). Far‐reaching trade networks supply this economic activity, which produces several hundred thousand dollars in revenue each month (Oka, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive effects of refugee presence on host community nutritional status in Turkana County, Kenya

Gengo

Oka²,

Vemuru

et al. 2017

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives: Refugee camps are often assumed to negatively impact local host communities through resource competition and conflict. We ask instead whether economic resources and trade networks associated with refugees have benefits for host community health and nutrition. To address this question we assess the impacts of Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwest Kenya, comparing anthropometric indicators of nutritional status between Turkana communities in the region.Methods: Participants were recruited at four sites in Turkana County (N 5 586): Kakuma Town, adjacent to Kakuma Refugee Camp; Lorugum, an area with sustained economic development; Lokichoggio, formerly host to international NGOs, and now underdeveloped; and Lorengo, an undeveloped, rural community. We evaluated nutritional status using summed skinfold thickness and body mass index (BMI). Structured interviews provided contextual data.Results: Age-controlled multiple regression models reveal two distinct skinfold thickness profiles for both sexes: comparatively elevated values in Kakuma and Lorugum, and significantly lower values in Lorengo and Lokichoggio. BMI did not vary significantly by location. Despite better nutritional status, a large proportion of Kakuma residents still report worries about basic needs, including hunger, health, and economic security.Conclusions: Kakuma Refugee Camp is associated with better host community energetic status indicators, compared to other relevant, regional sites varying in development and resources. Based on global nutritional standards, observed differences likely represent meaningful disparities in overall health. We suggest that access to cereals via refugee trade networks and employment might mediate this relationship. However, perceptions of refugees as illegitimate interlopers maintain a high psychological burden.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive effects of refugee presence on host community nutritional status in Turkana County, Kenya

Gengo

Oka²,

Vemuru

et al. 2017

American J Hum Biol

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“…While current debates about innovation do not converge on one definition, much of the literature treats contributions to societal goals at least as a minimal condition for genuine innovations (e.g. UNICEF 2010; Betts, Bloom, and Omata 2012;Pansera and Martinez 2017), so that change in the context of a specific community qualifies as innovative only if it aligns with the societal goals of that community. If innovation is understood in terms of this minimal condition, economic growth and technological modernization turn out to be neither necessary nor sufficient for innovation.…”

Section: Reconceptualizing Innovation: From Modernization To Societalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional ecological knowledge in innovation governance: a framework for responsible and just innovation

Ludwig

Macnaghten

2019

Journal of Responsible Innovation

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Change in Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is not easily understood in terms of Western innovation discourses. In fact, innovations in the sense of modern and growth-oriented technologies are common sources for the erosion of TEK. This article brings together current literatures on TEK and innovation studies in addressing questions about the governance of socioecological change. First, we connect TEK to shifting meanings of 'innovation' that emphasize contributions to societal goals rather than economic growth or technological modernization. Second, we situate these shifts in governance frameworks of 'responsible innovation'. Third, we argue that the case for self-determination of traditional communities also identifies limits of integrating TEK with recent innovation discourses. As change in traditional communities is part of a wider political set of struggles about conditions of change and decolonization, debates about innovation require engagement with underlying social justice issues beyond mainstream debates about responsible governance. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…The assumed short term nature of refugee camps is unlikely to be conducive to the creation of enterprise-oriented financial institutions and functioning markets for finance (Werker, 2007). Instead, informal and poorly structured financial markets might emerge in which refugees rely on personal networks and informal financial agreements to fund their entrepreneurial ventures (Betts et al, 2013).…”

Section: Lack Of Functioning Marketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Poorly developed physical infrastructures for transport, electricity, and water (Coad and Tamvada, 2012) and lack of access to suppliers and consumer markets constrain to entrepreneurship in developing countries (Pissarides et al, 2003). In protracted refugee situations, wavering donor support may undermine confidence in the consistent provision of the physical infrastructure (Betts et al, 2013). Moreover, as explained above, access to suppliers and markets is inhibited by the physical isolation of the camp from its host communities (Werker, 2007).…”

Section: Insufficient Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the institutional and organizational barriers typically faced by entrepreneurs in resource constrained environments (Jack and Anderson, 2002), the presence of numerous small ventures in all refugee camps (e.g. Betts et al, 2013;Werker, 2007) suggests that RCEs have founds ways to overcome the institutional and organizational barriers they faced.…”

Section: Refugee Entrepreneurs Navigating the Institutional Voidmentioning

confidence: 99%

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