Shelter and non-food items

During crises, the provision of shelter and non-food items (NFI) assistance provides the affected population with safety and with protection from the elements, health risks and other factors that could increase their vulnerabilities (IOM, 2021). Shelter – defined as habitable covered living space – aims to safeguard health, security, privacy and dignity for those within it.

Shelter assistance should be people centred and context driven, focusing on how to enable people to build and improve their shelter. Whether in a camp setting, in rented accommodation or in host communities, shelters must be located in safe settlement locations with adequate space and access to essential services and livelihoods for all members of the community. This also includes alleviating fear of eviction (see House, land and property restitution). Further, all interventions should be based on active consultation with affected populations and should consider gender dimensions (see Gender in crisis and post-crisis contexts).

In the selection, construction, management and decommissioning of shelter sites, identifying relevant environmental considerations is critical (Sphere Standards). Humanitarian actors may use a variety of tools in these processes. Such tools could include: programmatic or sectoral environmental impact assessments; considerations around how assistance is provided in the affected area (for instance, the environmental impact of transport); considerations around the procurement of construction material (local vs. non-local); and considerations around the impact on the environment of livelihood activities linked to shelter provision [Global Shelter Cluster (GSC), 2018]. Furthermore, disaster risk reduction (DRR) considerations in the selection of shelter sites – such as using disaster-resistant shelter material and avoiding shelters in disaster-prone areas – are crucial to prevent renewed displacement (see Migration, environment and climate change).

Policy Approaches
Shelter and non-food items
  • Carefully assess safety and security conditions, as well as land tenure and environmental considerations in shelter areas and address identified issues and potential risks.
  • Give priority to cash-based assistance over in-kind assistance to enable beneficiaries’ choice. Beneficiaries are active responders after a disaster and are best placed to decide what their household needs are.
  • Enable the formation of distribution committees as a vital method for effective mobilization, security and solving distribution-related issues at community level.
  • Prioritize vulnerable groups, and collaborate with local authorities to cross check beneficiaries. This ensures a more efficient registration and distribution process for the most vulnerable cases. In particular, it helps to avoid marginalizing minority and less visible groups, such as single women and the elderly.
Source

Global Shelter Cluster (GSC), 2017.

To Go Further
Camp coordination and camp management

Displaced persons may live in collective settings, such as camps, evacuation or collective centres and spontaneous or informal sites. Camps and camp-like settings, while considered a last resort, can be the only available and feasible option for the affected individuals to enjoy their human rights (such as through access to food, health services, livelihoods and sanitary conditions). The populations that end up in camps or camp-like settings are considered among the most vulnerable, as they often lacked the means to find viable alternatives in the first place.

The collective site may have been pre-planned and established (for instance, the evacuation site) or have been spontaneously settled. The nature of the site, including its structure, location, services and duration, depend heavily on the context. The selection of temporary shelter solutions should be based on the preference of the displaced population, taking into account considerations of feasibility, such as available resources or security implications. Done well, site management not only protects and assists populations but can also positively influence the capacity of the residents to recover from crises. But done poorly, it can heighten their vulnerabilities and hinder their recovery.

Image / Video

Source

IOM, 2013.

The humanitarian community refers to the technical sector that coordinates and manages these sites broadly as camp coordination and camp management (CCCM).

  • Camp management (CM) (or site management) focuses on ensuring that displaced populations have equitable access to services and protection. It aims to improve the quality of life and dignity of the displaced persons during displacement, including advocating for solutions and preparing the populations for life after displacement (Global CCCM Cluster, n.d.).
  • Camp coordination (CC) refers to the broader strategic coordination between all the camps that are active within the response.

National coordination mechanisms may use different terminology or platforms than CCCM for establishing and managing sites; however, as the best practices and approaches are typically the same, this chapter uses CCCM to cover all the work and activities regarding site setup and maintenance, governance and management processes, closure, and linkages to other sectors.

