Partner Organisations

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

The UNHCR is mandated by the United Nations to provide international protection, assistance and solutions to refugees and other categories of persons of concern and to prevent and reduce statelessness.

Barefoot to Boots (BTB) has established a strong relationship with the UNHCR both in Australia and overseas and continues to support its programmes, which include protection, education, health, water and sanitation, child protection, activities to prevent and respond to sexual and gender based violence, voluntary repatriation, resettlement, complementary pathways to resettlement.

UNHCR Kenya has established offices in Nairobi, Kakuma and Dadaab providing protection and assistance to urban, peri-urban, rural and camp-based refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR mainly from Somalia and South Sudan. 

Lutheran World Federation (LWF)

LWF works with refugee and host communities to support their needs and to protect their human rights. 

The organisation has been active in northwest Kenya in Kakuma Refugee Camp since the camp was established in 1992. LWF works alongside the UNHCR to provide primary education, early childhood development, child protection, peace and safety and sustainable livelihoods programs in the camp and Kalobeyei refugee settlement. 

In July 2016, LWF’s Youth Protection and Development office officially launched the Kakuma Premier League. BTB is committed to working with LWF to support the football league through the provision of football gear for players and coaching materials. 

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

The IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future.

The IRC’s General Hospital in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya is home to a maternity unit that provides vital services to refugees and members of the host community. The unit’s midwives work 24 hours a day and deliver over 300 babies per month. 

However, despite the team’s best efforts, they did not have the infrastructure or equipment to properly care for pre-term babies. Without these critical tools, many of these children were dying.

In December 2016, BTB stepped in. BTB donated two incubators to the IRC, filling in a crucial gap in pre-term care. Since the incubators began operating at the General Hospital, they have saved the lives of more than 30 preterm babies. These children would have died without access to the incubators.