Global Shelter Cluster 2023
Annual Meeting 2023
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Review of Achievements
Key Figures and Acheivements in 2022
Strategy Preview 2023 - 2027
Thematic Session 1
The Wider Impacts of Shelter
Panel Discussion
Fiona Kelling, Shelter and Settlements Expert, Independent, Key note speaker and panel moderator Rachel Sider, Interpeace Sam Cheung, Global Protection Cluster Coordinator, UNHCR Jameel Abdul, CEO of the Tamdeen Youth Foundation in Yemen Lizzie Babister, Global Shelter Cluster Focal Point for Research, Habitat for Humanity
Session Brief
Moderator Fiona Kelling, a Shelter and HLP specialist with experience in the sector since 2009, opened the thematic session on the "Wider Impacts of Shelter." She introduced the speakers: Rachel Sider, Head of the Executive Office at Interpeace; Samuel Cheung, Global Protection Cluster Coordinator at UNHCR; Jameel Abdo Ali, CEO of Yemen's Tamdeen Youth Foundation; and Lizzie Babister, Global Focal Point for Research at the Global Shelter Cluster, seconded by Habitat for Humanity International, who provided an overall introduction to the topic and research.
The session began with a Menti survey, asking participants to describe in one word the impact that "shelter" can have on people's lives. Key words that emerged in the word cloud included protection, safety, and dignity. Fiona, in her introductory statement, highlighted the wide-ranging impact of shelter on people's lives and emphasized that it goes beyond having a roof. People's needs are cross-sectoral, as shelter affects their access to services such as WASH, as well as their security, safety, health, child protection, education, and livelihoods.
Photo Credits: Ethiopia, 2019 - IOM
Rachel Sider emphasized the importance of "research and evidence" on the impact of shelter on other sectoral outcomes and the overall well-being of people in need. To understand the wider impact of shelter, outcomes need to be documented, evaluated, and monitored in a cross-sectoral manner, which is often lacking. This multi-sectoral evidence is crucial for advocacy and resource mobilization. She highlighted the need for engaging with local actors and stakeholders to influence power dynamics. When developing awareness-raising messages, socio-economic, environmental, and other aspects should be considered, tailored to specific audiences beyond just the media. Rachel also underscored the importance of understanding the "landscape of actors" and the necessary level of influence before initiating advocacy processes, noting that advocacy is not without risks but can be mitigated through a deeper understanding of actors and tailored messages. While partnering with a larger group of stakeholders can strengthen the message, reaching agreement on advocacy messages may pose challenges.
Sam Cheung discussed the protection risks associated with the lack of adequate shelter and emphasized that shelter should focus on the demand rather than the supply, highlighting the critical role of shelter as a means of achieving protection outcomes. He advocated for more localized and tailored responses and increased accountability. A collective analysis of protection risks with other clusters can help define key priorities for a collective response. However, achieving this requires effective leadership for inter-cluster coordination based on systems, not personal relationships between cluster coordinators.
Jameel Abdo Ali, CEO of Yemen's Tamdeen Youth Foundation, highlighted the lack of funding, including for local NGOs, to support IDPs and their shelter needs, particularly transitional and more durable shelters that provide better protection. Jameel also emphasized the importance of shelter actors understanding the cultural context, local customs, and traditions, as well as the location of shelter and settlements, for accessing livelihood opportunities. He advocated for stronger inclusion of local actors in shelter programming due to their invaluable networks, knowledge, and access to beneficiaries. Local organizations are often trusted by the people because of their understanding of the local context and challenges, familiarity with local construction methods and materials, and capacity for repairs or linking aid to livelihood opportunities. Working with local actors is also essential for reaching remote and hard-to-reach areas and increasing the reach of humanitarian aid.
