Kakuma camp to host first TEDx event for refugees

On June 9, Kakuma Refugee camp will host TEDxKakumaCamp which will be the first ever TEDx event held in a refugee camp, with refugees and for refugees.

The event will offer a different lens into the reality of life as a refugee, away from the images of devastation and suffering, and towards stories of resilience, of contribution, of creativity.

Speakers will include current and former Kakuma Camp refugees as well as international experts and artists who wish to make the world a better place for people forced to flee their homes.

Kakuma camp is also the location of SNV’s pioneering renewable energy and migration project. Although SNV has implemented many market based energy access projects across the developing world - this is our first in a refugee setting.

Since the project started last year, hundreds of homes have been powered by solar home systems and a solar market has been initiated facilitating employment opportunities for residents. Meet Mr. Kasanga Alexandre, a refugee from Congo who was one of the very first people to purchase a solar home system as part of this market based project.

At SNV we believe that everyone has the right to energy and access to energy fuels economic development and empowers communities. In a world where according to the UNHCR an unprecedented 65.6 million people have been forced from home, we believe that energy in a migration context will become even more relevant.