Global Shelter Cluster 2022
Annual Meeting 2022
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Table of Contents
- Overview
- Ignite panel
- From relief to dignified shelter solutions
- Climate change and environment in shelter response
- GSC strategy: looking back and looking forward
- Strategy review
- Information Management review
- Research
- Coordinators workshop conclusions
- Discussions
- Open spaces
- Feedback survey
Overview
After two years of online GSC Shelter Meeting due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Global Shelter Cluster (GSC) returned to an in-person annual meeting in 2022 in Geneva. The Global Shelter Cluster Annual Shelter Meeting took place at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva on 06 and 07 July 2022.
The key objectives of the GSC Annual Shelter Meeting were:
- Identify and address emerging trends driving change in humanitarian action
- Review Global Shelter Cluster Strategy 2018-2022; and
- Define the Global Shelter Cluster strategic direction.
You can find the presentation of this session here.
In addition, the Annual Shelter Meeting also focused on identifying and addressing emerging issues from the GSC SAG, partners, donors, country level clusters and IASC global level cluster-related initiatives. The event was also a unique opportunity for learning and networking.
The event brough together 128 participants from more than 40 countries, including Country-level Shelter Cluster coordination teams, shelter practitioners from different organizations, academic institutions, private sector, and independent experts as well as the Global Shelter Cluster Support Team.
For detailed information on the workshop agenda please visit the link
You can find here the full opening remarks.
Ignite Panel: The Future of Humanitarian Coordination and Response
Facilitators
Moderator: William Chemaly, Global Protection Cluster Coordinator, UNHCR Panelists: Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis Samantha Louise Newport, Section Chief, Operations & Advocacy Division, OCHA Gareth Price-Jones, Executive Secretary, SCHR Cecilia Roselli, NRC Director in Geneva
Session Objectives
- Set the tone for deep dives
Session outcomes
- Identification of opportunities and areas for improvement in humanitarian sector to more effectively meet the needs of the population affected by humanitarian crises.
- Reflections of the panelists on the limitations of the current coordination system and the way forward.
You can find the presentation of this session here.
Session Brief
The GSC annual event started with an ignite discussion that gathered four panelists with an extensive background in the humanitarian world who shared their experience, thoughts and observations on the topic, The Future of Humanitarian Coordination and Response. The session was moderated by William Chemaly (Global Protection Cluster Coordinator).
The first intervention, by Mark Cutts (Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis), focused on the origin of the cluster system, the positive contributions it has brought to the current humanitarian system, such as a greater predictability and professionalism. When talking about the current challenges, he stressed the need to improve the attention to the voices of the affected populations. Although significant progress has been made in terms of inclusion, for example through the co-ordination approach, there is still a need to ensure representation of all groups of the population. Particularly, the panelist mentioned one example from his personal experience, when he realized women representation in that particular coordination platform was almost nonexistent, given that 90% of head of agencies participating were men. According to his experience, adding the rule of including a second person representing each agency, a woman, greatly improved representativeness and had a very positive impact in the overall coordination dynamics. Other urgent areas to improved mentioned were the environmental and energy ones. While the environmental component should continue as a cross-cutting area, when it comes energy, his opinion since the original discussions of the creation of the cluster approach- in 2005, was the pertinence of having a cluster exclusively dedicated to energy. Finally, he highlighted too the need to better consider the mental health component in the humanitarian response.
The second intervention came from Samantha Louise Newport (Section Chief, Operations & Advocacy Division, OCHA), who highlighted the localization and the accountability to affected populations as the main challenges the Humanitarian Coordination System needs to address in the next ten years. When discussing about how we can better advocate for the need for preparedness and risk management in a sector primarily driven by the urgency of response, the answer centered firstly on anticipatory financing mechanisms - preparedness costs were mentioned to be generally considered 7 times lower than emergency response ones- and secondly in the strengthening of the partnerships, particularly with the private sector, mentioning as examples South Asian and Latin American countries and recently Ukraine.
To the moderator’s question about the level of adequacy of the system for NGOs, the third participant, Gareth Price-Jones (Executive Secretary, SCHR), answered the main critic he had was the complexity of the coordination mechanisms in place, that in some cases discourages the participation of small NGOs and in others can result overwhelming for some of them. Building on top of this idea, the fourth panelist, Cecilia Roselli (NRC Director in Geneva), added her opinion on the need to go back to the roots of the coordination; avoiding an excess of sophistication and coming back to the basics, such as strengthening the work with the national and local authorities, the assessment of the current coordination mechanisms in place, enhancing the participation, the simplification of the structures and its contextualization as much as possible and the linkage with the development actors. She stated the need to review and re-shape the system that, even if it has contributed greatly to the professionalization of the humanitarian response, still has very important challenges such as the confrontation that suffers from its siloed nature with intersectoral areas, such as cash-based interventions or housing land and property rights.
