The Shelter Cluster is an
Inter-Agency Standing Committee The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) is an inter-agency forum of United Nations and non-UN humanitarian partners founded in 1991 to strengthen humanitarian assistance. The overall objective of the IASC is to improve the delivery of humanitaria ...
(IASC) coordination mechanism that supports people affected by
disaster
A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...
s and
conflicts
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
with the means to live in safe, dignified and appropriate
shelter
Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger.
Shelter may also refer to:
Places
* Port Shelter, Hong Kong
* Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations
* Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...
.
The Shelter Cluster is one of eleven sectorial coordination groups that are part of the
Cluster Approach, that followed the Humanitarian Response Review in 2005.
Currently 43 humanitarian organizations are part of the Shelter Cluster at global level, more than 500 organizations coordinate shelter assistance with the support of the Shelter Cluster at country level.
The Shelter Cluster’s scope includes all activities related to achieving the right to adequate housing with a humanitarian focus. This includes:
* emergency and longer term shelter support;
* shelter-related non-food-items (NFIs);
* housing construction and reconstruction;
* settlement support such as site planning and urban planning shelter preparedness and risk reduction.
Structure
The Global Shelter Cluster is co-chaired by the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
[ The IFRC convenes the Shelter Cluster in natural disaster situations. UNHCR leads the Shelter Cluster in conflict situations where there are ]Internally displaced person
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
s, whereas in refugee
A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. situations the core mandate of UNHCR takes precedence over the cluster system.[
The IFRC is convening the Cluster and not leading it because, as a neutral and impartial organization, it cannot be part of the command structure of the United Nations. This difference was formalized in Memorandum of Understanding between the IFRC and The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The structure of the Global Shelter Cluster includes:]
Operations
Since its inception in 2006, the Shelter Cluster has supported the coordination of humanitarian shelter assistance in over 60 responses in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East and the Pacific regions, .
Global Shelter Cluster website
collects and shares documents related to the cluster responses in the affected countries.
References
{{reflist
Disaster management