The shelter kit is a clearly defined collection of tools and fixings combined with two plastic tarpaulins. It is intended to support people affected by hazards. It can be used to help create emergency shelters, as well as having other uses such as repairing damaged houses or upgrading existing shelters. The distributing shelter kit method has four phases to be considered including preparedness/contingency, the disaster itself, implementing and the monitoring/evaluating phase as shown in Figure 3-1.
51
In the first phase, the preparedness/contingency plan should be prepared in advance before the hazard occurs. Contingency planning should be conducted in all at risk locations. Preparation may involve the pre-positioning of kits, training, and the analysis of the relevant markets. When the disaster happens, a sheltering strategy should be ready to coordinate with other organisations, as this is the second phase. Coordination is divided into two groups, including external and internal coordination. External coordination is where there should be coordination with other organisations to ensure that the level of support offered does not create an imbalance with the projects of other organisations. Internal coordination is where there is coordination internally with other sectors in the organisation: Sheltering is a process and may require intervention in the context of sanitation, livelihood, water, health and other sectors.
The following phase is implementation, where the response stage should be identified for using the shelter kits. There are three stages for response, namely emergency shelter, repair/upgrade and return. Before distributing the shelter kits, it needs to assess some of the issues including needs assessment, material assessment, vulnerability/skill assessment and capacity assessment. Under needs assessment, there are several questions that need to be addressed. Questions such as ‘would shelter kits help to meet the shelter needs?’ and ‘would shelter kits be more useful than other responses?’ need to be asked (other responses include tents, cash, vouchers, transitional shelters etc). As needs change with time, a kit that may have been useful in the first hours after a disaster may be less useful days later.
When assessing material availability, it should be taken into account the quantities and qualities of the materials accessible as well as the environmental impact of harvesting the materials themselves. One should be aware that the demand for materials and their availability changes seasonally, as well as with time. Material assessment involves three questions that need to be answered including: ‘Do people have access to materials to make a frame?’, ‘Are other
52
materials required?’ and ‘Are more than two tarpaulins needed?’ If the answers are yes, then they should consider distributing additional materials.
In the context of vulnerability/skills, the assessment needs to consider that it is not always the case that all people are able to build or repair their own houses. It should be asked who builds traditionally and to think of ways to supporting others in building safely. Vulnerable people can be supported by providing teams of trained carpenters and builders to help with construction, providing cash so then the households can hire labour, working with partner organisations who will provide labour, cash or training and to establish reconstruction committees to mobilise community support for the most vulnerable individuals. There should also be established, from the outset, the capacity of the organisation to deliver the shelter kits. The questions that need to be asked include ‘Do you have the capacity to deliver the shelter kits fairly?’ and ‘Will the shelter kits still meet the needs when they are received?’ Be aware that vulnerabilities and needs change with time following a disaster. The distribution of shelter kits must be accompanied by ongoing monitoring and evaluation, and adjusted accordingly. Shelter kits need to be useful, and an informed decision to distribute them must be taken as quickly as possible.
After reviewing the method, it was noticed that the approach uses a decision tree which follows set stages, and each stage has its own questions that need to be addressed. It is also observed that before distributing the shelter kits, there is a need for an assessment by considering some of the factors that are used to make a clear decision for distributing the shelter kits, including the needs assessment, material assessment, vulnerability/skill assessment and capacity assessment. After considering these assessments, the distribution starts with monitoring and evaluation. However, this method is still not a comprehensive response to a flash flood in SA. It only focuses on one type of ERS response. In addition, there is still the need to consider other
53
factors to assess the situation such as a tool assessment (as each hazard is different and has its own context) and climate assessment (as each weather condition has its own specifications in terms of materials). Overall, this information will be considered while developing an ERS response framework to use in the context of flash floods in SA (in Chapter 5).