Shelter as a Fundamental Need
Discuss about the Issues of Shelter Cluster Process in Humanitarian Aid.
Shelter is recognized as a fundamental need and a vital determinant for survival and further coping with a variety of challenges and crises. It has been enshrined in human rights law under right and privilege to adequate housing and accommodation which incorporates adequate spatial facilities and protection along with suitable areas for settlement and availability of services. However, it is significant to identify that in several situational contexts, a vast range of shelter solutions have been undertaken by affected household (Gralla, Goentzel & Fine, 2014). Furthermore, sheltering the victims of crises and executing urgent rehabilitation services is often regarded as the essential humanitarian activity in order to provide security and further ascertain individual safety and protection as well as acknowledge resistance to the marginalized section and ill-health populace (Abrahams, 2014). Thus, it is vital for human dignity to effectively maintain both family and communitarian life and to facilitate the impacted populace to convalesce from the adverse effect of any forms of calamities (Fan, 2013). The following essay evaluates the challenges and issues encountered by humanitarian workers and the way these areas of complexities have been influential to the response of the humanitarian workers. In addition to this, it will further evaluate the approaches through which humanitarian workers cope with the rising challenges and develop knowledge from these situations.
As shelter and the larger conceptualization of settlement have been inextricably associated, thus it must be addressed as a whole rather than concentrating on individual concepts. Thus secure and protected housing settlements necessitate the provision of crisis or disaster impacted communities with protected and health living spaces and environments along with ascertaining adequate rate of privacy and dignity to communities, families as well as individuals within them (Özdamar & Ertem, 2015). At this juncture, the fundamental key trends of humanitarian workers must be recognized which focuses on the elevated rate of urbanization, increased susceptibility of settlements with the impact of rising rate of mobility of people of monetary services and the vital outcomes of augmented displacement because of conflict, particularly the increasing effect of protracted divergences and conflicts which further tend to result in perpetuated intermediary settlements (Sandvik et al., 2014). The past few decades have witnessed around 3.5 billion people to have established their settlements in urban areas further surpassing over half of the population. Studies have claimed that out of the total 3.3 billion urban dwellers in recent times; around one-third have their habitation in insecure or precarious informal settlements and slums which compound the rate of exposure to humanitarian disasters and morbidity (Altay & Pal, 2014). Africa has been recognized as one of the rapid urbanizing region with a current urban development growth annual rate of around 3.5% while Asia has been growing at the rate of 2.7% annually. One of the significant challenges for Cluster team has been to establish an official coordination mechanism and further aid in enhancing the response from a committed sub national coordinator along with a technical proficient. It has further been observed that the emergency shelter distribution effort occurred in Haiti has been one of the rapid humanitarian aid (Özdamar & Ertem, 2015). The shelter cluster reportedly attained over 2 million people through distribution of tarpaulins, tents, blankets and other amenities (Altay & Pal, 2014).
Key Trends in Humanitarian Shelter Response
However, it has been noted that in both these regions, the rate of urban population in recent times have been under the rate of 45% (Özdamar & Ertem, 2015). Furthermore, it has been noted that the scale of fast or rapid urbanization along with the elevating rate of people exposed to threats or risks of a humanitarian calamity or need assistance is regarded as a challenge in relation to more sparsely inhabited rural areas (Kelly, 2013). The relative significance of capital, assets and services in urban areas can further result to adverse degree of devastating impacts of calamities, conflict and violence. In addition, these resources are further identified as a significant segment of the resilience and strengths of urban areas for response delivery (Abrahams, 2014). It has further been noted that the increasing rate of migration of immigrants or illegal inhabitants to urban areas have the propensity to pose challenges and issues in the process of beneficiary or recipient classification as well as assistance to the settled marginalized section of people in informal or unidentified settlements and slums (Sanderson et al., 2014). However, as these informal areas sustain a major proportion of migrants, the demands and challenges on urban administrations and governance has been an elevating issue for both the humanitarian and beneficiary segment.
