Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items (ES/NFI) Cluster

The GSC enables better coordination among all shelter actors, including local and national governments, so that people who need shelter assistance get help faster and receive the right kind of support.

In Afghanistan, shelter and Non-food Items (NFIs) needs remain high and widespread, predominantly driven by underlying economic challenges and sudden onset shocks. Through needs assessments, people continue to reference shelter, food, and livelihoods as their top three priority needs. As the financial costs of material and labor remain barriers, help to repair shelters is also frequently cited.

The majority of households (84 percent) are unable to repair their shelter due to financial barriers associated with costs of materials and labour. About one-third of households’ report feeling unsafe in their shelters due to poor structural state of the shelter, conditions that may exacerbate in the event of a sudden shock, and notably natural disasters. With livelihoods loss and increased debt constituting grave drivers and underlying needs, rental assistance continues to be reported as the third highest priority need amongst internally displaced people (IDPs) within urban areas. Not investing now will directly result in a worsening of vulnerabilities, higher winterization needs, with multisectoral implications for other sectors, particularly Health, Protection, and Livelihood.

In 2023, 484,000 people in Afghanistan were supported with shelter and around 1.1 million were supported with NFIs. Out of USD 188 million required for the cluster to support Afghan people, USD 91 million was received. The funding gap stood at 52% in 2023.

The GSC is a public platform co-chaired by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and UNHCR at the global level, it has 44 partners who participate on a regular basis. IFRC is convener of the Shelter Cluster in natural disasters while UNHCR leads the Shelter Cluster in conflict situations.

In order to effectively meet its global responsibilities, the GSC has agreed to organize and coordinate its activities through a management approach that allows participation and at the same time streamlines decision making. The GSC management structure has been informed by the experience of country-level shelter clusters since 2006 and recommendations by the Sub-Working Group on the Cluster Approach in implementing the Transformative Agenda. This management structure is the following:

• Global Shelter Cluster (GSC) Partnership: Diverse network of operational, technical and academic organizations, donors and other stakeholders with a shared objective of strengthening humanitarian shelter and settlement response.
• Global Cluster Lead Agencies (GCLAs): GSC is co-led by UNHCR and the IFRC. UNHCR leads in conflict situations, while IFRC convenes the Shelter Cluster in natural disaster situations.
• Strategic Advisory Group (SAG): Permanent body to advance GSC strategic direction and overall workplan; elected by and composed of organisations from the GSC partnership.
• Global Support Team (GST): Dedicated team seconded by cluster partners to provide technical, coordination, Information Management (IM) and other identified support for country clusters through surge, preparedness and capacity building; supports GSC functioning and interaction with other clusters and organizations.
• Donor Consultation Group (DCG): Donors supporting humanitarian shelter wishing to contribute to the work of the SAG and advance GSC strategic direction and advocacy efforts.
• Working Groups (WG): Task-oriented, time-bound structures with clear deliverables; established by the SAG to address identified sector gaps.
• Communities of Practice (CoPs): Groups of expert individuals providing technical and thematic support to global or country level clusters and developing good practice. A virtual space for information sharing and problem solving.