Abstract:
Abstract:
The voluntary, religious and Non-Governmental Organizations have done tremendous
work in Kenya in the areas of socio-economic development. It is indicated in this study
that these organizations especially Voluntary organizations set foot in Kenya in an
attempt to mitigate the suffering of refugees from war torn African countries hosted by
Kenya at the Kakuma Refugee Camp located in Turkana County. That is when they
discovered that even the local populations were adversely affected by challenges of
drought, famine, illiteracy, conflict, cattle rustling and diseases. The study exposes how
church organizations, voluntary agencies and NGOS contributed to the socioeconomic
development of Turkana County residents in areas of medical, conflict resolution,
education and provision of social amenities from 1986 to 2006. This study obtained data
from both primary and secondary sources. Interviews were conducted after a purposive
sampling. This was preferred so as to target respondents who are NGO officials,
government officers and employees of other specialized organizations, such as Civil
Society Organizations and Voluntary Agencies. The study also sourced materials from
the reports of UN agencies working in Kenya, Voluntary Agencies and funding
institutions. Some of the libraries and institutions that were of good help included
university libraries, the United Nations Information Centre, British Institute of Eastern
Africa, the British Council Library, Institute of African Studies and the internet. The
neo-liberal approach as expounded by Kegley and Wittkopf (1997) and Keohane (1995)
was adopted as its tool of analysis. The theory advocates that the state should
accommodate an array of NGOs, transnational, supra-national and transgovernmental
relation and coalition building in an effort to uplift the socio-economic status of the
people. It was found out that religious organizations, voluntary agencies and NonGovernmental Organizations collaborate with the Government of Kenya in an attempt
to uplift the socioeconomic status of the people of Turkana County.
