En 2011, la cruz Roja Internacional y la Media Luna Roja, recopilaron un “menú” de soluciones para dispones de viviendas provisorias en caso de desastres. Las mismas habían sido empleadas con éxito en diversas regiones del mundo afectadas por desastres naturales o emergencias humanitarias. Además del diseño de ingeniería y las especificaciones técnicas, cada una de las soluciones prevé la manera en que el refugio podría adaptarse,de forma tal de satisfacer los requerimientos de cada ambiente geográfico.
Meeting shelter needs in the aftermath of disasters and crises remains a major challenge for governments, humanitarian agencies and, most importantly of all, for the affected populations themselves. Beyond survival, shelter is an essential contributor to security, personal safety, protection from the climate and resistance to ill health and disease. Ensuring adequate shelter provides disaster affected households with a place from which they can address their other needs, promoting the use of existing capacities, resources and social networks. Although supporting self-recovery shelter activities by individual affected households is commonly recognised as being preferable, the context of a specific emergency may render such an approach impractical. The scale of the disaster and the resulting shelter need, the impact of the disaster on local resources and the local economy, and the need to address the inherent shelter or settlement risks as part of the sheltering process may require the use of interim solutions as a basis for temporary or longer term shelter. Any such interim shelter design needs to reflect the local context, and where possible local construction technologies and cultural preferences – and the time needed to develop and agree such solutions after the disaster has occurred including the required engineering and specification development can significantly delay the shelter response.
