Defining Flexible Standards for Post-Disaster Emergency Sheltering

Post-disaster emergency-sheltering requires that various relief agencies and other actors with different backgrounds cooperate in a tremendously short amount of time and under very different circumstances. Lives depend on the quality of aid and, specifically, on the quality of sheltering. Standards play an important role in this hectic process. Currently, an international standard is being developed to help determine the sheltering requirements that are to be met. However, the proposed requirements are partly too generic or too restrictive for emergency situations. In this paper, we investigate in what manner sheltering requirements can be set that do not hamper innovation in sheltering. We develop a reference framework that meets the three key requirements for sheltering solutions: context-sensitivity, crisis-sensitivity and a performance-oriented approach. Application of the framework promises to increase innovation in and variety among shelter products, and, therefore, to support better tailored and more targeted shelter solutions. 1 For enquiries, please contact Mahasti Tafahomi: M.Tafahomi@tue.nl We sincerely thank Jan Pronk (former United Nations Special Representative in Sudan), Eelko Brouwer (coordinator international Emergency Relief) and Vinay Gupta Hexayur (cardboard shelter producer).for sharing their insights with us, and the anonymous reviewers of the EURAS2008 workshop for their useful comments. [less]Infrastructures, Systems and ServicesTechnology, Policy and Managemen