Emergency Desert Shelter with rainwater harvesting capability

By Asmita Prasad

This Emergency Desert Shelter Concept by designer Timothy E. Bender is a compact temporary housing concept that is perfect for providing sustainable living solutions. The shelter is shaded in a Universal Corn bat Pattern (IJCP) Camouflage that is suitable for use in both wooded areas as well as desert and is approved by the U.S. military as a standard camouflage print for these areas. The USP of the design is its compact which enables it to be carried out to remote locations where traditional means of housing cannot be set up. Read more...

Brookside Becomes Home To Container House

kmbc.com

KANSAS CITY, MO. -- A Brookside neighborhood is about to become home to the area's first container house.

The house at 60th and Charlotte streets is made of used, stainless steel cargo containers. The 40'x8' containers are similar to the ones you'd see on trains and tractor-trailers, except the ones for the house are taller.

"The top two containers will be a master bedroom suite. They have walk-in closets, full bath and shower," said Debbie Glassberg with Home Contained LLC.

Glassberg plans to live in the Brookside home, and she hopes to build others like it. Read more...

Indonesian village vanishes in wake of tsunami

Kenya sets aside Ksh 2.9bn for IDPs resettlement

The Kenyan Government has set aside Ksh 2.9 billion to be used in the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country.


The Minister for Special Programmes Esther Murugi Mathenge said the resettlement programme targeted 6,812 IDPs around the country who will be resettled by December this year.

"The Government is determined that all IDPs camps in the country be closed by December this year so that they can move on with their lives," she said. Read more...

Haiti's plight

Six months after Haiti was ravaged by the fifth deadliest earthquake in history (according to the U.S. Geological Survey), it's hard to find anybody involved in the reconstruction effort who isn't deeply frustrated by the lack of progress. Relief organizations rail against the Haitian government for its failure to come up with a plan for removing debris or perform other vital logistical duties; government ministers fire back that the nonprofits are confusing matters by failing to coordinate their efforts. Former President Clinton, co-chairman of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, is irked at international donors that have been slow to honor their commitments. Read more...

Haiti Relief Is Not Charity: A Rights-Based Approach to Aid

Haiti's January 2010 earthquake left more than 230,000 dead, 300,000-plus injured, 1.5 million homeless and physically leveled 28 of 29 government ministries. In response, the international community pledged 5.5 billion dollars in aid to rebuild Haiti. Today, only 10 percent of the promised funding has reached its shores. Read more..

Working to bring 'Hippos,' and water, to Haiti

(CNN) -- Like so many people, Grant Gibbs watched the news unfolding in Haiti and thought to himself that he wanted to help the people of the earthquake-ravaged nation.

Unlike many, Gibbs is in a unique position to aid the Haitians in a big way.

Gibbs, a South African, is the man behind the Hippo Water Roller, a 90-liter plastic barrel with a sturdy handle that can be rolled on its side from a river or lake back to a home desperately in need of water. Read more..

Slugglish Progress, Resilient People

Young tenants of Haiti's quake camps :: Media Center :: News from the Field :: U.S. Fund for UNICEF - UNICEF USA

Young tenants of Haiti's quake camps :: Media Center :: News from the Field :: U.S. Fund for UNICEF - UNICEF USA

Posted using ShareThis

Journey Back Home - Internally Displaced People

Internally displaced people, or IDPs, are often wrongly called refugees. Unlike refugees, IDPs have not crossed an international border to find sanctuary but have remained inside their home countries. Even if they have fled for similar reasons as refugees (armed conflict, generalized violence, human rights violations), IDPs legally remain under the protection of their own government. As citizens, they retain all of their rights and protection under both human rights and international humanitarian law.
Read more about the farming and fishing folk return to villages in parts of north-west Sri Lanka

Data is collected from UNHR's website. Photo credit : UNHCR/B.Baloch

Internally Displaced People, Sri Lanka

How can we as designers work together creatively to provide shelter for an influx of 115,451 internally displaced people?

Photo credit : defence.lk

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE

The displacement of people within their own countries owing to war or natural disasters is a matter of growing concern worldwide. This concern is amply justified: time and again, internally displaced people (IDPs) suffer extreme hardship that jeopardizes their very survival.
Resettlement referrals worldwide almost doubled from 2006 to 2007. In 2008, UNHCR is on course to refer about 90,000 refugees. It estimates that in 2009 there will be some 560,000 people around the world in need of this durable solution. The Office is concerned that the number of refugees in need of resettlement is growing without a corresponding increase in the number of places that States make available.

Click here to read more UNHCR's report on "Finding Durable Solutions"


Data is collected from UNHR's report on Finding Durable Solutions and ICRC, Geneva, 2007 report on "Internally Displaced People " Photo credit : Pathitharan