Lizzie Babister highlighted the need to improve collaboration among stakeholders in understanding the wider impact of shelter. She noted that demonstrating the impact across other sectors is challenging, especially due to a lack of research and insufficient cross-sectoral monitoring. While few examples exist, research is needed to establish the impact of shelter on protection, gender-based violence, health, and other areas. For instance, there is a clear link between housing/shelter and improved child protection and education. Research can also demonstrate how shelter interventions contribute to economic development and increased wealth for beneficiaries and local communities.
The session on the Wider Impact of Shelter was followed by group work on selected topics, including advocacy, collaboration, centrality of protection, research and learning, and localization.
Group Work on the Wider Impacts of Shelter
Recommendations from the breakout groups included raising awareness of durable solutions and focusing on both short-term and long-term approaches. Housing, land, and property rights should be carefully considered by humanitarian actors, and long-term engagement is necessary to address structural challenges. Short-term donor funding cycles can be a challenge, especially in protracted contexts where dignified shelter solutions are urgently needed. Recommendations also included increased cross-sectoral coordination and partnerships, where possible, with governments and local actors, as they play a major role in the response and supporting people and communities towards autonomy and resilience. Inclusion of women, including local women, in emergency response programming and collaboration with local universities and think tanks on social and economic development during and after a crisis were also emphasized. Systematic advocacy, including protection-focused advocacy, and jointly agreed-upon indicators for measuring impacts were identified as necessary for evidence-based advocacy and programming on the wider impact of shelter.
Inspirational talk
United Nations Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement
Mr. Robert Piper , Assistant Secretary General
Pathways for Durable Solutions
Reflections by Robert Piper on Solutions to Internal Displacement
The Global Shelter Cluster was honored to have Robert Piper, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement, contribute to the Annual Meeting with a short presentation on the implementation of the Secretary-General's Action Agenda on Solutions for Internal Displacement. After introducing the main objective of the Action Agenda, he shared specific actions and engagement in the 16 pilot countries selected for advancing "Pathways for Solutions," as well as the building blocks and expectations for his mandate. Many of the building blocks, such as increased government ownership and tailored leadership arrangements, highlight the strong linkages between humanitarian actions, development systems including SDGs, and solutions financing frameworks. Mr. Piper also emphasized the importance of meaningful participation by IDPs and communities impacted by internal displacement in discussions, strategies, and implementation.
The presentation was followed by a discussion with the audience on shelter and settlements interventions as a crucial step in advancing durable solutions. Mr. Piper underscored the strong impact of "safe and durable shelter" as a milestone for a dignified life and for seizing social and economic opportunities.
Thematic Session 2
Environment and Climate Change
Panel Discussion
- Mandy George, Senior Environmental Adviser, Global Shelter Cluster - IFRC, introductory speaker and panel moderator
- Karolina Kalinowska, Policy Officer - DG ECHO
- Anja Pirjevec, Global Technical Expert, Environmental Sustainability - DG ECHO
- Ninni Ikkala Nyman, Lead for Climate and Resilience - IFRC
- Bruno Jochum, Founder and Executive Director - Climate Action Accelerator
Panel Discussion
The session was moderated by Mandy George from the GSC Green Team and Marco Menestrina from InterAction. They introduced the three panelists: Anja Pirjevec and Karolina Kalinowska from DG ECHO, Ninni Ikkala Nyman from IFRC, and Bruno Jochum from the Climate Action Accelerator.
Mandy provided updates on the GSC Green Team's work streams, current initiatives, and upcoming steps at both the global and country levels, including research and advocacy. A Menti survey was conducted to gather participants' ideas on "Looking ahead: where should we be going and what should we be doing?" Among the results, the most frequently mentioned words were adaptation, climate justice, preparedness, and localization.
Karolina Kalinowska and Anja Pirjevec presented ECHO's perspective on environment and climate change-related work and identified areas of focus for the coming years. They acknowledged the progress made in terms of requirements and policies, including from donors. However, they emphasized the need to enhance implementation and monitoring mechanisms. Their priorities for the future include:
- Strengthening field capacity for environmental assessment and incorporating the recommendations of these assessments in programming and implementation.
