5 min Inspiration: Rebuilding homes and lives

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Lucia Francisco had two clear priorities in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai: “For me and my community I would like to receive food and shelter. The food will help us be strong so we can rebuild our houses and lives.”

So that’s what CARE does—helps people rebuild houses and lives all over the world. CARE’s Emergency Shelter Team provides technical expertise in emergency shelter and reconstruction. Cyclone Idai dominated the Shelter Team’s humanitarian response during the financial year July 2018 - June 2019. During that period, the Shelter Team also provided comprehensive technical assistance to CARE’s shelter and camp management activities in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya refugee settlement in Bangladesh - which remains the largest refugee camp in the world - as well as supporting emergency responses in Lebanon, Nepal, Turkey, Uganda, Vanuatu.

What have we accomplished?
  • 73 projects implemented around the world with a shelter and housing component. Two projects involved camp coordination and camp management
  • Around 1.6 million people received direct shelter assistance
  • A further 1.4 million people benefitted indirectly from those projects
  • of people reached were women and girls.

How did we get there?
 
  • A multi-country response to Cyclone Idai: Cyclone Idai made landfall in Southern Africa in March 2019, causing catastrophic flooding and damage to infrastructure and crops.
    • In Mozambique, CARE conducted real-time research to understand the impact of the cyclone on urban households and communities and inform recommendations for shelter actors seeking to support their recovery. CARE also secured funding for a multisectoral response, including shelter and reconstruction, in rural areas affected by the cyclone.
    • Malawi and Zimbabwe did not experience the full force of Cyclone Idai. The majority of the damage to housing was caused by flooding and landslides, so the focus was on recovery rather than an initial emergency response. In Malawi, CARE provided a returns package of shelter materials and non-food items, as well as multi-purpose cash grants, voucher fairs for shelter materials and household items, and training on build-back-safer messages. In Zimbabwe, CARE also supported camp coordination and management (CCCM) and the distribution of shelter non-food items on behalf of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
  • Refugee-led Shelter in Bangladesh: CARE manages two camps in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya refugee settlement (home to about 15,000 households and 75,000 individuals). We are meeting the need for widespread shelter upgrading through a refugee-led process that provides more choice, greater dignity and more meaningful participation and ownership.
  • A One Neighbourhood approach: In Lebanon, CARE supported housing unit and building upgrades, as well as improving community infrastructure, as part of a holistic response addressing multiple needs of Syrian refugees and host communities in the poorest neighbourhoods of Tripoli, including shelter, protection, water, sanitation and hygiene. 
  • Ambae volcano response and emergency preparedness: In July, following increased volcanic activity on Vanuatu’s Ambae island, 3,000 people were evacuated to neighbouring Maewo island, doubling its population almost overnight. CARE supported an emergency response ensuring everyone had basic shelter within a matter of days and turning attention to the impending cyclone season and the evacuation centres needed to house the increased population in the event of a cyclone.
  • Research into the role of self-recovery: As part of the Promoting Safer Building (PSB) research project, the Shelter Team has explored urban self-recovery processes in the Philippines and Nepal. In 2017, CARE Philippines won a World Habitat Award in recognition of its 2013 Typhoon Haiyan shelter self-recovery programme. In 2019, CARE co-hosted a learning event in Manila. The findings from this peer exchange are captured in the report, Soaring High: Self-recovery through the eyes of local actors. 

To learn more, read the Shelter Team Annual Report 2019 or contact Step Haiselden: Haiselden@careinternational.org  

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