Shelter Cluster Meeting - Minutes
May 3, 2015
Just prior to the Shelter Cluster Meeting, the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu provided a presentation on the
current situation in Kathmandu and the support they are requesting. Minutes from that presentation are not
captured here.
1. Updates
 Government housing damage numbers – www.neoc.gov.np 160,000 destroyed and 148,000 damaged –
still assessing
 Overall the Shelter Cluster has distributed 52,000 tarpaulins in the last 5 days
 There are now 14 priority districts
 Government has announced that schools will be back in session May 15 so emphasis to empty the
schools and help people to move home where possible and safe.
 There is increasing concern in both urban and rural areas that people have untreated open injuries.
Request that agencies doing distributions report back on the injury levels being observed to help Health
Cluster can gain a clearer picture
 There is increasing concern of the management and disposal of dead livestock
 Logistics update:
o Pokhara may be upgraded to an international airport to help alleviate stress on Kathmandu.
Many issues need to be resolved to make this happen.
o A logistics Hub is being established on the India border to reduce stock being transported and
managed through Kathmandu
o SAR activities are drawing to a close and a large number of teams and gear will be leaving
putting further stress on the Kathmandu airport as military planes land to collect the teams.
 Two humanitarian hubs are being recommended – Gorkha and Chautara
 The Strategic Advisory Committee (SAG) met on Friday May 1, 2015
o Reviewed the first draft of Shelter Cluster Strategy. First Draft included with the minutes.
 Key highlights include that there needs to be different but contiguous strategies for
Urban and Rural and that the Emergency and Recovery work needs to blend together
quickly due to speed of self-recovery and climatic conditions (monsoon and winter)
 This first draft will inform further discussions with DUDBC so as to support government
decision making as the cluster lead
o Emergency and NFI – priority shelter items are tarpaulins and household items kits and there
was agreement on standardized kits.
 Key is to ensure quality specs are met for tarpaulins and minimize tents as they are
heavy to distribute especially in mountains
o Transitional support to repair/retrofit – rubble is reusable and so the reuse should be
considered before introducing new solutions, along with provision of awareness raising and
support for sorting of rubble, use of masons, safer rebuilding

 o



Building assessments – in Kathmandu are being carried out by NSET in partnership with DUDBC.
They are moving further out into the valley are beginning to sort out the logistics to move to
rural areas. The focus is on rapid damage assessment of homes. There is a suggestion that
houses will not be marked but rather informing owners of status of home based on standardized
criteria.
Key priorities in the short term for the Shelter Cluster are as follows:
o Development of safer demolition education materials
o Exploration of market based approaches including support to host families and cash programs to
decrease logistics challenges
o Technical assistance package and training development of minimum standards

2. Information Management - ASSESSMENTS
 Shelter Cluster has activated a dedicated surge capacity to support assessment through REACH Initiative
o Assist and Assess Tool – a tool that was sent out to agencies to complete at the same time as
completing distribution with the purpose of acquiring a very broad perception based
assessment in the short term (1-2 weeks)
o Detailed Shelter and Settlement Vulnerability Assessment – we will work with DUDBC
throughout this process and propose the following:
 A meeting will be held on Wednesday (location and time TBD) to discuss indicators and
feedback will be accepted from May 6-8
 REACH will begin collecting data on the 9th for 2 weeks (May 9-23)
3.

Information Management - REPORTING
 A reporting template was shared with the Shelter Cluster distribution list (also attached with meeting
minutes). It can also be found at www.sheltercluster.org. Please complete reporting on a twice weekly
basis (specific days to be confirmed ASAP)
 SPECIAL URGENT REQUEST: Please submit figures for all Tarps, Tents and Household kits that are in
the pipelines to arrive and when (if known). THIS IS URGENT BY END OF DAY TODAY MAY 3. Please
submit to IM1.nepal@sheltercluster.org

4.

TECHNICAL POLICIES
 Establishing minimum standards for kits – Information sheet was shared and hard copy and electronic to
follow asap
 4 types of kits for reporting:
o Tarpaulins
o Household kits
o Community Tool Kits
o Shelter Tool Kits – including fixings and bamboo
 The costs included in the Information sheets are strictly for budgeting purposes and is based on the
2014 floods. Current markets and availability will impact costs. Transportation and distribution is not
included either

 


Annotated bibliography of technical document for earthquake resistant construction to be developed
ASAP
Cash Transfer working group established by OCHA to set standards

PUBLIC INFO and Information, Education and Communication (IEC)
 Key guidance documents under development and to be shared ASAP
1. Plastic Sheeting and how to fix it to increase lifetime
2. Preparing temporary shelters for monsoons
3. Safe Demolition and salvage
SHELTER CONSTRUCTION
 Temporary transitional solutions for priority areas to be developed ASAP
o Design brief and price point, performance criteria and expected reach – diversity is to be
included
o Small working group to be established to complete – if you are interested to participate
please contact tech1.nepal@sheltercluster.org
5. Flash Appeal
 This is a process to apply with project proposal for funds
 On Wednesday April 30 – the UN launched a FLASH appeal for $415 Million. $50Million of that is
allocated for Shelter Programs for 3 months initial response phase
 A 1 page template was sent out by Victoria – 1 project per agency
 DUE DATE: 1800 local time uploaded to OCHA site http://ops.unocha.org You must registered
with OCHA to upload a project proposal
 Recommendation:
o use draft Strategy as a guidance to ensure we can create a common picture
o geographic coverage is essential so please include geography in comments section
o have awareness of gender and meeting minimum of 2a on the Gender Marker (included in
the email outlining flash appeal).
o Write proposal in a way that it could be scaled up or linked to future funding and proposals
 Plan must demonstrate that it will be implemented in 3 months
 Shelter Cluster Coordinator will develop a scoring mechanism and criteria to be used to ensure
transparency. She will complete an initial review of all proposal
 SAG will meet on May 4 10am to review recommendations from Shelter Cluster Coordinator and
approve proposal for submission.
 Shelter Cluster Coordinator will submit by 6pm May 4
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday May 6 – 11am at Dhokaima Café, Lalit Pur District
https://www.google.com.np/maps/place/Dhokaima+Cafe+(Yalamaya+Kendra)/@27.678089,85.32086,17z/data=!3
m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x39eb19c91a37b197:0x61b5424620477930?hl=en