Question

After a major crisis occurs and an emergency situation is declared, an initial rapid assessment must
be carried to predict its evolution in the short run and determine the needs and resources of the
affected population. Collected information will allow for the planning of the appropriate response
which will include immediate protection and assistance to cover urgent survival needs.
1.1) Can you outline the four key stages of assessment during the shelter programming process? (10
Marks):
1.2) Outline what information should be included when carrying out a detailed shelter needs
assessment?

Answer 1

a) Understand the needs of population – The first stage itself is understand the needs of population. WE need to check what kind of population are existing, like kids, men, women, adult’s senior citizens. This information gives the information of essential elements needs to carry further to move ahead with shelter programming. Each demography needs are very important to provide short term protection during the crisis management. It also helps further in planning and implementation. This information also be helpful to understand what type of needs to be fulfilled during the emergency. If the needs are not understood, there are chances that assessment what is done may lead to another potential risk and can cause damage to the public life which is not acceptable. Hence understanding the needs plays a vital role in the Shelter programming process.

1. Anytime during the initial assessment of crisis it is very important to follow the method which is going to help during the crisis and during the assessment of shelter programming below are the four important stages which needs to be assessed,

        b) Underlying policies principles and standards – All the gather information during the initial understanding of the population needs to be carried out throughout the process and use them in consultation. Do not make the promises that can be kept and ensure the policies and practises are conveyed to the people at risk and talk to the individuals and groups to engage with everyone. Not all the strategies may work, but identifying them and trying to get them implemented are important. The design of the programming should be based on the assessment information which is collected both in terms of giving protection as well as providing the short term shelter to the affected communities.

c) Good Practise Recommendation – The information which are collected should now be used to ensure what kind of best practise can be outlined to ensure all the affected people are safe enough. The scale and complexity of an issue and the kind of population determines the kind of practise to be implemented and also to provide the life-saving needs of the people. To plan for better practise one should think about the Demography, movement, resource and physical security. The information which are collected largely influence the best practise to be recommended during emergency which address the needs of population and safeguard their life. A Good practise should anticipate what can happen further and what needs to be done to get rid of emergency and again in future they do not get in to trouble shortly. Hence it needs to be supervised by an experienced shelter officer.

d)

Consideration for practical implementation - After coming to the conclusion of better practise, it is very important to consider the below points to practically implement the recommendation

1. Need to assess the shelter which has been chosen for during emergency to ensure there is no issue

2. Assess the impact of shelter which has been chosen

3. Assess the recommended shelter meets the need of population

A detailed level of assessment of the shelter needs to be made before implementing the process to ensure the population life is in safe hands.

2) During the shelter needs assessment, below are the information which needs to be carried out to ensure shelter chosen matches the needs of population.

1. The group needs to know how many people are impacted and also they should know who they are and to which nation they belong to

2. What percentage of boys, girls, kids and adults are present in the population which helps in accommodating based on the gender

3. Where exactly the crisis happened and where the alternate solution has been provided

4. What resources are available currently to ensure that population feels sufficient in the shelter chosen. It may be food, clothing, bed, blanket, water

5. Should know whether the people affected are within the community or different community are mixed in the group

6. Currently are there any people in the group currently facing the emergency health issue to address them immediately

7. The scale and complexity of the issues needs to be understood

8. Identify which government can come in the help of emergency for the shelter to assist the crisis team

9. Need to check if the population holds any kind of domestic household items and supplies

10. The most important thing is access to basic service. Is the shelter chosen has access to basic services for the population