Emergency activities with the lack of systematic approach had revealed great degree of incompetence to facilitate the crisis-impacted households and communities in order to reinstate their habitation in a rapid as well as sustainable approach. The recent post-earthquake events in Haiti have revealed the significance of restoring the process of funding through temporary employment in order to elevate the rate of recovery and reduce the dependence on humanitarian response (Sphereproject.org, 2018). The issues of livelihood reinstatement strategies and approaches have encountered severe rate of complexities due to the lack of support for the shelter restoration procedure, low rate of resuscitating the self-regulated methods and further lack of provision of technical as well as logistical support to the local communities and providing low rate of financial assistance. This has been a significant element in the post earthquake Haiti and Pakistan relief programs (Varga et al., 2013). Humanitarian workers have been proficiently being responsive to the urgent needs and demands of people for protection which has been identified as a critical part of SPHERE project. Humanitarian workers have been proclaiming rapid assistance for the major changes like earthquake or other environmental calamities which are having its occurrences further causing emergency declaration. Reports reveal that as emergency evolves, increased number of comprehensive evaluation tend to determine the other developing requirements (Abrahams, 2014).
Challenges of Urbanization and Migration
Whilst ensuring secured settlement and compliance to regulative approaches, it has been significantly achievable to permit and promote recipient choice into the design of shelter projects delivered. With comprehensive situational analysis and project implementation that sheds light on the supervision and guidance which might be of effectiveness in order to ensure appropriate construction practise or behavioural transition to aid families and communities to builds living accommodations that ensemble the needs and necessities of the habitants (Sheppard et al., 2013). Furthermore, it has been considered to be vital to establish an effective communication base and level of liability to the beneficiaries to develop a distinctive understanding of collective vision between communities and humanitarian workers (Abrahams, 2014). The humanitarian workers significantly show its reliance on the physical context, pre-disaster conditions and principles along with the socio-economic characteristics of the impacted populace (Gralla, Goentzel & Fine, 2014). The humanitarian responses further must seek to support and acknowledge context-driven solutions, support community coping mechanisms and resurgence of initiatives and approaches and further address the priorities as well as preferences of the disaster affected inhabitants by further establishing and organizing with improved strategies and leverage the local capabilities and resources. It has been noted that a wide range of agencies have struggled to effectively deliver fund based shelter cluster and at scale which further provided a considerably high cost of shelter, developments and volumes of resources which need to be properly allocated (Abrahams, 2014). The administrative and monitoring responsibility required for fund or cash transfer have been executed only significant times to each family which tend to condense some of the competencies and effectiveness which are considered to be one of the fundamental benefits of implementing cash transfer process as a vital and effective tool (Altay & Pal, 2014).
Various settlements of aiding affected populations with direct financial support which have gained considerable degree of prominence and the conjectures surrounding the exploitation and misuse of funds by the recipients which have significantly been mislaid whereby the shelter sector identifies itself to be segregated from the consecutive discourses related to the usage of funds, logistics and market centric interventions which tend to accelerate (Özdamar & Ertem, 2015). Furthermore, the utilization of unreserved funds develops certain areas of avenues for a certain range of shelter activities such as the provision of emergency resources and essential materials. Beyond the direct implementation challenges, the shelter cluster as a whole has been struggling to use and further acclimatize the market analysis tools developed that should facilitate a comprehensive base in order to generate funding process a more systematic response mechanism for the sector (Gralla, Goentzel & Fine, 2014). However, it is noted to be dependent on the levels of awareness and ability around the markets situated within the shelter agencies but mainly because the markets which determine the context for the mass provision of shelter which are varied and often fundamentally more complex and challenging in comparison to the essential commodities required for construction or settlements. It is important to note that during some events of emergencies or disasters, other shelter funding or aid opportunities may be accessible such as the Emergency Response Fund (ERF) which primarily deals with the non-governmental organizations. Furthermore, the humanitarian worker undergoes significant decision making processes on ERF grants or funding with the assistance from a practical perspective and by shelter clusters (Bardach & Patashnik, 2015). However, during times when gaps and certain areas of challenges can be witnessed in the process of shelter funding, the Shelter Coordination Team works in accordance to the associates, humanitarian workers as well as the benefactors in order to promote for the provision of additional resources (Gralla, Goentzel & Fine, 2014). Furthermore, in order to remain in accordance with the sphere principles and standards, the primary purpose of the cluster approach has focused on the Global Shelter Cluster which has further developed or collated a series of realistic as well as environmental guidance documents for the implementation of various settlements (Gralla, Goentzel & Fine, 2014). Furthermore, the administrative bodies along with other associates must inform the shelter cluster in terms of the standards which have been executed by local agencies and organizations which are externally been associated (Abrahams, 2014). Associates tend to demonstrate no recognized accountability to the shelter cluster and tend to remain highly accountable to the disaster-centric populace, host government along with the humanitarian workers for supreme, coverage along with the coordination of the programmes (Abrahams, 2014). However, in settings where categorical multisector funding has been generated, execution of strategies must be responsive that whilst providing preferences to the recipients and beneficiaries, without very comprehensive evaluation and engagement which they would cover the areas of challenges where funding is assumed to be required for housing settlement including debts.