As conclusion remarks, they mentioned the need to improve the coordination system to adapt it to the present context, which has strongly evolved in the past years, looking for a more inclusive approach that can also better integrate the environmental aspects of the humanitarian response and keeps its focus on dignity, privacy and safety of all people.
From Relief to Dignified Shelter Solutions
Facilitators
Moderator: Amelia Rule, External moderator - NRC Panelists: Tom Bamforth, SCC Syria X- Border Operation - Turkey Hub - UNHCR Caroline Dewast and Laschoni Soki, SCC DRC - UNHCR Mulugeta Gutema, SCC Ethiopia - IOM Francesca Lubrano, SCC Cameroon - UNHCR
Session Objectives
Understanding of the practical implications of and opportunities for linking humanitarian and development work in shelter and settlements and achieving “Dignified Shelter Solutions”:
- Understanding of how Coordinators (and engaged stakeholders) are making those connections work.
- Understanding of how Coordinators (and engaged stakeholders) are innovating.
- Understanding of what is moving forward towards dignified solutions.
Session Outcomes
- A better understanding of factors that limit the moving forward from relief to Dignified Shelter Solutions in protracted contexts.
- Examples of opportunities for achieving Dignified Shelter Solutions in protracted contexts are shared.
- Ways in which shelter, and settlements actors can proactively work together in the future are suggested.
You can find the presentation of this session here.
Discussions
Following the presentations, the moderator opened the discussions to the participants who asked the panelists about the level of data and evidence needed to achieve dignified shelter solutions. While the panelists believed in the importance of data, they also emphasized that not everything should be data-related and to think about the expertise the actors have.
Another question to the panelists was about the engagement with donors on flexible fund, available funding and what the clusters achieve with the current level of funding. The panelists mentioned lack of flexibility and lack of funding in the clusters which raise multiple challenges in ever changing situations.
Session Brief
The moderator started the sessions presenting the panelists and the topic of the session. The session was to hear four different voices from four different protracted crises contexts, where provision of shelter solutions to displaced people, usually through relief focused programmes. The moderator asked the main questions of the session about challenges in the crisis and what is adequate and what is dignified?
The moderator highlighted some challenges to achieve dignified shelter solutions. Neglected protracted crisis, lack of media attention, lack of economical support and lack of political will.
What is adequate and what is dignified? The right to adequate housing involves availability, affordability, habitability, accessibility and cultural adequacy.
The panelists presented experiences from their country clusters namely in Cameroon, DRC, Ethiopia, and Syria.
Cameroon
Cameroon. Click to expand.
The Coordinator presented a brief background on the complex crisis in Cameroon which is ranked as the third most neglected crisis in the world. Also, the Coordinator briefed on the operational frameworks trying to address the dignified shelter solutions and the need to have a nexus approach since the Shelter Cluster alone is not able to achieve this multisectoral goal.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo. Click to expand.
The Coordinators presented a brief background on the complex crisis in DRC including conflict, natural disasters, and a mix of IDPs and refugees’ influxes. The main challenges faced by the cluster are related to capacity, large scale of needs exceeding the resources and the lack of funding.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia. Click to expand.
The Coordinator briefed on the context in Ethiopia and the solutions used by Shelter Cluster trying to utilize available types of shelters using different mechanisms. Collective centers, unfinished buildings, public buildings, and rental support are the main solutions.
Syria
Syria. Click to expand.
The Coordinator presented the context of the Syrian crisis as a protracted and highly politicized crisis. The nature of the crisis has led to multiple challenges to provide long-term and dignified shelter solutions. Adding to that, the flooding, harsh weather conditions and the continuous conflict are contributing to worsen the situation of the people in need.
Cameroon
The Coordinator presented a brief background on the complex crisis in Cameroon which is ranked as the third most neglected crisis in the world. Also, the Coordinator briefed on the operational frameworks trying to address the dignified shelter solutions and the need to have a nexus approach since the Shelter Cluster alone is not able to achieve this multisectoral goal.
Active advocacy, collaboration, nexus approach, evidence-based response are the main approaches used by the cluster moving forward.
Looking forward, the collaboration between humanitarian actors, development actors, peace actors, and the government is key for dignified solutions which come in multisectoral approach.
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Coordinators presented a brief background on the complex crisis in DRC including conflict, natural disasters, and a mix of IDPs and refugees’ influxes. The main challenges faced by the cluster are related to capacity, large scale of needs exceeding the resources and the lack of funding.
