Stakeholder Engagement Strategies and Service Delivery Among Humanitarian Organizations in Turkana West Sub-County, Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/jbsm.3912Keywords:
Public Participation, Communication Mechanisms, Collaborative Partnerships, And Feedback Mechanisms and Service DeliveryAbstract
Purpose: This study sought to examine the relationship between stakeholder engagement strategies and service delivery among humanitarian organizations in Turkana West Sub-County, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to determine the influence of public participation, communication mechanisms, collaborative partnerships, and feedback mechanisms on service delivery.
Methodology: A descriptive research design was adopted. The target population comprised 180 respondents drawn from United Nations agencies, international and local non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and refugee-led organizations operating in Turkana West Sub-County. Using census sampling, all 180 respondents were targeted, of whom 131 returned completed questionnaires, representing a response rate of 72.78 percent. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, while inferential statistics comprising Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationships among the study variables. The findings were presented using tables and supported by narrative explanations.
Findings: The study established that respondents generally agreed that stakeholder engagement practices were implemented by humanitarian organizations. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that public participation, communication mechanisms, collaborative partnerships, and feedback mechanisms each had a strong positive and statistically significant relationship with service delivery. Multiple regression analysis further showed that communication mechanisms had the greatest influence on service delivery, followed by feedback mechanisms, public participation, and collaborative partnerships. The study concluded that effective stakeholder engagement is fundamental to improving the timeliness, accessibility, and responsiveness of humanitarian services in Turkana West Sub-County.
Unique Contribution to Theory Practice and Policy: The study recommended that humanitarian organizations institutionalize meaningful public participation, strengthen communication systems, promote inter-agency collaboration, and establish effective feedback mechanisms to improve programme implementation and accountability.
Downloads
References
ACAPS. (2025). Kenya: Humanitarian crisis and refugee response. https://www.acaps.org/en/countries/kenya
Akl, E. A., El-Jardali, F., Bou Karroum, L., El-Eid, J., Brax, H., Akik, C., Osman, M., Hassan, G., Itani, M., Farha, A., Pottie, K., & Oliver, S. (2015). Effectiveness of mechanisms and models of coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0137159. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137159
Ansell, C., & Gash, A. (2008). Collaborative governance in theory and practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18(4), 543–571.
Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice | Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory | Oxford Academic
Bertalanffy, L. von. (1950). An outline of general system theory. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 1(2), 134–165. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/I.2.134
Bhagat, A. (2021). A narrative inquiry into refugee participation in Kakuma and Nairobi (LERRN Working Paper No. 7). Local Engagement Refugee Research Network. https://carleton.ca/lerrn/wp-content/uploads/LERRN-Working-Paper-No.-7-Refugee-Participation-Kenya.pdf.
Burns, R. B., & Burns, R. A. (2008). Business research methods and statistics using SPSS. SAGE Publications.https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=bPvCRzBou3gC&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&q&f=false
CHS Alliance. (2024). The Core Humanitarian Standard on quality and accountability (2024 ed.). https://corehumanitarianstandard.org
Department of Refugee Services. (2025). Government launches Shirika Plan to enhance refugee and host communities inclusion. https://refugee.go.ke/government-launches-shirika-plan-enhance-refugee-and-host-communities-inclusion
Elmakki, O. (2025, January 9). From relief to resilience: The dual role of humanitarian assistance in alleviating poverty and fostering sustainable development. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science. https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/from-relief-to-resilience-the-dual-role-of-humanitarian-assistance-in-alleviating-poverty-and-fostering-sustainable-development/
Emerson, K., Nabatchi, T., & Balogh, S. (2012). An integrative framework for collaborative governance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mur011
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Pitman.
Government of Kenya. (2021). The Refugees Act, No. 10 of 2021. Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 210. https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/2021/10/eng@2022-12-31
Hall, S. (2024). Publications — Samuel Hall. http://samuelhall.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SECE-A-Final-Report-for-publishing.pdf
Harrison, J. S., Freeman, R. E., & de Abreu, M. C. S. (2015). Stakeholder theory as an ethical approach to effective management: Applying the theory to multiple contexts. Revista Brasileira de Gestão de Negócios, 17(55), 858–869. https://doi.org/10.7819/rbgn.v17i55.2647
Kujala, J., Sachs, S., Leinonen, H., Heikkinen, A., & Laude, D. (2022). Stakeholder engagement: Past, present, and future. Business & Society, 61(5), 1136–1196. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503211066595
Madiega, P., & Onyas, W. (2024). How stakeholder pressure affects the effectiveness of international–local nongovernmental organization collaboration in localization of humanitarian aid. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11188061/
Muhande, R., Muli, S., Nyambura, M. T., & Arani, W. (2025). Stakeholder Collaboration and Operational Performance of Disaster and Relief Humanitarian Non-Governmental Organizations in Kenya.. International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research (IJSSHR) ISSN 2959-7056 (o); 2959-7048 (p). https://doi.org/10.61108/ijsshr.v3i2.206
Mukokoma, M., & Bwambale, A. (2023). Stakeholder expectations, inter-organizational coordination and procurement practices among humanitarian organizations. Journal of Business and Socio-Economic Development. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jbsed-12-2022-0129/full/html
Phillips, R., Freeman, R. E., & Wicks, A. C. (2020). What stakeholder theory is not. Business Ethics Quarterly, 13(4), 479–502
Simister, N. (2023). © INTRAC 2023 outputs, outcomes and impact. https://www.intrac.org/app/uploads/2024/11/Outputs-outcomes-and-impact.pdf
Turkana County Government. (2025, February 21). County health to strengthen childhood illness management at the community level. https://turkana.go.ke/2025/02/21/county-health-to-strengthen-childhood-illness-management-at-the-community-level/
Turkana County. (2022). https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/GF57/GF57Turkana.pdf
UNHCR Kenya. (2024). Kakuma partners. Retrieved June 2026, from https://www.unhcr.org/ke/kakuma-partners
UNHCR Kenya. (2026, April). Kenya statistics package: 28 February 2026. https://www.unhcr.org/ke/sites/ke/files/2026-04/Kenya%20Statistics%20Package%20-%2028%20February%202026.pdf
UNHCR Kenya. (n.d.). Kakuma partners. Retrieved June 2026, from https://www.unhcr.org/ke/kakuma-partners
UNHCR. (2023). Global compact on refugees: Indicator report. https://www.unhcr.org/global-compact-refugees-indicator-report
UNHCR. (2023, July). Government of kenya shirika plan. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/104460
UNHCR. (2025). Kenya: Kakuma refugee camp. https://www.unhcr.org/ke/about-us/where-we-work/kakuma-refugee-camp
UNHCR. (2026, January 31). Kenya: Refugee statistics. UNHCR Data Portal. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/ken
Von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General system theory: Foundations, development, applications. George Braziller.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nyanchiew Paul Dor, Dr. Anne Kiboi, Prof. Allan Kihara Ph.D.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
