Lodwar – November 22, 2025 (Public Communication and Media Relations)

The recently appointed directors serving the Kalobeyei Intergrated Socio-Economic Plan (KISEDP) have undergone an induction aimed at strengthening their capacity to implement the program’s mandate.

Facilitated by the county government in collaboration with UNHCR, and the Department of Refugee Services (DRS), this exercise brought together chief officers and directors with whom the KISEDP implementing team are expected to work with as technical support.

In his opening remarks, the County Secretary, Dr Richard Ekai acknowledged the KISEDP program had eight sector working groups including Health, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Environment and Energy, Education-Social Protection, Trade and Financial Inclusion, urging the stakeholders to work collaboratively in order to realize positive results.

“The County Government has done its part in appointing the directors and we therefore expect results. This induction is the first step towards attaining that goal. All inductees are required to treat this induction with the seriousness it deserves,” the CS said.

Dr Ekai also made reference to the legal provisions of Article 10 and 232 and reminded the team why they should make reference to the laws in all their undertakings.

Noting that the session was designed to familiarize the officials with the operational frameworks of UNHCR, the Department of Refugee Services (DRS) and other partners, the CS lauded the inclusion of County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) awareness creation on the program.

The KISEDP program is currently on its second phase running from 2023-2027, following the successful conclusion of the first phase between 2018 and 2022.

The KISEDP Co-ordinator Peter Yoromoe briefed the team on shared goals of KISEDP and the Shirika plan, saying that the aim is to ensure that host and refugee communities were served sustainably.

“The ultimate goal is to shift from donor and aid dependency to lasting socio-economic freedom. Your role as KISDEP directors is to assist the county government and UNHCR in attaining that goal,” Yoromoe said.

Director for partnerships Michael Aupe described the induction as crucial in aligning the officers with systems, expectations and coordination mechanism of the program.

He also briefed the team on the role of the County Steering Group, a county and partners platform for coordinating humanitarian assistance, partners support and government interventions.

Coming at a time when the Country is transitioning to the Shirika plan as a more comprehensive intervention to drive host-refugee integration, the inductees are expected to come up with programs to drive the integration agenda forward.