Although CCCM refers directly to camps, the sector also encompasses populations in urban and camp-like settings, as displaced populations are increasingly located in such settings. In these cases, CCCM actors will often work through setting up community resource centres and mobile teams to reach the displaced population. In such contexts, alternatives such as rental or hosting subsidies could form parts of a CCCM plan for alternative temporary settlement.

Policy Approaches
Coordinating and managing camps

Camp coordination and camp management (CCCM) planning and implementation should:

  • Be based on regular and participatory data collection and analysis (for example focus group discussions and regular site monitoring), taking into account various aspects of identity including sex, age, race, gender and ethnic background, among others;
  • Take into account the potential needs of displaced populations outside camp settings, such as in urban areas, as well as host communities.

Management

Effective management of a site requires dedicated staff, whether provided by government or the government-designated body, or by other international or local entities. The site management personnel ensure the protection and assistance of affected populations living in these sites. The needs of the displaced and host populations will be based upon agreed standards. The site management personnel will coordinate services and assistance at the site level, including monitoring, to ensure that all agencies are working together and with compatible work plans to meet those needs. It is the dedicated site management personnel who ensure the participation of the displaced population as well as the construction of or improvements to a temporary site that is safe and physically, socially and culturally appropriate for the inhabitants. They are also responsible for maintaining communal infrastructure.

It is good practice to involve the affected population in the governance and management process. This typically involves first mapping and then working within basic community leadership structures (formal and informal). It may involve setting up camp committees at various levels, and/or networks, including those that represent certain groups of the populations that are often the most vulnerable in crisis situations (for instance, children, women, people with disabilities, the elderly, persons identifying as LGBTI, indigenous people and people living with medical conditions including HIV/AIDS).

To Go Further
  • IOM, Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC), Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster (CCCM), Women in Displacement.
    This e-platform provides information about the inclusion of displaced women and girls in camp governance structures.

Coordination

In some countries, the national disaster management authority or a similar institution may take the lead on preparedness actions, and in the case of a disaster will provide strategic planning for the setup and management of camps. In circumstances where the emergency is sudden or its scale leaves local capacities overwhelmed, the international community may be asked to support the State by taking on coordination or site management responsibilities. In situations of armed violence or conflict, responsibilities for coordination, management and policy making is often shared between authorities and the international community.

From the very beginning of the emergency response, CCCM actors establish plans and policies for an organized closure and phase out of displacement sites, taking into account considerations for finding durable solutions for the forcibly displaced (Global CCCM Cluster, 2015). Strategic and exit planning must prioritize the safety and dignity of the displaced population (see Solutions for displacement).

To Go Further
  • Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster, Camp Management (online course).

    This course offers, among many resources, a free and certified e-learning course on CCCM that introduces field practitioners to the latest best practices and current resources for the work of camp management. The course aims to help improve participants’ skills in core camp management issues, including humanitarian principles and code of conduct, coordination, information management, community participation, protection and gender-based violence, standards and settlement design, safety and security, camp closure and durable solutions.
  • Global CCCM Cluster, CM Toolkit: Resources for practitioners working with displaced communities.

    This     interactive website provides an online and offline reference to support those working in camps. It also showcases tools and further reading.
Access to water, sanitation and hygiene

Access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services saves lives and is essential to the health and dignity of populations in need (IOM, 2021). The capacity for displaced populations and sometimes host communities to acquire water and sanitation services is often limited. In host communities, water and sanitation infrastructure and resources are typically fitted only for the general community population. The arrival of displaced populations can occur suddenly, with little time to build the necessary structures. Also, when displacement is protracted, existing systems may be insufficient to keep up with increasing needs.

The solutions provided need to ensure above all the prevention of any health risk, but also the mitigation of environmental risks. As an example, appropriate latrine design needs to be put in place in locations where the groundwater table is near the surface, in order to prevent the contamination of the aquifer, which may be the main or only source of drinking water for the community served. Providing water and sanitation infrastructure and services, coupled with promoting good hygiene practices, reduces the risk of water-related disease transmission, with positive impacts for the health and nutrition of the populations assisted (IOM, 2021).

