Livelihood Support for Single Refugee Mothers in Nairobi

In Nairobi's urban refugee communities, single mothers face a complex web of challenges—displacement, gender discrimination, and the overwhelming responsibility of providing for their families alone. These women must navigate childcare needs, cultural barriers, and limited economic opportunities while rebuilding their lives in an unfamiliar city. However, specialized livelihood programs are proving that with targeted support, single refugee mothers can overcome these obstacles and establish sustainable incomes that transform their families' futures.

Successful initiatives recognize that conventional employment models often fail to meet the unique needs of refugee mothers. Programs like RefuSHE's mother-child spaces combine skills training with on-site childcare, allowing women to learn while keeping their children safe nearby. Other solutions include home-based enterprises such as soap-making or tailoring that can be managed around childcare responsibilities, and digital work platforms that offer remote opportunities in transcription or virtual assistance. Women-only business collectives have also emerged as vital spaces for skills-sharing, emotional support, and collective economic empowerment.

Several impactful models are demonstrating what's possible when programs align with refugee mothers' realities. Urban farming cooperatives help women cultivate high-value crops like herbs and mushrooms in small urban plots. Mobile market stalls give mothers the flexibility to work near their children's schools. Shared kitchen spaces enable groups of women to commercialize traditional recipes, while artisan collectives connect traditional crafts like basket-weaving to global markets through fair trade networks.

The benefits of empowering single refugee mothers extend far beyond economic gains. When mothers achieve stable incomes, their children are more likely to stay in school, families experience improved nutrition, and entire communities benefit from reduced vulnerability to exploitation. Many program graduates become community leaders, mentoring other women and advocating for broader change.

As one South Sudanese mother in Eastleigh explained while operating her sewing machine, "This machine feeds my children today, but the skills will feed us for a lifetime." Her story reflects the transformative potential of livelihood programs that view refugee mothers not as passive aid recipients, but as resilient economic actors capable of building better futures when given the right tools and opportunities.

Looking ahead, scaling these successes requires systemic changes—expanding childcare-inclusive training centers, developing micro-leasing programs for equipment, creating gender-sensitive financial products, and strengthening market linkages for women-made goods. Organizations like RefugePoint and the Women's Refugee Commission continue to demonstrate that investments in refugee mothers yield exponential returns, benefiting entire communities. The challenge now is to transform isolated success stories into comprehensive support systems that recognize and nurture the economic potential of single refugee mothers across Nairobi.