Designed with and for refugees

Modular post emergency and transitional shelters adaptable to your needs and safe for the people you serve.

A Better Shelter

The Better Shelter is a cost effective and durable shelter solution designed to meet the needs for the activities of basic living, for privacy, security and familiarity – a safe base that offers a sense of peace, identity and dignity.

The shelter’s modular design allows for altering and adaptation to different areas of use, making it a versatile and scalable shelter option for humanitarian organisations operating in different contexts worldwide where implementation of local solutions is not possible. Photo: ©UNHCR/Ali Arkady

Apolina Nyassa in Tanzania

Congolese refugee Apolina Nyassa, 86, lives alone in a Better Shelter given to refugees with special needs, at Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania. Apolina likes her new house because it keeps out rain and rats. She uses her old mud-brick house for cooking in.

Nyarugusu Settlement in Eastern Tanzania hosts over 150,000 refugees, out of which 65,000 are from Burundi and the remaining from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Photo: ©UNHCR/Georgina Goodwin

Shaima Jassim in Iraq

Internally displaced Iraqi Shaima Jassim makes a dress on a sewing machine inside the shelter where she and her three children live. Shaima fled Fallujah in 2014 and came to Al-Khadra camp, Baghdad. Since her husband passed, she supports her family by making and selling dresses to women and girls in the camp. Photo: ©UNHCR/Ali Arkady

Rohingya family in Bangladesh

Mohamed, 25, Hajira Khatun, 22, Abu Bukkar Siddiq, 5, Mohammed Siddiq, 3, and Sadeka, 3 months, take shelter in a Better Shelter in the UNHCR Transit Centre in Kutupalong camp, Bangladesh.

The family belongs to the Rohingya tribe and were forced to flee Myanmar. Photo: ©UNHCR/Roger Arnold

Venezuelan family in Brazil

Jean Carlos, 39 and Sonia Ramos, 31, were living in the bus terminal in Boa Vista, Roraima with their children and nephew before being taken to Rondon I.

Rondon I was the tenth temporary camp to be established by UNHCR in Roraima, Brazil, which borders the south-east Venezuelan states of Amazonas and Bolivar. Opened in mid-July 2018, Rondon I is hosting Venezuelans who were living on the streets of Boa Vista. Photo: ©️UNHCR/Reynesson Damasceno

Schoolchildren in Iraq

“I had 220 students that I had to teach in four classrooms, it was crowded, and learning quality was dropping as a consequence”, said Mr. Rafid Majeed, Headmaster of the Al-Ayoubi School. “Today, the school has eight classrooms with 27 students per class, which allows us as teachers to deliver better education quality and enroll more students for the upcoming semester”.

During this protracted conflict in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of children have been exposed to displacement, violence and a lack of schooling – the latter due to their IDP status, distance to school facilities, destruction of infrastructure, or lack of id papers to prove the child’s identity and level of education. Photo: © Terre des hommes

Covid-19 response

Governments and organisations the world over are preparing for and responding to the spread of the coronavirus. And quick efforts are required. In crisis operations every second counts.

The spread of epidemics and pandemics put pressure on national and global health care systems. Rapid response to these requires solutions for unforeseen needs and care for large number of patients. Additional infrastructure required may include screening centres of suspected carriers, mobile quarantine facilities for infected patients, storage and office space as well as information centres.

Better Shelter provides safe, temporary structures for outdoor use that serve as health care facilities all over the world. Ongoing projects include an OB/GYN clinic in Mexico, an Ebola monitoring and treatment facility in Burundi and different health facilities for response to the covid-19 crisis.

The modular design of the Better Shelter enables alterations in size and layout: sections can be added and removed to create different sized facilities. Vertical walls and a high ceiling allow space for medical equipment, beds, consultation rooms and office space.

For order inquiries, contact our Partnerships Manager Lucia Arias Kapetinic at lucia.arias.kapetinic@bettershelter.org

Product alterations

Modular design enables set up of shorter and longer units.
Longer units can have multiple doors and layout designs.
Units can be placed next to each other and thereby used as separate rooms.

Windows can be open or shut.
Lockable door can be placed on all sides.
Multiple doors can be added to each unit.

Interior can be adapted with panels or with textile room divider.
The vertical walls and high ceiling allow space for beds, tables, shelves and medical equipment.
Better Shelter can assist in layout options and designs.

To learn more about how you can adapt the Better Shelter to you requirements, get in touch with our team today: product@bettershelter.org

How we can support

We offer support before, during and after project implementation

Planning

Project planning
Layout design
Modularity options
Logistic support
Research and Development

Implementation

Assembly training
Installation support
Implementation support and supervision
Technical support
Product expertise

Follow up and support

Maintenance and partner support
Monitoring and Evaluation
Communications support

To learn more about how Better Shelter can support in your project, get in touch with our team today: product@bettershelter.org