Council of Governors Chairman and Governor of Turkana County H.E Josphat Nanok has urged global players to support an integrated and sustainable approach to refugee and host community settlements development. While speaking at the 9th World Urban Forum, the Governor noted that the new approach currently being implemented in Kalobeyei area in Turkana County, will minimize environmental degradation, create livelihood opportunities, improve access to social services and enhance social cohesion among the refugee and host communities while transforming refugee camps into sustainable human settlements. Kalobeyei settlement has been designed to accommodate over 80,000 refugees and is expected to have adequate infrastructure and services that support both refugee and host populations. “Infrastructure planning is completed and the County Government is contemplating classifying kakuma-kalobeyei area as a municipality. We are facing water challenges in Kalobeyei but we are exploring several options for water sources for the settlement” added the Governor. This year’s World Urban Forum took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This year’s theme “Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda” aims to resonate to the realisation of the vision of cities in the year 2030, embedded in the Sustainable Development Goal 11, where no one should be left behind from the urban advantages and opportunities.
County Governors, led by the Chairman sat with heads of states, high-level national and sub-national government representatives at the same table with representatives of the civil society, experts and the private sector, to discuss policies and actions, synergies and innovative solutions for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, and to review and exchange mechanisms for its effective scale up.