Towards Inclusive Urban Health Systems and Infrastructure: A Comparative Assessment of Access to Healthcare, Shelter, and Vital Infrastructure among Urban Refugees in Nairobi and Kampala

Although 60% of refugees and asylum-seekers now live in cities rather than refugee camps, studies rarely consider the challenges they face in accessing healthcare, shelter, and infrastructure. Through a comparative analysis of Kampala and Nairobi, the proposed project will examine how urban refugees access healthcare, shelter, and infrastructure, while also exploring any shared challenges with residents of informal settlements who host refugee populations. This project will create South-South learning opportunities, and lessons for other cities facing strains upon healthcare or infrastructure provision to populations driven into the urban space following humanitarian crises elsewhere.

This study is expected to inform nuanced interventions and future collaborations between public health and city planning officials; civil society; and humanitarian agencies. Its findings will encourage farsighted, inclusive responses that may better address urban refugees as a result of humanitarian crises, with potential benefits for both refugees and low-income host populations.