How a Refugee-Led Initiative is Empowering Girls in Kenya.
A grassroots model from Kakuma Refugee Camp shows what’s possible when young women lead their own narratives and design their own futures
In 2010, Nhial Deng was enjoying a peaceful childhood in Ethiopia with his father, working to provide for their family while his mother cared for his siblings in a nearby village. Life as he knew it changed when militias attacked their village, forcing him to flee. His father stayed behind to protect their home as Nhial journeyed more than 2000 kilometers from Itang to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
Arriving alone as an unaccompanied minor in a camp already housing nearly 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers from across East and Central Africa, Nhial was placed in a foster home. Amid these challenging circumstances, he found solace in something that had always inspired him—the power of storytelling.
“Stories became my connection to the wider world,” he recalls, reflecting on how his father’s radio influenced him. “They gave me hope when everything else seemed uncertain.”
In Kakuma, Nhial immersed himself in narratives of resilience, ingenuity, and perseverance shared by fellow refugees. Recognizing these personal accounts were often retold by outsiders, he was determined to amplify the voices of those within the camp. This led him to start a journalism club in high school, giving community members the opportunity to share their own experiences.
Photo: Sophie Bouquillon For She Leads Kakuma
By December 2017, Nhial’s passion for storytelling evolved into a broader commitment to peacebuilding through the Refugee Youth Peace Ambassadors. Through peace dialogues, sports, mentorship programs, and social entrepreneurship workshops, the initiative reached over 15,000 young people by the end of 2023.
As his initiatives grew, Nhial observed that women and girls rarely occupied leadership roles or fully engaged in activities. Disturbed by this disparity, he took a course in women’s rights in 2018 and later joined the Women Deliver Young Leaders Fellowship to deepen his understanding of systemic barriers and strengthen his commitment to feminist leadership.
Nhial recognized that access to education, patriarchal norms, and lack of resources perpetuated inequalities. Determined to dismantle these structural barriers to ensure that everyone in the community had a role in building solutions, he established SheLeadsKakuma, an organization centring women and girls at its core. “If we want to promote gender equality, we must involve the entire community,” says Nhial. “We need men as allies, elders, women, community leaders, and local authorities.”
SheLeadsKakuma employs a collaborative model focused on actionable solutions, empowering young women and girls to design and lead programs themselves. “We see the young women and girls we work with as partners,” Nhial explains. “They are not just participants or beneficiaries; they’re the leaders designing the programming.”
Photo: Sophie Bouquillon For She Leads Kakuma
This vision redefines leadership as a shared responsibility. By treating women and girls as equal stakeholders, SheLeadsKakuma fosters sustainable community-driven development, where every voice is valued.
One of Nhial’s core leadership principles is active listening. He emphasizes that true empowerment isn’t about speaking for others but equipping them to speak for themselves.“Listen, listen, listen,” he stresses. “Activists shouldn’t claim to be the ‘voice for the voiceless.’ Everyone deserves to have their own voice.
For Nhial, education is foundational for empowerment, particularly in contexts with scarce opportunities. By equipping girls with the skills to challenge societal norms, advocate for their rights, and lead within their communities, SheLeadsKakuma positions education as a catalyst for transformative social change.
“Education is the only path for refugee youth to build brighter futures,” he says. “For girls especially, it breaks cycles of gender inequality, poverty, and conflict.”
SheLeadsKakuma doesn’t just educate— it trains future leaders. Young women and girls develop initiatives addressing community challenges, such as establishing leadership clubs, running health awareness campaigns, and mentoring younger peers. In doing so, they become community advocates, using education as a platform to transform their realities.“SheLeadsKakuma is creating a space where everyone feels welcome,” Nhial says. “We cannot build a world that works for everyone until everyone feels included.”
Nhial’s journey highlights the transformative power of storytelling and education. Guided by his vision, SheLeadsKakuma continues to grow, driven by the belief that genuine progress comes when all voices are elevated.
Photo: Sophie Bouquillon For She Leads Kakuma
Recent developments pose additional challenges for Kakuma and initiatives like SheLeadsKakuma. Following the United States’ aid cuts under President Trump, other countries, including the United Kingdom, have also dramatically reduced their international aid budgets. Keir Starmer’s decision to reduce UK aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of its gross national income—a cut of approximately £6 billion—has sparked alarm among aid organizations, which warn of dire consequences, especially for refugee communities and vulnerable groups.
The UK’s decision reflects a broader trend among Western nations, including Germany, France, and Belgium significantly scaling back aid. These reductions could severely impact humanitarian initiatives like SheLeadsKakuma, which rely on international support to provide essential services and educational programs. With diminished global aid, the future of grassroots, refugee-led empowerment movements faces increased uncertainty, reinforcing the urgent need for sustainable, community-driven models like those championed by Nhial Deng.
Yet, despite these funding setbacks and mounting challenges, the spirit of resilience remains strong within Kakuma. Nhial and the young leaders at SheLeadsKakuma continue to forge pathways of hope, demonstrating that even amidst adversity, determined communities can transform challenges into opportunities. Through education, inclusive leadership, and community-driven initiatives, Nhial and Kakuma’s young leaders prove that a refugee camp can become more than a temporary sanctuary—it can be a launchpad for innovation, collective leadership, and thriving futures.