UNHCR Niger

Better Shelters in Maine Soroa, Diffa Region

In the region of Diffa, UNHCR have been providing emergency shelter assistance to vulnerable refugees and displaced persons since the first refugees crossed the border fleeing Boko Haram violence in Northern Nigeria in 2013. In 2016 alone, over 65,000 people in the Diffa region benefitted from UNHCR emergency shelters.

However, it is widely agreed that emergency shelters are not a long-term or sustainable solution, particularly in such harsh climatic conditions, with temperatures often reaching as high as 48 degrees Celsius in the dry season, regular sandstorms, and flooding in the rainy season. Made of plastic sheeting, sticks of wood and rope, emergency shelters are estimated to last just 6 months. With around 250,000 displaced spread across the region, 4 years since the arrival of the first forcibly displaced, humanitarian actors are constantly battling to meet the needs. In view of this “Sisyphean task”, many of those involved in the response (field actors and donors) are now displaying the first signs of weariness. For UNHCR, to engage in both transitional and long-term solutions is thus essential.

To innovate and improve, humanitarian organizations must seek out alternative solutions, creating partnerships with actors other than the traditional ones. Truly innovative solutions can be found, when experts from varying fields work together to address a problem. This is what led UNHCR and the social enterprise Better Shelter, with the support by the IKEA Foundation, to work together over the past years to develop the Better Shelter (also called the Refugee Housing Unit (RHU))”. These new Better Shelters have received much praise from both humanitarians and beneficiaries, and were awarded the ‘Beazley Design of the Year’ award from London’s Design Museum for 2016.

The UNHCR operation in Niger received 100 Better Shelters in 2016. In November, UNHCR shelter experts provided training to refugees and field staff on the construction. The shelter can be assembled by four people in just four hours. These shelters have a longer life-span than emergency shelters – estimated to be at least 3 years. With an interior space of 17.5 sq m, these shelters are composed of a steel frame with insulated polypropylene panels. A solar panel on the roof provides four hours of light, and allows mobile phone charging via a USB port. In remote areas like Diffa, access to electricity is a radical change

Composition of the Better Shelter

“Fati Boulama is a displaced person with Niger nationality. She had been living in Nigeria prior to the outbreak of conflict and was forced to return. She is now living with her husband and her three children in the town of Maine Soroa, not far from the Nigeria border. She benefited from the UNHCR “urbanization program” which not only provides housing but also plots and deeds in a legal and sustainable manner. Fati has her own plot, but until some weeks ago was living in a makeshift hut made of straw. She recently received a Better Shelter and is extremely happy: “this shelter protects me and the children from the cold and from the rain. Before we were always worried when the cold season and the rainy season approached”. Fati, her husband and three children, intend to settle in Niger permanently.

Fati Boulama, Nigerien returnee, mother of 3 children, with her husband, at the site of Guidan Kadji, with their Better Shelter.

Traditionally, houses in the Diffa region were made using just mud. This helps to regulate the temperature – producing heat inside during the cold season, and keeping the interior cool during the hot season. However, most houses are now made using mud for the walls but with metal sheeting for the roof. When discussing the benefits of the Better Shelter, Fati pointed out that “the metal sheeting increases the heat in the interior of the houses during the hot season. This new shelter is made from better material; it protects us well from the rain. We received our shelter during the rainy season, now we will wait to see how resistant it is to the heat”.

It is important that relationship between UNHCR and IKEA foundation grows and adapts. In the UNHCR Niger operation, standard shelter kits are gradually being adapted to the local context by the refugees themselves. For the Better Shelters, an initial assessment will be undertaken in the hot season to gather feedback and ideas from the refugees, which can be shared with IKEA Foundation, to grow and improve the response. Some interesting things have already been observed, such as refugees using their solar panels to earn a small amount of money, by charging a small fee to neighbours to recharge their phones. The evolution/transformation of the Better Shelters will be observed with interest, with the goal of providing a better service.

Depuis la déclaration de l'état d'urgence le 14 mai 2013 dans le nord du Nigeria (Yobe, Adamawa et Borno), l'armée nigériane a lancé une offensive militaire contre le groupe armé Boko Haram. Ce conflit a provoqué la fuite de milliers de civils dans les pays voisins tels que le Niger, le Cameroun et le Tchad.

Jusqu’ici, la région de Diffa, dans l'extrême Est du Niger a été la principale destination des populations déplacées en provenance du Nigeria. Dans cette région, près du lac Tchad et à environ 1.200 kilomètres de la capitale Niamey, les réfugiés nigérians s’installent principalement dans les villes et villages le long de la rivière Komadougou Yobe marquant la frontière entre les deux pays.

Bosso, un département de Diffa, est la ville la plus touchée par l'afflux. Ici, les réfugiés traversent la rivière tous les jours. On estime que pendant ces trois derniers mois, la région de Diffa a accueilli quelque 8.000 personnes déplacées – réfugiés incluant les ressortissants du Niger (retour) et même des ressortissants du Tchad et d'autres pays -. La dernière arrivée massive remonte au 4 Août. Ce jour, Boko Haram a délogé l'armée du Nigeria présente dans le village de Malam Fatori, qui est à environ 5 kilomètres de la frontière. Ce qui a engendré, les jours suivants, la fuite de centaines de personnes vers Diffa.

Les réfugiés une fois au Niger, sont accueillis par les communautés locales et les familles. Ils sont logés dans les maisons des villageois, ou bénéficient d’une parcelle de terrain à l'intérieur du village pour construire leurs propres abris.

Découvrez leur arrivée en vidéo.
Find out more in this video.