Kenyan refugee camp to host historic TEDx Conference

david nganga

May 25, 2018 6:06 PM

Kakuma camp is one of the largest and longest-standing refugee camps in the world

A refugee camp in Kenya is set to make history next month by hosting the first-ever TEDx event, an offshoot of the global conference on ideas popularly known as TED Talks.

TEDxKakumaCamp at the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya will take place on 9 June and is set to be livestreamed, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said.

“TEDxKakumaCamp offers a different lens into the reality of life as a refugee, away from the images of devastation and suffering, and towards stories of resilience, of contribution, of creativity," the agency noted in a statement.

Speakers will include current and former Kakuma Camp refugees as well as international experts and artists who wish to transform how we respond to people forced to flee their homes.

TED is a non-profit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks.

The Kakuma camp, set up in 1992, currently hosts nearly 200,000 refugees from South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi, the DRC, Eritrea, Uganda and Rwanda.