South Sudan Emergency Response 2014 Robust Shelter Construction

Beneficiary Engagement o Pre- implementation after receiving the robust shelter design, NRC constructed a prototype and organised focus group meetings with a cross section of the IDP community leaders to feed back on the approriateness of the shelters and also get community buy in o The prototype was adopted with minor changes which included increasing the size o The community offered to make a direct contribution through modification of the roof and to increase the poles to strenghthen the entire structure as well as add doors and windows

Beneficiary Selection Process o HHs next to full latrines at risk of over flowing in site 0 o HHs randomly settled in new sites occupying spaces reserved for communal areas, i.e. roads, schools, health facilities and spaces reserved for vulnerable HHs o Families in new sites who are vulnerable (i.e: FHH, CHH, disabled, elderly) and do not have shelters o Vulnerable households (child headed households, single female headed households, elderly, disabled persons) in highly flood prone areas in site 0 o Other households in highly flood prone areas in site 0 o Households in site 0 with physical disabilities that will receive space in demarcated areas o Other households that wish to relocate from site 0, with priority to vulnerable

Identification of Beneficiaries o Phase 1 beneficiaries: identified by partners responsible for latrine decommissioning (WASH) o Phase 2 beneficiaries: identified by NRC shelter teams or site monitors following mapping of households affected by demarcation exercise o Phase 4 beneficiaries: identified based on findings of inter-agency vulnerability assessment and IOM data o Phase 5 beneficiaries: identified based on findings of inter-agency vulnerability assessment and Acted mapping of flood areas o Phase 6 beneficiaries: identified by Handicap International based on the findings of their assessment o Phase 7 beneficiaries: identified based on mapping/registration of HHs relocating to new sites by Acted/site monitors

Shelter Construction o In the initial stages of construction, NRC hired and trained 10 Youth (TOTs) and supervisors o After the training of the initial group, more Youth were hired from both host community and IDP o The training was 3 days field based o This provided livelihood to youth as well as shelter to vulnerable communities. o Training of the youth is an ongoing activity as many leave for better paying jobs after training and constructing few shelters o Some of the trained youth are contracted by the community to construct their robust shelters

Robust shelter construction Roles of NRC o Setting out the structure o Constructing the super structure o Covering with plastic sheets o Providing murrum to the nearest point possible o Provision of tools to transport murrum and elevate shelters. Roles of Beneficiaries o Excavation of holes to receive poles o Elevating shelters using murrum provided o Sandbagging o Providing doors and windows. o Provide drainage to their shelters

Challenges o Lack of controlled (re)settlement, the new sites are not demarcated making it difficult to (re)settle the IDPs as every beneficiary settles where he/she feels comfortable occupying unknown size of land. o Delays in preparation of the new sites. This delayed start time of the project. o The new site was bushy making it difficult for beneficiaries to clear. This led to NRC procuring tools for clearing land which wasn’t budgeted. o During rainy season access to the new site is difficult due to soil nature. Vehicles get stuck making if difficult to deliver materials. o Lack of community involvement/proper consultation in robust shelter design leading to lack of enough materials essential for stronger and durable structure o Lack of good murrum within Mingkaman for sandbagging and elevation of shelters. o Old bamboos which are getting spoiled after being rained on. o Delays in materials delivery leading to delays in completion of robust shelters.

Lesson Learned o Proper and well coordinated site planning is key to implementation of shelters. o Involvement of all stakeholders in design of shelters is paramount for community ownership of the project o Adequate consultation with the host community to reduce tension over the land with the IDPs o Stronger structure which could have acted as transitional shelter with a little cost could have been I deal to avoid going back to donors for a transitional shelter in the coming year. o Site planning and shelter construction need to be handled by one agency to avoid confusion leading to delays

Achievements o Robust shelter construction started at low rate of 20 units a day and increased to the current 150 Units a day. o This is being hampered by lack of plastic sheets and bamboo.

Priorities o Complete remaining shelters o Distribute tools and mobilize community to elevate their shelters o Mobilize community to dig trenches around their shelters for draining water.

Robust shelter construction stages