For Aden, the message from youth in refugee settings is clear: opportunities must extend beyond survival toward dignity, empowerment, and self-reliance.
“Give Youth Access to Decision-Making Tables” - Aden’s Voice from Dadaab
Across the northeastern region of Kenya, within the Dadaab refugee camps, young people are already responding to the needs of their communities – often with limited resources but unwavering commitment. Among them is Aden Hassan Samriye, Director of Safe Environmental Organization and a volunteer dedicated to supporting displaced communities.
Originally from Somalia, Aden works closely with refugee-led initiatives, helping drive community-based solutions while advocating for stronger support systems.
His humanitarian journey is shaped by lived experience. Having once learned under a tree, Aden understands firsthand the importance of education and environmental protection. Today, he leads monthly tree-planting efforts and supports hospital inpatients by providing locally available essentials such as toothbrushes since small but critical items are often overlooked in humanitarian responses.
What young people are demanding
For Aden, the message from youth in refugee settings is clear: opportunities must extend beyond survival toward dignity, empowerment, and self-reliance.
Young people are calling for:
- Job creation
- Funding for community-based organisations
- Support for refugee-led organisation directors
- Freedom of movement
- Access to meetings
- Youth learning centres
- Skills exchange
- Motivation and empowerment for volunteers
At the heart of these demands is one central idea: youth must be included in decision-making.
Where the system must change
Aden believes humanitarian actors must work more closely with refugee-led organisations to ensure transparency and effective implementation of projects.
For the Humanitarian Reset to succeed, it must open pathways for grassroots actors:
“Give access to meetings at the grassroots. Make youth groups legally recognised, and create ways for them to attend decision-making tables.”
This is not simply about participation; it is about shifting power toward those closest to the realities of displacement.
Connecting local leadership to the Reset
Aden strongly links youth demands to investments in education, income generation, and leadership opportunities. Training through university colleges, supporting refugee organisation directors, and strengthening youth centres are practical ways the system can move from rhetoric to action.
His perspective reinforces a growing call across the #ChangeTheCode campaign: local actors are not just implementers, they are architects of solutions.
Rewriting the humanitarian code
If Aden could change one thing, it would be simple yet transformative:
Humanitarian actors must work directly with refugee-led organisations to fully implement transparent projects and ensure communities are part of the decisions shaping their futures.
His story reminds us that leadership already exists within refugee communities, and what is needed now is recognition, trust, and investment.
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