Global Shelter Cluster 2021

Included was also a tribute to Petya Boevska, which you can find by clicking  here , or by clicking the section in the navigation bar at the top of your screen, should you wish to pay your respects.

The GSC is at Your Service!

The Coordination Workshop started off with a brief overview of achievements and services available to country-level clusters. There were three key points raised during this introductory discussion:

1.  Mid-year achievements and gaps  (Click the link to see the report).
2. Opportunities for Country Clusters and GSC support services.
3. Launch of the GSC strategy review process.

The session also included a tribute to Petya Boevska. Should you wish to pay your respects, you may click either  here , or the section in the navigation bar at the top of your screen.

Jamboard Discussion

1. Has the GSC strategy been useful in supporting your field cluster strategy development?
2. What are some limitations or challenges you have encountered when relating the national cluster strategy to the GSC strategy?
3. What are the issues and trends that should be reflected in the new strategy? (enhancing localization, etc.)

EasyRetro Discussion

1. Compared to the other clusters, is the rate of funding reduction received in the Shelter Cluster is higher or lower?
2. In the discussion with ECHO and other donors, is there any discussion around micro-plastics in shelter material?
3. The structure needs to be enhanced more by developing an information sharing system among national, regional and global coordination regularly and providing opportunities to learn from other regions

GFP Research & Advocacy; Supporting you to inform your work with evidence, best practice, learning, and guidance on how to use them for advocacy.

Facilitated by Lizzie Babister and Kimja Vanderheyden, this section sets out the rationale for the focus on research, the work done so far by the Global Shelter Cluster, and the understanding of the term ‘research’ that underpins the work. The key to this is the identification of shelter and settlement evidence gaps, and advancing and fostering the links with academia.

Some understandings of key research concepts that were covered are:

• Understanding specific objectives in using evidence for research strategies.
• Using exploratory and explanatory examples rather than descriptive.
• Asking research questions concerned with change led by critical analysis.
• Concerned with rigors and ethics, tempered by speed, capacity, and contextualization.

Jamboard Discussion 1 Topics

1. Has the GSC strategy been useful in supporting your field cluster strategy development?
2. What are some limitations or challenges you have encountered when relating the national cluster strategy to the GSC strategy?
3. What are the issues and trends that should be reflected in the new strategy? (think for instance about enhancing localisation, etc.)

Jamboard Discussion 2 Topics

1. How do you use evidence?
2. What are the barriers to accessing evidence?

[We] urgently need to adapt our coordination approaches & strategies to address the climate emergency.

This session focused on how to integrate recurrent climate hazards in cluster preparedness and response activities, both in conflict and disaster settings. The session used interactive tools, such as Menti, EasyRetro and Jamboard, to share participants' views on adapting our actions to the climate emergency.

There were two examples throughout the session that highlighted the urgency of adapting to the climate crisis: Vanuatu, and Yemen. Both presentations discussed their climate emergencies, how they adapted their systems to respond to those emergencies, and how they coordinated community led disaster and risk reduction responses.

EasyRetro Discussion: Vanuatu Case Study

1. In the current context, we are experiencing an ever increasing number of emergencies and it is not always possible to deploy surge capacity to the field. How could we reinforce the localization of aid from the coordination perspective?
2. How are preparedness capacities factored in when some partners raise funds for an emergency?

EasyRetro Discussion: Yemen Case Study

1. Did the contingency planning process highlight a long list of preparedness gaps? If so, how did the cluster go about working on it? Was a joint work plan developed to prioritize actions and assign responsibility?
2. Seeing that there were both emergency shelters, maintenance, and upgrades to damaged houses, to what extent was providing more significant shelter assistance based on the increasing amount and impact of disasters advocated? How was this done?

Questions for Jamboard Discussions 1,2, & 3

1. What is your cluster already doing to address the climate emergency?
2. What might you do in the future?

Providing opportunities for IMOs and NCCs to share experiences, feedback to inform the IM review, and shaping strategic decisions on the IM and assessment functions

The session began with a short introduction, followed by a discussion of four topics relating to IM and assessments:

1. Country-level IM strategy
2. Assessments + JIAF/HNO
3. Updates to the GSC website
4. IMAS toolkit

The session ended with an open discussion on IM and assessment challenges, best practices and introduction to the IM review process initiated by the GSC, supported by REACH. Each topic was introduced through a few live polling questions (using Menti), followed by a discussion around the responses, as well as a short presentation on key highlights for each, as relevant. In addition, an EasyRetro (below) was available throughout the whole session for participants to raise challenges, successes, and the type of support they would like to receive from the GSC in terms of IM and assessments. The EasyRetro guided the open discussion at the end.

