Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya – In the heart of Kakuma Refugee Camp, where over 310,000 refugees have built their lives, a remarkable transformation is unfolding. At a modest centre, the hum of sewing machines mingles with the laughter of women and girls learning new skills. This is the home of Girl Power Action Initiative, a refugee-led organization proving that with the right support, grassroots movements can become powerful engines of community change.
A Personal Vision Born from Adversity: Uwayo’s Journey
Girl Power Action Initiative was founded in 2021, born from Sudi Omar observation of the challenges facing women and girls in the camp. For two years, the organization operated without a physical centre or official legal recognition, working in schools raising awareness on Sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence, reaching over 2,000 girls.
But operating in the shadows came with limitations. Without legal recognition, their work remained invisible to potential partners and donors. They existed, they were active, they were changing lives, but on paper, they were nowhere to be found.
The challenge was not unique to Girl Power Action. Across the camp, Community-Based Organizations faced an insurmountable barrier. “Registration of CBOs had been put on hold from 2017 till 2023,” Sudi Omar explains. Without access to proper channels, many operated in a legal grey area. Some travelled to Lodwar and paid money, only to receive fake documents. Others were arrested simply for serving their communities without recognition.
“The challenge was not having access to the real officers, not being listened to, and people not taking seriously what we were offering to the community,” Sudi Omar recalls.
RCK Intervention and the Power of Registration
The turning point came in 2023, when Girl Power Action Initiative approached the Refugee Consortium of Kenya. Through a previous project, RCK provided critical advocacy to reopen the registration process, while the Wezesha project offered comprehensive capacity building for the organization.
“What matters most was the advocacy of RCK talking to the Social Development Officer (SDO),” Uwayo says. This engagement with SDO created a pathway that had been closed for years.
The support did not end with registration. Through the Wezesha project, in partnership with the IKEA Foundation, Girl Power Action’s capacity was greatly strengthened through a 3-day CBO training. Through these sessions, Sudi Omar and her team learned about resource mobilization monitoring and evaluation and financial management. The most significant impact came from the project’s resource mobilization training and the sustained mentorship in proposal writing, which ultimately led to the organization winning its first grant. This foundational support was complemented by engaging in other initiatives supported by the project like staff trainings, public participation forums, and engagements with visiting dignitaries including participating in the East Africa Forum on Access to Labour Market for Refugees hosted in Nairobi under the Wezesha project.
“Before that training, we didn’t know much about it,” Sudi Omar admits. The training unpacked proposal writing essentials: how to articulate a problem, present a solution, define objectives, and structure a budget. After drafting their first proposal, RCK provided post-training support to refine their ideas. The proposal was submitted to Global Whole fund. It was approved!
Community Impact and Transformation
With their registration certificate and strengthened capacity, doors began opening. The first partnership came from Amahoro, which helped structure their office. Then, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) came on board with a gender-based violence project. The initial target was 1,500 community members, but Girl Power Action exceeded it, reaching over 2,100 women, girls, and men.
Most transformative has been livelihood development. With a USD 20,000 grant from Global Hope for 2026, Girl Power Action is expanding its livelihood programme in multiple directions: reusable sanitary pad production, a fashion and design hub, and bead making, requested directly by women and girls.
Already, 50 women and girls have been trained in fashion and design across two cohorts. With limited machines, the organization created an innovative solution: Fridays are earning days, when graduates sew for the community from home. Some earn 100 shillings daily, others 1,000 weekly. Graduates now train the third cohort, passing on skills while earning.
Registration enabled another critical step towards opening a bank account. “The moment you have registration certificate, you can open a bank account where donors can trust you, not sending money to personal accounts,” Sudi Omar explains. This formalization built trust for partnerships with UNHCR, Global Whole fund, and USRI, which is investing in a one-month training to establish a pad production hub, engaging girls already trained in tailoring.
Looking ahead, Sudi Omar focuses on sustainability. The income-generating activities they’re establishing are designed not just to support women, but to create revenue sustaining the organization itself.
“Honestly speaking, Girl Power is not where it is without registration,” Sudi Omar states. “We worked from 2021 to 2023, reaching 2,000 girls in schools. But when you’re not recognised, when you don’t have a physical centre, it becomes hard. You can’t showcase your impact. Where we are is because we got the certification.”
From a vision born in 2021, operating without recognition, Girl Power Action Initiative has grown into a registered, funded organization changing the narrative for women and girls in Kakuma. Those with no income now earn for their families. Those who were silent now speak. A community facing daily GBV now has champions working alongside religious leaders, schoolchildren, and families to create change.
The journey of Girl Power Action Initiative powerfully demonstrates how registration is key to unlocking funding, creating opportunity in building credible partnerships, and the ability to scale impact. With continued guidance through the Wezesha project, Girl Power Action has moved from the margins to the mainstream, from surviving to thriving, and from a local initiative to an anchor for an entire community.
