Attachments
SHELTER/SITE PLANNING OBJECTIVE
Shelter UNHCR has distributed kits to households to help re-strengthen their shelters, ahead of and during the monsoon season.
Over 87,795 families received kits to help them tie down their bamboo-frame shelters. 42,940 families were supported with shelter repair/replacement materials to replace degraded parts of their shelter’s structure.
UNHCR shelter strategy aims to:
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Develop a master site plan for refugee settlements in collaboration with relevant sectors
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Improve shelter design that meets the minimum standard for safe, dignified and appropriate living
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Improve the living environment in refugee settlements for better protection of refugees and access to services and facilities
Shelter has been a critical need for over 825,000 refugees. At the beginning of the influx, new arrivals often stayed in the open or lived with other refugees and among local communities or formed new settlements. UNHCR responded to their needs for shelter by distributing Emergency Shelter kits, followed with other materials to assist refugees upgrade their shelters as well as tie-down kits in preparation for the monsoon season.
Overcrowding and lack of space still remains a key challenge.
PROGRESS
Many of the settlement areas are prone to flooding and landslides due to their hilly locations in Cox’s Bazar. UNHCR is collaborating with IOM and WFP through an engineering platform called the Site Maintenance Engineering Project (SMEP) to develop land and infrastructure across all refugee settlements. SMEP is working on heavier engineering projects across all camps. UNHCR and partners have constructed over 700km of roads, footpaths, stairs, drainages, and slope stabilization structures to mitigate risks and designed and built stronger and better-built shelters. Additionally, UNHCR and partner agencies continue to construct facilities and improved infrastructure in the settlements. The Government of Bangladesh has approved a mid-term shelter strategy (MTS strategy), as assistance in the refugee settlements is shifting to medium-term planning. As part of the MTS strategy, UNHCR is advocating for the construction of ‘transitional shelters. with innovative shelter alternatives to address spatial constraints and congestion in the settlements. These shelters would need to be built with specific site plans, in which UNHCR is engaging the authorities. UNHCR and BRAC established plants to treat bamboo which is used for mid-term shelters. Treated bamboo may last for 10-12 years by protecting it from fungi, insects and other biological and physical elements. The Shelter and Site planning team is continuously working to improve the living condition of the households, neighborhoods, blocks and camp levels with civil infrastructure and communal building projects.