Across Gaza, hundreds of thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed and nearly the entire population is displaced as a result. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimates that more than one million people in Gaza are in urgent need of emergency shelter, after homes and essential services have been devastated.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through its Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP), has begun installing transitional shelters from Better Shelter as part of its early recovery work.
Each unit can be assembled in hours and provides a family with a private, weather-protected space of their own. It offers basic but important elements, like walls, a roof and a lockable door, supporting families in the period between emergency response and longer-term reconstruction.
The shelters are set up as part of a wider neighbourhood approach. Housing is linked with access to water, sanitation and other essential services so communities can function again. The aim is not only to provide shelter, but to support the gradual shift from emergency conditions toward recovery.
Better Shelter supports the work through assembly training and technical guidance, helping ensure the units are constructed safely and used as intended in a complex and constrained environment.
Coordinated support
The response is supported by Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Norway, Qatar, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA), and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Shelter is where recovery starts
Shelter is the foundation for feeling safe, being able to take care of your health and go back to school, plan ahead, and begin to recover from trauma.
“This project shows what coordinated action between governments, UN agencies, and small innovation actors like ours can deliver. But the needs in Gaza are still immense. While permanent buildings are rebuilt, more than a million people remain without safe housing, even temporary. Far greater commitments are required from the international community, and donors must step up to match the scale and duration of the shelter needs. Without shelter, recovery cannot begin.”
Johan Karlsson, co-founder and managing director, Better Shelter
Media
Efter Sveriges påtryckningar: Ikea-tält till Gaza (Aftonbladet)
UN builds first batch of Gaza relief houses (Middle East Eye)
