USAID/OFDA Shelter And Settlements Training Course – Module 4

Module 4: Settlements

This module recognizes the importance of settlements in the provision of humanitarian assistance. It stresses the importance of switching the unit of analysis from the household to the settlement level to have greater effectiveness in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. It argues for a greater understanding of context, disaster impacts, emerging constraints and opportunities, and available resources and capacities. The case studies presented seek to demonstrate that this change in unit of analysis has been particularly useful in urban disaster responses, with Haiti and the Philippines being good recent examples. The module also introduces issues affecting the settlements such as various social, economic, political, and environmental challenges.
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This course introduces the basics of humanitarian community shelter and settlements (S&S) activities, including some history and trends related to the sector, best practices in assessments and programming strategy, basic shelter responses, the relationship between shelter and its context (settlements), and how to promote the recovery of affected settlements. This training course is based on many years of USAID/OFDA and humanitarian organization experience in S&S activities, so discussions and case studies are based on real-life situations. Discussions are non-technical and geared towards how to develop strategies and options to appropriately deliver humanitarian shelter and settlements assistance. Additionally, the course provides an opportunity for participants to understand the relationship of S&S activities, disaster risk reduction, sectoral activities, and larger trends such as urbanization. This version of the course incorporates participant feedback from over 15 USAID/OFDA S&S training courses conducted in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Taiwan, and Thailand.

This course is divided into five modules. Each module will take between 45 minutes to an hour to complete.

Module 1: Approach to S&S Activities
Module 2: Description of Humanitarian S&S Activities
Module 3: Shelter
Module 4: Settlements
Module 5: Disaster Risk Reduction & Re-conceiving the Road to Recovery

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You can also download all five interactive sessions at the above website for offline use. Please contact shelter@interaction.org with questions and comments.