This report covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2010.
In brief
Programme purpose: 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.
Programme(s) summary:
The major disasters experienced in 2010, from the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile to the flooding in Pakistan and both East and West Africa have required operational support and have also highlighted the need for improvement in the meeting of shelter and settlement needs. The response in Haiti required shelter technical capacity in the Field Assessment and Coordination Team (FACT) and the additional resources of a Shelter Technical Team (STT). The shelter and settlements department of the International Federation and the group of interested National Societies have acted on the recommendations given by reports and evaluations from the field, and operational tools have been modified accordingly. A Shelter Coordination Team (SCT) was also deployed to convene the shelter/non-food items (NFI) cluster in Haiti. It was the largest ever coordination team deployed by IFRC which is allowing for a better definition of the roles and the development of new tools that will be useful for future deployments. During the Chile earthquake operation, the Chilean Red Cross, supported by the IFRC, was able to provide technical assistance to the Chilean Government’s coordination of the national response operation, drawing upon personnel and experience from IFRC’s shelter cluster role.
The promotion of safer and more sustainable shelter and settlement solutions was advanced through the further field testing of the Participatory Approach to Safe Shelter Awareness (PASSA), the elaboration of improved construction technologies at household level, and the ongoing capturing and dissemination of methodologies developed through the Indian Ocean tsunami response people-centred housing programmes. The capacity building of National Societies as the first responders in emergencies remained a priority, with field trainings in the use of shelter kits, and technical training for shelter specialists at the global level and also at country level in Indonesia and Nepal.
Financial situation: The total 2010 budget is CHF 3,327,955, of which CHF 1,793,912 (54% per cent) was covered during the reporting period (including opening balance). Overall expenditure during the reporting period was CHF 1,011,693 (56% per cent) of the budget. With secretariat human resources required to support the Haiti response and other emergencies, and with many partnering National Societies also focussing on response activities, many global shelter programme activities were scaled back or postponed to 2011.