Shelter needs arise from natural disasters, population movements
This report covers the period 01 January 2013 to 31 December 2013
Overview
The goal of the Global Shelter and Settlements Programme is to save lives, protect livelihoods, and strengthen recovery from disasters and crises by reducing the impact of, and vulnerability to, disasters through the development and effective use of national, regional and international Red Cross and Red Crescent capacities and resources in sheltering.
In 2013, shelter needs arising from disasters and crises continued to reflect the emerging trend towards more frequent small and medium scale natural disasters, compounded by population movements due to conflict and instability in the Middle East due to the crisis in Syria. As convener of the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Global Shelter Cluster for natural disasters, IFRC coordinated the interagency shelter response to the tropical storm in Bangladesh, the tropical cyclone in Fiji for which funding was secured from ECHO enabling continuation of the shelter cluster coordination and the response to various emergencies in the Philippines: typhoons Bopha and Haiyan, as well as the earthquake in Vaiyas. The flood response in operation in Mozambique continued to receive support through an IFRC deployed shelter coordinator and information management services; and as part of the shelter sector support provided by IFRC in its cluster role to humanitarian shelter agencies, to inform the post-typhoon response in the Philippines an analysis of legal and regulatory barriers to the provision of shelter assistance was shared to raise awareness within shelter cluster agencies of such barriers and practical solutions.
National Red Cross Red Crescent Societies responded to 81 emergencies requiring a need for shelter assistance to affected populations through the use of IFRC’s Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) and Emergency Appeals. This represents 77% of all IFRC emergency response activities including the distribution of shelter items, shelter related relief items, emergency shelter, provision of shelter materials etc., but excluding health and drought specific DREFs and appeals. More than 7.6 million people affected by disaster in 2013 received shelter assistance in the form of emergency or temporary shelter and shelter-related non-food items through IFRC relief and recovery activities. Total expenditure on shelter-related disaster assistance in 2013 was CHF 108 million.