It is important to consider, in consultation with the community, specific vulnerabilities and needs when planning for and providing WASH services. For instance, in most crisis situations, collecting water is the responsibility of women and children. In locations where communal water and sanitation facilities are used, for example in refugee or displaced situations, women and adolescent girls can be vulnerable to different forms of GBV, such as physical violence, sexual assault, abuse, harassment or exploitation (IOM, 2018a; Sphere, 2018).

Policy Approaches
Providing access to water, sanitation and hygiene
  • Consult the community about specific vulnerabilities and the needs of different groups. For instance, the hygiene needs of women, particularly those related to menstruation, pregnancy and breastfeeding, need to be considered as well as the specific needs particular to children and to people with disabilities.
  • Wherever possible, encourage equal participation of different groups in planning and implementing water supply and sanitation programmes (IOM, 2021; Sphere, 2018).
  • Allocate funding in a strategic way, taking on board differing needs and capacities throughout all phases of a crisis, with a particular focus on community empowerment (United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation, 2018).
Good Practice
Sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene interventions

In addition to constructing and rehabilitating water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, such as water points and latrines, relevant actors should provide community members with toolkits, materials and trainings on maintenance and repair. For example, in the protection of civilians (PoC) site in Malakal in South Sudan, IDPs form committees (hygiene committees) to take care of the cleaning of latrines and collecting garbage. In instances when the humanitarian presence was disrupted due to violence, these committees continued to provide WASH services beyond their initial competences and ensured that the site remained free of risk of any possible water borne disease outbreak.

Source

IOM, 2018b.

Access to health services

Crisis situations often expose individuals and communities to heightened health risks. Many factors directly influence the health of individuals and communities in emergency situations, such as pre-existing health conditions; lack of immunity to existing or emerging diseases; emotional stress; overcrowding; lack of access to adequate shelter or clean water; the prevalence of communicable diseases; gender-based violence (GBV); and poor sanitation. Destruction of health facilities and logistical, administrative and fiscal challenges may cause a shortage of available medicine and impede access to health care for displaced and other crisis-affected populations.

Displaced persons and other mobile populations also face sexual and reproductive health risks. These require a holistic array of multisectoral interventions, such as psychosocial support, legal support and access to justice, economic and social reintegration (IOM, 2018c). Mental health and psychosocial support are essential during and after a crisis, particularly for displaced individuals, yet there is only a limited recognition of this urgent need. It is important to understand how the conditions of displacement impact the wellbeing of affected populations (see Mental health and psychological support).

Policy Approaches
Integrating health services into emergency response
  • Integrate primary healthcare services within the scope of services provided to displaced persons, other mobile populations and host communities. For example, rehabilitating health facilities, building the capacity of service providers, and providing health education and hygiene promotion among the affected communities.
  • Enhance access to healthcare, including psychosocial, psychological and psychiatric care, as well as health education services for crisis-affected populations.
  • Prioritize a community-based approach, which includes engagement with the local authorities responsible for health, education and other social issues, civil society organizations and professional groups. Such engagement should continue throughout the response.
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Figure 2. Comprehensive migrant health prevention and care package in crises along the migration process

Source

IOM, 2014.

To Go Further
Key messages
  • The provision of shelter in safe settlement locations with adequate space and access to essential services and livelihoods can be critical and life-saving.
  • Increasingly, displaced populations concentrate in non-camp settings, including urban and camp-like settings. The Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster can also support in these contexts.
  • When planning and delivering interventions related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) it is essential to consult with the community and consider specific vulnerabilities of community members
  • The provision of primary healthcare should be integrated into crisis response.
  • Sexual and reproductive health as well as mental health and psychosocial support are also important to consider during emergency response.
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