The cluster is maintaining a strategic positioning with linkage to other clusters as shelter needs remain critical. Through this collaboration, the cluster is pushing for transition, durable and dignified shelter solutions.
Ethiopia
The Coordinator briefed on the context in Ethiopia and the solutions used by Shelter Cluster trying to utilize available types of shelters using different mechanisms. Collective centers, unfinished buildings, public buildings, and rental support are the main solutions.
Due to the complex nature of the crisis, the Shelter Cluster is facing challenges moving towards durable shelter solutions like multiple displacement, uncoordinated return, lack of disaster mitigation activities, donor fatigue, and resource reallocation.
Similar to the Cameroon situation, moving forward, the collaboration between different actors, and working more actively with donors are believed to be key to overcome the challenges and achieve dignified solutions.
Syria
The Coordinator presented the context of the Syrian crisis as a protracted and highly politicized crisis. The nature of the crisis has led to multiple challenges to provide long-term and dignified shelter solutions. Adding to that, the flooding, harsh weather conditions and the continuous conflict are contributing to worsen the situation of the people in need.
Any dignified and long-term solutions should take into consideration the protection issues.
In order to achieve dignified shelter solutions, evidence-based analysis, engagement with donors, investment in advocacy, engagement with local actors, and more coordination between organizations in addition to increased, long-term and flexible funds were presented as main recommendations.
Climate Change and Environment in Shelter Responses
Facilitators
Mandy George Madeleine Marara Charles Kelly
Session Brief
Environment and climate are expected to be a core part of the Global Shelter Cluster’s 2023 Strategy. Concerns about the impact of a changing climate on lives and wellbeing and as a forcing element in the need for humanitarian shelter are widespread. These impacts require specific recognition and actions by organizations supporting humanitarian shelter assistance. Donors are asking that consideration of changing climates be incorporated into humanitarian operations, from the perspective of reducing impact of operational footprints and to build climate resilience going forward. Environment and climate are expected to be a core part of the Global Shelter Cluster’s 2023 Strategy. Concerns about the impact of a changing climate on lives and wellbeing and as a forcing element in the need for humanitarian shelter are widespread. These impacts require specific recognition and actions by organizations supporting humanitarian shelter assistance. Donors are asking that consideration of changing climates be incorporated into humanitarian operations, from the perspective of reducing impact of operational footprints and to build climate resilience going forward.
Environment is a concept which incorporates climate and other considerations such as natural resource extraction sustainability. It has been recognized as a significant factor in successful humanitarian operations. The environmental impact of humanitarian operations are drawing increased attention from donors as well as from individual assistance organizations. Understanding and addressing the environmental aspects of humanitarian operations is core to the accountability to affected populations. Addressing overall environment issues arising from humanitarian operations means integrating climate-related issues in these efforts.
The operational dialogue on climate, environment and humanitarian shelter is ongoing. A single one-hour session at the 2022 GSC Annual Meeting will not bring this process to closure.
Given the time available, the session used four working groups to identify practical challenges in addressing climate and environment considerations as part of humanitarian operations. This was accomplished by dividing attendees into four groups with each group tasked with discussing one of the following questions:
- What are seen as the major challenges in addressing a changing climate for humanitarian shelter operations?
- What are seen as the major challenges to integrating environmental considerations into humanitarian shelter operations?
The results of the discussions were summarized and presented to the attendees. Results will be consolidated into a short report as input into the development of the new GSC Strategy.
Session objectives
- Increase practical awareness of climate-environment-humanitarian shelter links.
- Identify practical challenges in improving integration of climate and environment into humanitarian shelter operations
Session outcomes
- Key challenges to improving integration of climate and environment into humanitarian shelter operations identified.
- Input into a strategic and operations-focused road map to integrate climate and environment into humanitarian shelter operations identified.
You can find the presentation of this session here.
Discussions
The session was organized in a participatory way, starting with the facilitators giving the background on why integrating environmental considerations in shelter programming is critical, that it will be a key topic in the new GSC strategy, and mentioning the “greening shelter project”. Below are some of the points mentioned during the session:
- Organizational shifts to incorporating environment and climate into policies and actions
- Increasing emphasis of donors on climate and environment (ECHO as an example)
- Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations
Participants were then requested to respond to three questions that would help trigger the inclusion of environment and climate change issues into the Global Shelter Cluster forthcoming strategy. Responses received during the session, as summarized below, will be put into a report and presented to the SAG.
How important do you feel greening humanitarian operations is in addressing the impact of climate and the environment on crisis-affected populations?
(Participants responded individually)
Eighty four percent of the respondents indicated that greening humanitarian aid was important, very important or critical.
