IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecomi/v13y2025i3p75-d1612264.html

Gender Gaps, Financial Inclusion and Social Integration in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Afrika Onguko Okello

    (African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), P.O. Box 62882-00200, Nairobi, Kenya)

Abstract

The integration or resettlement efforts aimed at self-reliance of refugees are requisite for their adaptation to social and economic shocks and consequently to their human development and contribution to economic growth. This study analyses the drivers of financial inclusion and social integration and estimates the respective gender gap among households in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. Based on a 2019 socio-economic survey dataset, the study constructs indices to reveal the extent of financial inclusion and social integration. Using the ordered logistic regression, factors such as earning wages, asset accumulation, food security, social capital, education, and access to information demonstrate significant explanatory power for financial inclusion and social integration. The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique for measuring the gender gap reveals that women are significantly better off with respect to financial inclusion compared to men. These results suggest that gendered financial inclusive and social integration programs can build refugee self-reliance. Accordingly, government and development partners should promote gender-inclusive strategies for refugees in Kenya. This study contributes to the literature on refugee financial inclusion and social integration by offering gender-specific insights into their barriers and enablers in protracted displacement contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Afrika Onguko Okello, 2025. "Gender Gaps, Financial Inclusion and Social Integration in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya," Economies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p:75-:d:1612264
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/3/75/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/3/75/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rima R Habib & Amena El-Harakeh & Micheline Ziadee & Elio Abi Younes & Khalil El Asmar, 2020. "Social capital, social cohesion, and health of Syrian refugee working children living in informal tented settlements in Lebanon: A cross-sectional study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(9), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Shivangi Bhatia & Seema Singh, 2019. "Empowering Women Through Financial Inclusion: A Study of Urban Slum," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 44(4), pages 182-197, December.
    3. Mandira Sarma, 2008. "Index of Financial Inclusion," Finance Working Papers 22259, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    4. Ben Jann, 2008. "The Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition for linear regression models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 8(4), pages 453-479, December.
    5. Swati Mehta Dhawan & Kim Wilson & Hans-Martin Zademach, 2024. "From financial inclusion to financial health of refugees: urging for a shift in perspective," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 926-945, March.
    6. Swamy, Vighneswara, 2014. "Financial Inclusion, Gender Dimension, and Economic Impact on Poor Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-15.
    7. George J. Borjas, 2019. "Immigration and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 25836, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Marie Valentova, 2016. "How Do Traditional Gender Roles Relate to Social Cohesion? Focus on Differences Between Women and Men," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 153-178, May.
    9. Allen, Franklin & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Klapper, Leora & Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad, 2016. "The foundations of financial inclusion: Understanding ownership and use of formal accounts," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Salman Mahmood & Wen shuhui & Shoaib Aslam & Tanveer Ahmed, 2022. "The Financial Inclusion Development and Its Impacts on Disposable Income," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, April.
    2. Emon Kalyan Chowdhury & Rupam Chowdhury, 2024. "Role of Financial Inclusion in Human Development: Evidence from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 3329-3354, March.
    3. Thereza Balliester Reis, 2022. "Socio‐economic determinants of financial inclusion: An evaluation with a microdata multidimensional index," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(3), pages 587-611, April.
    4. Fareeha Adil & Abdul Jalil, 2020. "Determining the Financial Inclusion Output of Banking Sector of Pakistan—Supply-Side Analysis," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Tuyen Quang Tran & Dinh Van Nguyen & Dao Van Le, 2025. "Financial Access and Transitional Economy Productivity: Is Faster Better?," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 3, pages 815-844, September.
    6. Shivangi Bhatia & Gaurav Dawar, 2024. "The Impact of Financial Inclusion on Social and Political Empowerment: Mediating Role of Economic Empowerment," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 13727-13744, September.
    7. Taoyong Su & Yuzhu Yu & Yongheng Chen & Jian Zhang, 2019. "The Experience, Dilemma, and Solutions of Sustainable Development of Inclusive Finance in Rural China: Based on the Perspective of Synergy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Shruti Malik & Girish Chandra Maheshwari & Archana Singh, 2019. "Understanding Financial Inclusion in India: A Theoretical Framework Building Through SAP–LAP and Efficient IRP," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 20(2), pages 117-140, June.
    9. Vavangani Ishtiyaq Nadeem & Khalid Waheed & Arshiya Fathima M.S, 2024. "Financial inclusion of Muslim minority in Vellore, Tamil Nadu," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 53(1), February.
    10. Hermann Hegueu Ndoya & Charly Ondobo Tsala, 2021. "What drive gender gap in financial inclusion? Evidence from Cameroon," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(4), pages 674-687, December.
    11. Rouse, Marybeth & Verhoef, y Grietjie, 2017. "Mobile banking in Sub-Saharan Africa: setting the way towards financial development," MPRA Paper 78006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Sezard Timbi & Mohammadou Nourou & Zedou Abdala, 2024. "Governance Mediates the Effect of Remittances on Financial Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 2874-2894, March.
    13. Thi Anh Nhu Nguyen & Thi Thuy Huong Luong, 2023. "The Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Vietnam: A Demand-Side Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    14. Hermann Ndoya & Charly Tsala & Brice Kamguia, 2024. "What drive financial inclusion gender gap in Cameroon? A Fairlie decomposition approach," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(3), pages 822-838, July.
    15. Ahmad Hassan Ahmad & Christopher Green & Fei Jiang, 2020. "Mobile Money, Financial Inclusion And Development: A Review With Reference To African Experience," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 753-792, September.
    16. Chaikal Nuryakin & Prani Sastiono & Faradina Alifia Maizar & Pyan Amin & Nanda Puspita & Wahyu Pramono & Christine Tjen, 2018. "Toward Higher Financial Inclusion Rate: Service Quality, Costs Of Access, And Awareness," LPEM FEBUI Working Papers 201821, LPEM, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, revised Jul 2018.
    17. Abidin Alhassan & Leon Li & Krishna Reddy & Geeta Duppati, 2021. "The relationship between political instability and financial inclusion: Evidence from Middle East and North Africa," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 353-374, January.
    18. Shishir Shakya & Nabamita Dutta, 2024. "How Individualism Influences Female Financial Inclusion through Education: Evidence from Historical Prevalence of Infectious Diseases," Working Papers 24-07, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    19. E. Bonhoure & R. Bawack, 2024. "Review of the Coverage of Financial Inclusion Research Since the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals: What Has Changed?," Post-Print hal-04828293, HAL.
    20. Amponsah, Mary & Agbola, Frank W. & Mahmood, Amir, 2021. "The impact of informality on inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does financial inclusion matter?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1259-1286.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p:75-:d:1612264. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.