NFIs, quality and coordination

1Non-food items

NFIs (essential household items) make it possible to sleep, cook, eat, store water, have light and keep warm. A basic kit often includes:

• Bedding and warmth: blankets, sleeping mats or mattresses, insecticide-treated nets in malaria areas.
• Cooking: at least one large cooking pot with a lid, a basin, a kitchen knife and serving spoons per household, and for each person a plate, a spoon and a cup.
• Water: containers for collection and storage, in liaison with the WASH sector.
• Lighting and energy: solar lamp, fuel or fuel-efficient stove.
• Clothing: two full sets of clothing per person according to Sphere, appropriate to the climate, age and culture.

The contents are decided with households and the cluster: a standard national kit facilitates coordination, but it must take into account cooking habits, the climate and what families already own.

2Winterisation and response to extreme climates

In cold climates, shelter and NFIs become a matter of survival. A winter response is prepared months in advance: shelter insulation (additional tarpaulins, insulation panels, floor insulation), additional thermal blankets, warm clothing, stoves with safe flues, fuel or seasonal cash for heating.

The associated risks must be controlled: fires, carbon monoxide poisoning, debt incurred to buy fuel. In hot climates, by contrast, the aim is ventilation, shade, reflective roofing and orientation of shelters in relation to prevailing winds.

3Quality, logistics, targeting and distribution

A poor-quality item is a waste. The technical specifications of the IFRC and UNHCR (emergency items catalogue) serve as a reference. A quality tarpaulin is made of reinforced, UV-treated woven polyethylene, about 4 × 6 m for the IFRC, with reinforced edges and eyelets; its weight, tear resistance and UV resistance are checked.

• Quality control: pre-shipment and on-receipt inspection, samples, rejection of non-compliant batches.
• Targeting: transparent criteria, discussed with communities, combining damage, vulnerability and tenure status; verified lists and a complaints mechanism.
• Distribution: a safe and accessible site, separate queues if needed, priority for people with reduced mobility, portable kits, timing that allows people to get home before dark.
• Post-distribution monitoring: use, resale, satisfaction, quality problems.

4The Shelter cluster and coordination

At global level, the Global Shelter Cluster is co-chaired by UNHCR for conflict situations and by the IFRC, which convenes coordination in natural disasters. At national level, the Shelter cluster (often merged with NFIs, and sometimes with CCCM) defines with the authorities the strategy, standard kits, transfer values, specifications and the 4W mapping of partners.

There are close links with CCCM (site planning), WASH (latrines, drainage), protection (HLP, gender-based violence, accessibility), early recovery and the cash sector. The area-based approach (or settlements approach) coordinates sectors across a given neighbourhood or territory rather than household by household, which is particularly useful in cities.