Context

The tropical and subtropical regions of Africa are regularly affected by natural disasters. The African Red Cross National Societies are often called upon to intervene on the frontline during each crisis. There is therefore a need to equip them with a shelter solution that is thought out in a participatory and innovative way, both before the production and design of materials and in terms of effectiveness and usability.

With regard to Shelter’s emergency response tools available to the international humanitarian community, the most commonly used scale to date is the family shelter kit. To date, no standard kit with an effective response at the community level has been developed.

AI-CRL hereby requests the IFRC-SRU to conduct a Research & Development study (R&D)  to develop a context-based Community Shelter Kit (CSK) adapted to the predefined context of the rural communities in the humid tropical region of Africa.

Outcomes

This R&D project intends to improve the first community response supporting future emergency shelter operations and improving the resilience of the population affected.

The focus has been placed on the design and development of a contextualized Community Shelter Kit adapted to rural communities in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa. The final product is named Community Shelter Kit (CSK).

Outputs

The following objectives were achieved during this R&D project and the Madagascar mission.

• Specific needs were documented and defined,
• A specific participatory methodology was defined,
• A technical study on the composition of available kits in the Red Cross was carried out,
• A quick prototype was created,
• The specific process of validation carried out,
• Final prototype defined,
• A product sheet for the Community Shelter Kit has been developed.

For further information, please download the full mission report down below.