EasyRetro Discussion Topics:

1. What are the primary challenges you are faced with in terms of IM and assessments?
2. What are the key highlights, successes over the past year in terms of IM and assessments?
3. Do you have innovative ideas or suggestions on how to improve IM and assessment functions?
4. How can the GSC best support you in terms of IM and assessments?
5. How do you envision the IM function in five years?

Approaching settlement perspectives as important shelter solutions, bridging humanitarian and development work, and increasing the dignity of affected populations.

This session discussed two distinct issues that have increasingly gained significance in how we approach shelter coordination and response, the Settlements Approach and Site Planning. A presentation of key ideas was combined with interactive tools such as Menti and EasyRetro to promote the engagement of participants.

EasyRetro Discussion Topics:

Questions/Comments on "Settlement Approach":

1. How do you handle the settlement approach in IDP emergencies?
2. How do you handle the aspect of pendular movement in IDP situations?
3. Many of the things in settlements approach is no different from what we do currently. Is there any document that has the comparison on step-by-step activities on how we are doing it now and how it is suggested in settlements approach?
4. What is the difference between area based approach and settlement approach?

Questions/Comments on "Lack of Planning":

1. How does the cluster mainstream protection fit in the planning?
2. Is site planning better than the settlements approach?

Questions/Comments on "Site Planning":

1. Is site planning a responsibility of the CCCM or the Shelter Cluster?
2. Is there any means to move site development under Shelter Cluster?
3. The CCCM has been responsible of site planning in the case that was presented, but is it the case in other countries?

Questions/Comments on "NW Syria Experience":

1. What actions have you taken to relocate people from flooded areas to safe areas?

Other Questions/Comments:

1. Why do NFI's trump settlements?
2. Who is responsible for settlements?
3. How do we promote settlements thinking in the shelter sector, and what are the risks?
4. In Cameroon, there is the aspect of the ban on metallic materials in the shelter kits. What could be advised for as an approach to solve this puzzle?
5. Does it mean that an agency needs to bring in expertise in all sectors? if not how will it work, and how different would it be from doing what is already being done?
6. How does the settlement approach and CCCM relate?
7. How is it different from "mainstreaming"?

Developing practical tools and guidance for greening the response, and determining a tool for carbon calculation.

This session focused on greening the shelter response, one of the cross-cutting issues for effective shelter and settlements response in the GSC strategy. The agenda included four main elements:

1. Stock-taking: considering environmental aspects
2. Global support and action on environmental aspects
3. Panel discussion with Cluster Coordinators
4. SMAC tool application in the field

The panel discussion tackled the main challenges cluster partners and coordination teams often face to integrate environmental issues in shelter and settlements response. This was then followed by a detailed explanation of the SMAC tools by using a case study on the use of a scorecard approach in Niger, including 4 criteria, to assess the environmental impact of two emergency shelter models. A jamboard was available throughout to gather feedback.

Jamboard Topics:

1. Has the GSC strategy been useful in supporting your field cluster strategy development?
2. What are some limitations or challenges you have encountered when relating the national cluster strategy to the GSC strategy?
3. What are the issues and trends that should be reflected in the new strategy? (ex: enhancing localisation, etc.)

The Shelter Cluster announces with great sadness the passing of Petya Boevska on the 18th of July in a road accident. Petya had worked with the Shelter Cluster at global and country levels since 2015 and was known to colleagues for her dedication to humanitarian action, professionalism, attention to detail and passion for always doing her best. Petya had a wonderful sense of humor and she worked closely with all people, making colleagues feel at ease with her ability to beguile anyone with a story – she radiated warmth and kindness.

Petya will be missed most as a colleague, and a friend. Thank you for always making us smile and laugh with your stories from Bulgaria, yoga, her recent travels, dreams, and her cat. We know that many of you interacted with Petya over the years, so we wanted to create an opportunity for you to provide condolences to Petya’s family and friends by clicking the button below.