The Better Shelter or the Refugee Housing Unit (RHU) is a joint project of Swedish social enterprise Better Shelter, UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and the IKEA Foundation. The project, initiated in 2010, was rolled out on a large scale…
The complex, inter-linked and multi-dimensional humanitarian challenges in Somalia require equally complex responses in order to be able to bolster the resilience of Somali people. The Somalia Shelter Cluster (SSC) and its partners have historically provided emergency assistance to newly…
All displaced people need some form of shelter, and circumstances dictate that in reality not much of it conforms to the typical picture of a tent or tarpaulin nor meets official standards. The types of shelter and settlement responses found,…
The La Linière settlement described here was over-crowded and made of wooden cabins. It was destroyed by a fire in April 2017 but remains a cause of controversy between the supportive mayor of the town and the central political authorities.…
Tempelhof airport, built by the Nazis in the 1930s, is a protected monument in the centre of the German capital, Berlin. Its history, size and context have established it as a controversial and high-profile space for refugees. And for the…
Activists and supporters in the Greek capital, Athens, have occupied vacant city buildings in solidarity with the thousands of refugees trapped in the country by border closures. They have transformed buildings into squats to house refugees, in resistance to the…
Being a child living in a protracted refugee situation in an encampment in Eastern Africa means that geopolitics and international standards influence the way you sleep, the meals you eat, and the daily activities at your nursery school. Often long-term…
Shelters must be habitable, and provide physical safety and adequate space, as well as protection against the elements. They are also homes where people seek well-being and safety, especially so in displacement. In essence, shelter offers protection. However, it is…
Some refugee camps have been described as ‘accidental cities’,[1] spaces born out of chaos and planned, if at all, as temporary spaces. However, as protracted refugee situations become more widespread, finding ways to incorporate ecological elements into the shelter model…
Various approaches to refugee integration with local host communities have been suggested in the past, largely within the realms of refugee-friendly policies and the creation of opportunities for refugees to engage in income-generating activities. While recent strategies by institutions such…