Let's now look at more options for shelter. Assistant solutions will inevitably vary, depending on the context and the findings of the assessment. But suitable shelter is a principle foundation for so much else, particularly building people's lives and livelihoods. Remember what you saw in the film. There are six principal intervention options to be considered, covering both the type of shelter, and other assistance that could be required. Can you list what they may be? The priority in any situation, after saving lives, is to rebuild the three pillars we saw earlier. The building itself, protection and livelihoods, and the community. To do this, external assistance can potentially contribute in a variety of ways. First the type of shelter required must be determined. Providing shelter units, such as tents, can be appropriate in some situations, although the climate may dictate their relevance. Tents can be mobilized quickly, and transported easily, and are clearly appropriate in some cases. Such as for displacement of people, or refugees, who may have fled quickly and left many of their belongings behind. However, tents may not always be the best solution. Quantities are available may be limited, and they often have a short lifespan in harsh climates. They tend to be considered as a short term emergency solution, as a first step before moving into rehabilitated homes, or perhaps transitional shelter. One other option is a transitional shelter. Transitional shelter is an incremental process intended to provide shelter to families affected by conflicts and disasters. It is as an interim step to them whilst finding alternative options for their recovery. A transitional shelter offers a family a more robust option compared to tents. So its five characteristics. Transitional shelter can be upgraded into a part of a more permanent house. Reused for another purpose, relocated from a temporary site to a permanent location. Transitional shelter can be resold to generate income to help with recovery, and recycled for reconstruction. Examples would include shelters based on frames made of locally available materials, such as, bamboo or wood, or in some cases a steel frame, as in this photograph from Haiti. It is not meant to be a permanent solution, but would have an expected life span of several years. A lot will depend on appropriate land being available. Another shelter option is providing support to renting available accommodation. Provision of money, and possibly help with contracts, to enable people to find alternative rental accommodation on the open housing market. Or supporting host families and using public spaces. Host families in this context are families that provide space in their home for displaced people. This means that support can be provided to relatives, or other host families, who are able to provide emergency accommodation to those in need. This support is often in the form of cash or food supplies. People are often encouraged to offer unused rooms or buildings to those needing them. In some situations, using public buildings, such as schools, may be an immediate and short-term solution. But thought must be given to getting normal education services back up and running. Two, this contributes to the overall recovery process for the affected communities. The assessment should also inform what shelter assistance may be most appropriate for the context. A solution would be to provide shelter kits in the form of basic materials, usually two large tarpaulins. And tools to help people reconstruct their own places, often using materials from their former home, and other supplies, perhaps salvaged after the emergency. Another example of shelter assistance is supporting access to markets. This includes helping people with cash or vouchers to obtain materials from their local markets. Or the agencies could work with their regional or global markets in case materials are needed from further afield, because of lack of stock or poor quality at local level. Provision of materials, in kind, or through cash or vouchers, is an important component of most shelter interventions. Access to technical specialists or advice is often an important intervention. Experts would help provide advice on safe building techniques, appropriate materials to use, and other resources available. This could include technical training sessions and focusing on build back better concept. Aiming to help people rebuild more resilient and safer housing, more likely to withstand future natural disasters. This intervention could also cover forming construction teams to assist more vulnerable members of the communities with help in their rebuilding. The picture on this slide shows a printed document produced for distribution after an earthquake in Indonesia, in the local language and with easy to follow drawings. In a camp setting, good site planning is critical too, to ensure safety, such as fire breaks. And to ensure access routes, and close availability of water, and sanitation, and other services. After the major earthquake in Haiti in 2010, all previously mentioned solutions were employed in the operations, emergency, and recovery phases as part of the shelter strategy. Provision of support needs to be part of a broader shelter strategy, looking at all aspects of the community's life. It is therefore vital to plan and develop an overall strategy for shelter. Addressing the needs of the affected people from the emergency period through to when they