Shelter Centre


Shelter Centre is non-operational Swiss humanitarian NGO which works to support all humanitarian stakeholders involved in the shelter of populations affected by conflict and natural disaster.
Shelter Centre offers this support through its biannual sector forum, , maintaining the inter-agency and developing strategic sector guidelines and technical training for field use, always involving a broad consensus within the humanitarian community.

History

Operationally, in 2005 following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, Shelter Centre introduced the approach, while the Executive Director was seconded by DFID to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to lead natural humanitarian shelter coordination. The Transitional Shelter approach was also one of the response options in the , agreed with the Government of Haiti while the Shelter Centre Executive Director was seconded by DFID to the International Organisation for Migration to the lead national shelter coordination.
In 2010, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and funded by DFID, Shelter Centre led the revision of strategic sector guidelines . After developing technical training with the RedR and , the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the and the , in 2011 Shelter Centre led the development of , funded by and . CORE involves humanitarian agencies worldwide in agreeing and delivering together common humanitarian technical training.
In accordance with its mission, Shelter Centre is an active partner in five of the global humanitarian coordination clusters of the IASC, , , Shelter, and .
Hosted initially by the University of Cambridge from its foundation in 2004, Shelter Centre developed from an earlier initiative, , which undertook research and development on sector standards, equipment and technical guidance, including . Tom Corsellis, Executive Director of Shelter Centre, was a founding member of both initiatives.
In 2006, after having attained five years programme funding from , Shelter Centre activities were hosted under a two-year agreement by ; Shelter Centre subsequently transitioned from being a UK NGO to a Swiss NGO in summer of 2008, relocating to Geneva. Its offices are currently in part under an agreement involving the , founded by the Swiss Confederation and the Canton of Geneva