- Incorporating minimum environmental standards in ECHO-funded projects.
- Increasing collaboration with development partners and developing a common monitoring framework for the shelter sector.
They also mentioned a budget line dedicated to "disaster preparedness," which is already available for funding preparedness projects and programs. However, it is underutilized, as many agencies do not include it in their proposals, and there is limited uptake for funding multi-year proposals. When asked about lessons learned from the pilot phase of multi-year projects, they noted that the pilot had only started this year, and a comprehensive evaluation would require more time.
Ninni Ikkala Nyman, representing IFRC, highlighted that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) recognized for the first time last year that the "climate crisis is a humanitarian crisis." Similar to previous speakers, she emphasized the importance of adopting a humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus approach to effectively address climate change-related issues before, during, and after disasters, considering the long-term perspective. She also stressed the need for the humanitarian sector to have access to relevant information (past, current, and future projections) to develop climate-resilient solutions.
Bruno Jochum from the Climate Action Accelerator emphasized three guiding principles for climate action:
- The integration of environmental criteria in programming, which benefits the targeted population.
- Finding better ways to serve populations living in contexts where high energy consumption is the standard.
- Limiting the use of plastic and preserving natural resources.
Photo Credits: 2019, IOM
Group Work
The discussions revolved around four topics, with each topic being discussed by two groups:
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Localization
- Operationalization of donors' requirements
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
Summary
Key takeaways from the group discussions included an increased focus on preparedness and contingency planning instead of a reactive approach. Participants advocated for increased advocacy to donors for climate funding, citing examples such as Yemen's cyclical floods where donors are reluctant to fund preparedness measures, despite the urgent need for a long-term mitigation strategy. Teams stressed the importance of prioritizing long-term solutions, as well as training and capacity-building for humanitarian actors and local stakeholders in climate change adaptation, mitigation, and greening the humanitarian response. Local solutions were seen as essential, requiring an understanding of local capacities, resources, skills, and strengths, along with alignment with available resources from local communities, key stakeholders, and governments.
Other recommendations for the GSC included the development of tools to support cluster coordinators in decision-making regarding the implementation of requirements (e.g., local vs. international procurement, measuring the environmental footprint of shelter materials, etc.). Participants also emphasized the need for dialogue with donors to assess the feasibility of requirements and the importance of contextualization and flexibility to ensure the quality of assistance is not compromised. Harmonization of requirements across donors was deemed important to address confusion and ensure consistency.
Thematic Session 3
Recovery and Durable Solutions
Panel Discussion
- Brett Moore, Global Shelter Cluster Coordinator, UNHCR, introductory speaker and panel moderator
- Marina Scuric-Prodanovic, Coordinator, Global Cluster Coordination Group, OCHA
- Louis Hoffmann, Senior Advisor, Office of the Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General
- Roberto Paganini, Policy Specialist, Crisis Bureau, UNDP
- Jim Robinson, NRC, Global Protection Cluster AoR
The work of the GSC, its partners, and Shelter Clusters in different countries contributes to the objectives in the Action Agenda on Internal Displacement: finding solutions to internal displacement, preventing new displacements, and ensuring protection and assistance to IDPs and communities. Proper coordination, planning, and implementation of shelter and settlement actions are key to harnessing the full potential of these approaches. This session put a spotlight on some of the key global trends, frameworks, and realities on the ground, while also underlining the linkages to early recovery.
Brett highlighted in his introduction that Shelter Cluster HRPs have reached an aggregated value of $1.2 billion, with a reported 19 million individuals reached with shelter and NFI-related activities. Across 2022, close to $300 million was associated with repair and construction activities, which contributed to recovery and underlined how shelter activities contribute to durable solutions for internally displaced people.