Livelihood Reinstatement Strategies
However, this factor of funding and need assessment has been considered to be uncomprehensive or factored as it highlights the information or tendencies that standard methods and tools may fail to recognize about the needs and requirements as well as constraints which can be immensely significant. Furthermore, it has been noted that the current understanding of the way cash and funding can play a decisive role on gender, protection and other significant issues related to environmental conditions which would require higher degree of consideration as shelter cluster in unconditional multi-sector grants or aids. Thus, it can be concluded that the high value funding that generate from including shelter support which may increase or further condense the rate of protection risks to women and other groups and there are cultural as well as contextual considerations of the way household finance and fund has been utilized and regulated which need to be part of any decision making procedures around the suitability of these funds. However, it has been noted that men and women often tend to prioritize various facets of the vitality of shelter whilst the attainment of unsustainable and environmentally-centric materials that have health threats which are difficult to circumvent without proper understanding and awareness.
References
Abrahams, D. (2014). The barriers to environmental sustainability in post?disaster settings: a case study of transitional shelter implementation in Haiti. Disasters, 38(s1), S25-S49.
Altay, N., & Pal, R. (2014). Information diffusion among agents: implications for humanitarian operations. Production and Operations Management, 23(6), 1015-1027.
Bardach, E., & Patashnik, E. M. (2015). A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold path to more effective problem solving. CQ press.
Fan, L. (2013). Disaster as opportunity. Building back better in Aceh, Myanmar and Haiti.
Gralla, E., Goentzel, J., & Fine, C. (2014). Assessing trade?offs among multiple objectives for humanitarian aid delivery using expert preferences. Production and Operations Management, 23(6), 978-989.
Kelly, C. (2013). Mainstreaming environment into humanitarian interventions–A synopsis of key organisations, literature and experience. DFID, UK.
Özdamar, L., & Ertem, M. A. (2015). Models, solutions and enabling technologies in humanitarian logistics. European Journal of Operational Research, 244(1), 55-65.
Ramachandran, V., & Walz, J. (2015). Haiti: where has all the money gone?. Journal of Haitian Studies, 21(1), 26-65.
Sanderson, D., Sharma, A., Kennedy, J., & Burnell, J. (2014). Lost in transition: principles, practice and lessons from Haiti for urban post-disaster shelter recovery programs. Asian journal of environment and disaster management (AJEDM), 6(2), 131-151.
Sandvik, K. B., Jumbert, M. G., Karlsrud, J., & Kaufmann, M. (2014). Humanitarian technology: a critical research agenda. International Review of the Red Cross, 96(893), 219-242.
Sheppard, A., Tatham, P., Fisher, R., & Gapp, R. (2013). Humanitarian logistics: enhancing the engagement of local populations. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 3(1), 22-36.
Sphereproject.org. (2018). The Sphere Project | Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities become part of the Humanitarian Standards Partnership | News. Retrieved from https://www.sphereproject.org/sphere/en/news/humanitarian-inclusion-standards-for-older-people-and-people-with-disabilities-become-part-of-the-humanitarian-standards-partnership/
Varga, I., Sano, M., Torisawa, K., Hashimoto, C., Ohtake, K., Kawai, T., … & De Saeger, S. (2013). Aid is out there: Looking for help from tweets during a large scale disaster. In Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers) (Vol. 1, pp. 1619-1629).
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