Humanitarian Standards in Urban, Post-disaster Contexts: A Study of Sphere Shelter Standards in Haiti

Author(s)
Pym, M. & Hooper, M.
Publication language
English
Pages
8pp
Date published
01 Jun 2017
Type
Articles
Keywords
Disasters, Standards, Urban
Countries
Haiti
Organisations
Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN)

In the face of rapid urbanisation, population growth and increasingly intense and frequent natural disasters, vulnerability in urban areas is growing. At the same time, humanitarian organisations are increasingly acting in urban contexts. This raises questions regarding the effectiveness of humanitarian engagement in these settings. One response to broader questions around the accountability and effectiveness of humanitarian organisations has been the development of a set of minimum standards for humanitarian assistance, created as part of the Sphere Project. This article examines how humanitarian organisations have worked with these standards, particularly those relating to physical aspects of shelter, and asks what can be learnt from their implementation in urban environments.