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
In her contribution, Marina introduced five ongoing initiatives that will impact the humanitarian system in general, including the Emergency Relief Coordinator's Flagship Initiative and the review of the IASC Response to Internal Displacement. She advocated for the GSC to be an "agent of change for transition" and emphasized that multi-sectoral approaches, localization, and participation of affected populations will be highly prioritized in global frameworks.
Louis, who joined the discussions online, underlined the strong linkages between shelter and durable solutions. He emphasized that shelter and tenure rights are crucial for people to feel settled and support them in building social and economic networks and increasing their resilience. He concluded that urban and physical planning, as well as a "settlements approach," are important elements for pathways towards solutions and strongly advocated for advancing opportunities and supporting socio-economic development.
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
Jim Robinson, when asked about the linkages between Shelter and HLP rights, emphasized that HLP is a "golden thread," and durable solutions cannot be found if HLP challenges are not addressed. He stated that cooperation with governments and development actors is crucial, especially since HLP issues are not an easy fix and require coordination with other sectors and stakeholders. He underlined that during a humanitarian response, HLP needs strong considerations to enable durable solutions and recovery.
Roberto Paganini, representing the Crisis Bureau of UNDP in Geneva, highlighted that UNDP will take a two-fold approach: supporting response to active crises and working with governments to reduce the needs and root causes of crises. A reactivation of the Early Recovery Cluster will ensure that recovery considerations are included in humanitarian system thinking from the beginning and help bring a development lens to humanitarian responses. Internally displaced people need "durable solutions," not only regarding shelter but also through access to socio-economic development opportunities, such as connecting housing to jobs, planning urban growth, linking housing to services, to help create an enabling environment for durable and peaceful solutions.
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
Group discussion
The breakout groups for this session were structured around five subthemes: humanitarian coordination for advancing the HDP nexus; (self-) recovery in the context of climate change & crises triggered by natural hazards; solutions from the start in conflict contexts; and focused discussions on urban contexts and localization.
Each group introduced the main discussion points, including experiences shared by country cluster coordinators, partners, or recent research, and discussed opportunities and challenges.
Looking Forward – Consolidating GSC Approaches
The session started with a short introduction by the GSC Coordinators on the strategic priorities defined for the 2023-2027 GSC Strategy. Three of those priorities (out of eight in total) were already used to guide the three main thematic sessions of the GSC annual event. It was important to introduce the other five strategic priorities during the annual event and gather perspectives from GSC stakeholders for further thinking.
Groups were then formed on the four topics, with GSC team members or SAG members facilitating the discussions.
The four topics were:
- Rights-based approaches
- Integrated responses
- Greater capacity
- Increased coverage and improved targeting
Facilitators introduced the topics, and groups were asked to discuss the theme and formulate recommendations relating to advocacy, capacities, and stakeholders, which would help inform the strategy development process. In many groups, Shelter Cluster Coordinators shared experiences from their respective countries on the selected topics, enriching the discussions and linking global thinking to country implementation.
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
Recommendations from the group discussing human rights approaches included defining rights-based indicators and fostering cross-sectoral interaction and monitoring to strengthen links with key actors. These include the Special Rapporteurs on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, and the Right to Adequate Housing, as well as the Protection Cluster, OHCHR, and other rights-based organizations focusing on advocacy.
The group discussing coverage and targeting strongly advocated for enhancing partners' capacity to deliver quality habitable living spaces, ensuring better programming quality and avoiding a shelter response that is solely focused on the distribution of non-food items. They also emphasized the importance of Shelter Cluster Coordinators and the GSC actively participating in conversations to advance the HDP nexus, durable solutions, and localization.
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
To increase localization and have more diverse and stronger responders, participants highlighted the need to reduce language barriers and work more closely with local actors, including government, the private sector, academia, and communities. They acknowledged the importance of utilizing existing local knowledge and skills, emphasizing the necessity of knowledge transfer in both directions. The GSC could play a facilitative role in advancing processes and steering discussions on localizing existing tools. To achieve this, it would be crucial to understand the cultural contexts of "learning" and engage further with communities to better understand capacity needs in specific local contexts.
