Measuring Self-Reliance in Refugee Camps

Abstract

The concept of "self-reliance" is widespread, but only recently there have been initiatives that not only use the term “self-reliance”, but also try to measure it – rather for refugees outside than in refugee camps, though. Thus, the “Camp Performance Indicator (CPI) system” was developed and applied to different case studies. This paper examines the level of self-reliance for camps in Jordan (Zaatari camp and Azraq camp) and Kenya (Dadaab Complex), but also for refugee settlements in Uganda (Nakivale and Bidibidi) and simultaneously tests the CPI, a tool consisting of 109 indicators. Applying the CPI revealed that the level of self-reliance is generally low in the five camps and settlements studied, backing up our initial hypothesis.