This course introduces the basics of humanitarian community shelter and settlements (S&S) activities, including some history and trends related to the sector, best practices in assessments and programming strategy, basic shelter responses, the relationship between shelter and its context (settlements), and how to promote the recovery of affected settlements. This training course is based on many years of USAID/OFDA and humanitarian organization experience in S&S activities, so discussions and case studies are based on real-life situations. Discussions are geared towards how to develop strategies and options to appropriately deliver humanitarian shelter and settlements assistance. Additionally, the course provides an opportunity for participants to understand the relationship of S&S activities, disaster risk reduction, sectoral activities, and larger trends such as urbanization. This version of the course incorporates participant feedback from over 15 USAID/OFDA S&S training courses conducted in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Taiwan, and Thailand.

• This course is divided into five modules. Each module will take between 45 minutes to an hour to complete. You have the option of following the course on the web or downloading for later viewing:
  • Module 1: Overview and Trends
  • Module 2: Issues and Concerns
  • Module 3: Shelter
  • Module 4: Settlements
  • Module 5: Disaster Risk Reduction and Re-conceiving the Road to Recovery