After 19 years of regional refugee crisis, Heshima Kenya is the first and only organization in Kenya devoted to identifying, protecting and empowering unaccompanied refugee children and youth living in Nairobi.

Orphaned and separated refugee children and youth are considered the most vulnerable and invisible population in the world and over 5,000 are living in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Classified by human rights organizations as “unaccompanied,” most of these minors have fled from persecution in the nearby countries of Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their families have been killed or have disappeared in war. Others were abandoned or separated from their families when they crossed the border to safety.

Together with the refugee community and our partner organizations, including the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, Heshima Kenya provides holistic case management services, specialized shelter, community outreach, informal education, and economic empowerment programming. Our innovative approach to care and outreach provides avenues for self-sufficiency and ensures vulnerable minors, especially adolescent girls, achieve leadership skills to inspire peace and social change within their communities