What should the Global Shelter Cluster strategy say about the environment and climate as part of assisting affected populations?
(Open question -Responses collected per table, following a group discussion)
Various suggestions/responses were submitted. A selection of these follows below:
- The GSC should support the development of tools to encourage sustainable response
- The GSC should mainstream environmental and climate awareness activities in response plans
- The GSC should support context-based quantification and operationalization of sustainability principles and initiatives
- The GSC will increase investment in mitigating the effects of climate change on shelter and settlement during time of preparedness and response
- Environmental considerations should be mandatory
The GSC should focus on bringing environmental expertise into response - environmental WG as standard.
Should the GSC give increased attention to preparedness and reducing risk to reduce the need to respond to recurring disasters?
(Participants responded individually)
GSC Strategy: Looking Back and Looking Forward
Facilitators
Mitch Levine and Xavier Genot: For Strategy review findings Camilla Wuensch: For IM review findings Lizzie Babister: For research review findings Patrick Mutai: For strategic discussion session of the Coordinators Workshop Rekha Menon and Hovig Etyemezian: For group discussion
Session objectives
- Brief the audience about the findings of strategic, IM and research review conducted between 2021 and 2022 as well as the findings of the strategic discussion session of the coordinators workshop
- Start the discussion on the future direction of the Global Shelter Cluster Strategy with the GSC Annual Meeting attendants
Session outcomes
- Audience is informed about the critical findings of the strategic reviews in order to discuss the upcoming strategic priorities of the GSC
- Gather feedback by themes from the participants about the main challenges and opportunities of the GSC Strategy
- Gather feedback by themes from the participants about the areas to keep in the GSC Strategy
- Gather feedback by themes from the participants about what is missing or needs adaptation in the current in the GSC Strategy
Strategy review
The facilitator presented the strategy review process in four main parts:
- Evaluation framework and process
- Recalling the current strategy
- Finding per strategic areas and cross cutting themes
- Recommendations
Main findings can be summarized:
- The strategy was the right one for the time, in that it was incremental step toward formalization, inclusiveness helped build buy-in, and over-ambition kind of an appropriate problem
- It remains broad and relevant enough to encompass GSC work
- Lack of clear purpose, priorities, and identity were issues that compounded against funding constraints
- Many aspects of the strategy remain unachieved
- Picture unclear regarding delivery of effective coordination on the ground, despite some improvements in monitoring
Main recommendations can be summarized:
- Instead of full revision of the strategy, opportunity for a light touch review
- Prioritize delivery of key implementation gaps
- In parallel, work to align with other clusters in two key ways:
- Common strategic focus on the “core business” of global clusters and supporting country-level on their core functions
- Align approaches to strategies, including timing, to facilitate better inter-linkages
- For next strategy, adopt a “strategic framework” approach with a range of better targeted tools to support implementation
IM Review: From managing data to creating a data culture
The facilitator presented the Information Management review process in three main parts:
- Methodology
- Findings
- Recommendations
The main objective of the IM review was to inform IM strategic priorities within the upcoming GSC strategy as well as addressing IM challenges in the short-term.
The IM review was conducted in consultative manner engaging multiple actors from country clusters, global support team, SAG members and IM practitioners from different clusters, organization, academic institutions, and private sector.
The review identified practical challenges related to IM strategies, processes and capacities in addition to some conceptual challenges related to activities and methodological standards, inter-sectoral analysis and impact analysis.
On the other hand, the review has highlighted some good practices to be reinforced related to working with partners and collaboration between country clusters and the global cluster, data lifecycle, and accountability to affected populations through debrief sessions on data collection exercises.
Main recommendations can be summarized as follows:
- Reinforce channels of support and capacity building from the global level to the field (toolkit, Community of practice/coffee break, surge support...)
- Develop/revise guidance and tools at the global level to facilitate core IM processes, clarify standards, including “good enough” vs. “nice to have” ones, and terminology.
- Build a large pool of skilled and trained IM staff, including through localization, to improve continuity in the IM function across missions and reinforce awareness of the IM function among key stakeholders.
- Develop standardized analytical systems to provide an agreed-upon approach to measuring the severity of shelter needs, then build capacity to mainstream its use to improve common understanding and analysis of shelter needs and reinforce the shelter “voice” when advocating for funding.
- Through all IM processes, guidance, templates, and tools, ensure that data protection, GBV, disability and greening the response are explicitly included, while clarifying what it entails.
- Develop an approach to real-time monitoring of needs, factoring in vulnerabilities and risk, through better engagement with data collected by government or development actors.
