ABSTRACT
The Presidential appeal for aid and the passing of the non government organisation (NGO) Coordination Act were clear manifestations of the assertive position of the government. This was a fundamental factor in shaping not only the nature and scope of government-NGO coordination, but also NGO-NGO coordination, which was undoubtedly as a direct result of government policy strengthened over this period. The Somali refugee emergency began in 1990. Prior to this, Kenya hosted a refugee population of about some 15,000. The number rose dramatically during the emergency to an estimated 360,000700,000 people at the height of the inflow United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, 1992) Although a proportion of these people were individual asylum seekers from a number of other African states, the largest number were Somalis. The resulting confusion created the need for networking and information sharing between agencies, particularly at the field level.
