The Garissa County government has said they it partner with non-governmental organization operating in the area in order to enhance development in the county, Deputy Governor, Abdi Dagane has said.
Speaking on Saturday when he met with Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Country Director (CD), Neil Turner said the county government has formed NGO coordination board that will take care of all activities of donors in the county.
Abdi said as the number of refugees dwindle following tripartite agreement between Kenya, United Nation High Commission for Refugees and the Somalia government, many youth who depended on refugee’s presence will be left desolate and idle.
“We are witnessing a reduction in the number of local NGOs closing their operations due to the falling number of refugees at the vast Dadaab camps. This translates to lose of jobs for our youth,” Dagane said.
“As a government, we are aware of the dangers posed by this scenario and that is why we came up with the NGO coordination board to look at all the challenges brought about by the intended closure of the refugee camps in Dadaab,” he added.
On the environment, Dagane said the over 500,000 refugees have over the past two decades caused enormous environmental destruction through felling of trees for firewood and building houses, and that it would take years for the host community to restore.
“The environmental destruction has also caused climate change. All actors must come forward to ensure we restore what has been done by refugees to our environment,” he said.
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