can be expected to be self sufficient. We should not forget that communities have a remarkable degree of resilience within them. After a disaster, it is the affected people themselves, who begin the process of recovery and often rebuilding. Almost before the news of the emergency has reached the outside world and external support can can be mobilized and delivered. You can see from the left-hand picture, in the middle island of a two-lane highway, that these displaced residents had made use of what they could find to make their shelters as best as they could. In the right hand picture, you see a more formal camp setting. Although these areas may look safer and easier to support, these settings can still create uncertainties. And there are serious protection issues and often psychological problems for many living in them. Such camp situations need to be seen as temporary emergency solutions, and not as a long-term fix, unless unavoidable, such as in a mass refugee context. The most appropriate response shortly in the aftermath of a natural disaster is to support a community's own effort to regroup and rebuild. It is important to enable the communities to restart their normal activities, and re-establish their own way of life as soon as possible. Designing and implementing a shelter strategy involves many actors, and it must comply with national rules and laws in force. Consideration needs to be given to a range of factors, which will influence how successful the work will be. Here are some issues which could come up and would need to be addressed as part of the strategy planning. What role will the authorities play in the recovery process? What happens if there are no real authorities in place? For instance, in conflict or a post-conflict areas. Is there enough space, and appropriate land available? Remember, this point was made about transitional shelter. Land may be available locally and viable to use, but who owns it? What are the ownership and land tenure laws and norms in a country? Landowners are often reluctant to allow settlement on their land to avoid potential problems in the future about reclaiming it. They may demand rent for the land. So should it be paid, and by whom? How secure will the new tenants be, in terms of, staying on the land? Should you help a former, or new tenant, rehabilitate, or rebuild, a damaged house that belongs to a landlord, or should the owner be responsible? How can you ensure that the available resources are equitably distributed to all the people in need? Are the most vulnerable sectors of the community benefiting sufficiently? How do you make the selection? Around the world, there are many different cultural and religious beliefs regarding shelter and housing. For example, some religions require the main door to be facing in a certain direction. In addition, the climate is a critical issue to consider when planning for the longer term. Are these factors all taken into account? Solutions to all these points need to be context specific and developed in a collaboration with all the partners and communities involved. There are many considerations which are related and complimentary to the actual physical shelter, allowing people to live in safety and dignity. And you certainly would need to look at all of these as part of your assessment. Can you think of five potential complimentary needs, which could be seen as directly shelter related, and which improve people's health and general well-being? Your assessment should have identified these additional needs of the affected people. Did you consider the following? Do the affected people have access to adequate food? Sufficient quantities of safe water? An ability to prepare and cook their food? Do the shelters provide them with a place where they can safely store their food and water supplies to avoid contamination and infestation? Where are the most accessible and appropriate services and facilities, particularly access to water for cooking and washing? Sanitation, such as toilets, washing places, and rubbish disposal? Are there markets nearby, and also education, and health facilities? If they are not functioning, but plans are being made to restart them, to allow life to return to normal as quickly as possible. What other non-food items, so-called NFI's are required. For example, clothing, blankets, cookers, and fuel, pots and pans, and plates, and perhaps heaters. Who will be supplying these? We have come to the end of this module, and on the next slide we will repeat some of the main messages. Suitable shelter means more than just a roof. Suitable shelter is a key component in the affected people's ability to live in safety and good physical and psychological health. Every intervention is unique and based on the local context. The priority of, after saving lives, is to enable the people to return to normality as soon as possible. Undertaking initial and follow-up assessments helps determine the required needs. But these needs will change with time. The types of shelter and other related assistance available will be context specific and includes a range of options. Communities are resilient and resourceful and can be supported in various ways to help themselves. Access to complimentary services and supplies is usually required and is usually included in the shelter strategy. We hope you enjoyed this module, and that you look now a bit differently at shelter. As you must see by now, shelter is much more than just a roof. [MUSIC]