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
The group discussing integrated responses agreed that many professionals in the shelter and settlements sector are architects or engineers. However, in some cases, it may be more favorable to have a diverse team that includes socio-economic or anthropology experts to complement technical skills and promote holistic thinking in shelter and settlement interventions. While the settlements approach and area-based approaches advocated by other actors require cross-sectoral thinking, there is still little understanding and few indicators for monitoring integrated approaches, including in other clusters. Participants identified "sectoral funding allocation" as a major challenge for integrated solutions. To advance integrated approaches, cross-sectoral data collection and analysis, including spatial analysis, would be useful to establish joint outcomes for a specific area. The group identified various stakeholders as key for integrated approaches and highlighted the need for humanitarian responses to be aware of governance structures. The importance of having more flexible funding mechanisms, including multi-sectoral and multi-year funding, to facilitate work on topics like HLP rights was identified. The GSC has a strong role to play in advocating for innovative approaches that consider living environments at the settlement level, incorporating socio-economic and environmental considerations.
After the different groups presented their findings, the Global Cluster Coordinators closed the session with reflections on the recommendations, underlining that the GSC will continue to advocate for shelter and settlements approaches that foster localization, cross-sectoral coordination, and discussions on "solutions from the start" to support recovery and longer-term considerations.
Photo Credits: 2022, IOM
Partners' Announcements
Partners' announcements included contributions from IOM, who launched an international design competition in June 2023 named " Home after Crisis " for housing solutions for displaced populations in North-East Nigeria. CRS informed about an initiative to increase capacity building and knowledge exchange for francophone West and Central African countries. UNHCR introduced the UNHCR Shelter Sustainability Assessment Tool , which enables assessments of shelter designs regarding environmental impacts, technical performance, habitability, and affordability.
Roofus Awards
The Roofus Award, moderated by Pablo Medina from IFRC, was presented to a wide range of people (including, but not limited to, Brett Moore, Ela Serdaroglu, Stephanie Loose, Pablo himself, and the Global Shelter Cluster Support Team) for their personal or professional engagement, as in previous years.
Brett and Ela closing the GSC Event 2023
Conclusion of Group Work and Closing Remarks
During the Global Shelter Cluster Annual Meeting, participants were provided information covering the work of the GSC over the last 12 months, as well as information on a range of global issues and priorities. Everyone was also encouraged to contribute actively to discussions in breakout groups on topics related to and building upon content and perspectives shared during the panel discussions of the three thematic sessions. Cluster coordinators and partners shared their experiences in moderated groups on how the GSC can advance advocacy, collaboration and guidance on localization, durable solutions and recovery, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The participants underlined that localization efforts would need to be increased, not only in the light of funding constraints for the humanitarian sector, but also for better tailoring of shelter and settlements responses to local contexts and increased ownership by affected populations, host communities and authorities and making tools and guidance available in different languages to reduce barriers for SC partners. The importance of acknowledging and promoting local skills and solutions from local actors was discussed as a critical and transformative priority to support better outcomes.
In order to advance pathways for durable solutions and recovery from the onset of a response, different break-out groups put a spotlight on issues including stronger engagement with communities and government authorities, the importance of broadening engagement with stakeholders who are not typical partners, including the private sector.
Further promoting and advocating for a better understanding of the wider impacts of shelter and settlements responses was identified as a key entry point to attain better protection dividends and support health, livelihood and broad developmental outcomes. It is only through a broad approach and understanding that progress toward durable solutions from the start, including HLP issues, will be possible. The participants underlined that humanitarian responses needed to lay the ground for recovery and further development, and that shelter and settlements programming and coordination needed to include considerations on social, economic and environmental impacts in both the short and longer term.
The annual Global Shelter Cluster meeting was closed by the GSC coordinators, Brett Moore and Ela Serdaroglu, who thanked the different teams for the smooth organization and participants for their engagement and rich and inspiring contributions.
