The Speaker presented the approach and mandate of UN-Habitat, emphasising the need to bridge humanitarian and development work and promoting sustainability and disaster risk reduction.
Excerpts from discussions
NB: The following excerpts are from notes by Shelter Centre volunteer rapporteurs. The extracts are for general interest and do not necessarily represent the views either of the majority of the participants of the Shelter Meeting, or of Shelter Centre.
"We always think tents when we think emergency shelter but this is wrong. This will kill self help initiatives. We need to send tools [and similar shelter NFIs]. People do not wait to be helped. If you displace people into camps they are worried about their land."
"Self help is now the biggest plank of the shelter response, though of course tents were the immediate need. .... But we need to design those programmes with people who have lived for years in those mountains building earthquake resistant structures using available materials."