Make use of improvements in technology whenever relevant and appropriate to improve data collection, processing and sharing, within broader knowledge management systems of the cluster, without losing sight of the importance of the human factor in analyzing a response in a highly unpredictable environment.
GSC Research Baseline and Next Steps
The facilitator presented the findings of the research baseline findings. The purpose of the review was to describe the research priorities of humanitarian practitioners engaged in coordination of humanitarian response with focus on three key questions:
- How is Research understood and used by Shelter Clusters?
- What are the Research Priorities of Shelter Clusters?
- What are the Research Capabilities available to Shelter Clusters?
The review identified types of research, research process, research barriers, research priorities, and way forward.
The main research priorities were:
- The Longer Term, including Recovery
- Cash and Markets Approaches
- The Wider Impact
The facilitator also simulated a research process in two different scenarios where the researcher works remotely and, in the field, showing how coordination teams can work effectively with research teams.
Coordinators workshop conclusions
The facilitator presented a concise summary of the discussions from the Coordinators Workshop that took place right before the Shelter Meeting. During the workshop, the coordination teams from country clusters, regional and global levels had a chance to go through same presentations on strategy review, IM review and research with a thematic discussion.
- GSC overall strategic vision: The strategy should be designed as an overarching guiding document that leads the development of the country-level strategies with focus on localization and environment issues.
- GSC services: Improving the capacity building and knowledge sharing with better cataloging of existing tools. In addition to that, to activate the working groups and community of practices with regional and country level initiatives.
- Information Management: Increase reliability and trust in data and utilization and transform to a data driven business model. This leads to improved efficiency and integration of IM processes with coordination functions using harmonized tools and simplified processes
- Research and evidence: Incorporate research within the program cycle and enhance connections with local research networks.
- Reporting, monitoring, and evaluation: Expand CCPM questionnaire to better inform cluster performance internal purposes through including country specific questions and some performance indicators.
- Localization, capacity building and staff retention of country level clusters: Transfer of capacity, knowledge, coaching, mentoring, de-centralizing trainings on cluster coordination to the regions and countries as well as availing online training modules.
- Accountability and engagement: Ensure availability of referral and complaint mechanisms in addition to community planning and participatory design process.
A full summary of the discussions and the Coordinators Workshop report can be found on the link.
Discussions
Following to the presentations, the participants were divided into ten groups to have focused thematic discussions on topics related to the GSC strategy.
The topics of the discussion were the following:
- Overall strategic vision: Current mission and vision statement
- Shelter Response Programming and GSC Strategy - How can the GSC strategy integrate the trends on shelter response programming?
- Looking forward, core strategic areas - Relevance of the current 4 pillars of the GSC strategy
- Accountability and engagement
- Relevance of the current 10 strategic approaches of the GSC strategy
- GSC Performance monitoring
- GSC and fundraising for the shelter sector
- Preparedness and contingency
- Localization and capacity building
- Inter-cluster coordination
The discussions were framed in three main streams:
Present: What are the challenges and opportunities the GSC facing/have?
Throughout the discussions held in the ten groups on each of the topics, one of the most striking challenges mentioned that the GSC is facing is the complexity to support the fundraising for the shelter sector due to the lack of understanding of the multisectoral impact that shelter has, combined to the perception that shelter responses are more expensive than other responses.
When it comes to the topic of localization and capacity building, it was mentioned as an interesting opportunity, the change of paradigm and rethinking of it as mutual capacity enhancement, with the goal of establishing a dynamic of real complementarity.
Past: What the GSC should keep from the past in the coming strategy?
When discussing what to keep from the specific topic of the GSC overall mission and vision, one important point mentioned to retain was definition of a few key concepts such as safe, dignified and appropriate shelter, the binomial of shelter and settlements, the concept of home and the focus on crisis-affected population.
Future: What the GSC should change, add, or prioritize for the coming strategy?
The following graph shows a brief of the terminology used during the discussions and their correlation.
Finally, when debating about what GSC should add to the new strategy, it was highlighted the golden opportunity the Shelter Cluster has to embed in the new strategy the climate-smart approach and the urban response particularities, two of the key current issues in the humanitarian response.
The minutes of the discussions were analyzed using some advanced algorithms to explore in depth the correlations of the mains themes of the discussions. The summary of the analysis was presented to the plenary as well triggering questions, reality checks, and discussions with the facilitators and between the participants themselves.
Open Space Sessions
Two Open Spaces were dedicated for 15 sessions. Participants were able to choose which session to attend and contribute to. The sessions were facilitated and presented by Shelter experts and practitioners who applied for the Open Space sessions beforehand.
Click on the arrows on the left or right of the slide to navigate to each open space session.
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