The shelter and settlement programme works to enhance refugee self-reliance, maintain housing and building stock, and conduct strategic planning as part of return preparations.
In 2016, camp shelter management became community-led. Shelter Support Working groups (SWGs) now take the lead on this sector in all camps, with technical support from TBC.
The groups undertake housing assessments, manage housing stock, help households with special needs (for example homes with people with disabilities) to upgrade their living spaces, and develop shelter workplans.
They work with camp management and community-based organisations to identify homes and community buildings such as nurseries and schools which need repairs, and they also survey kitchen safety and fuel use.
In 2016, more than 1,600 people developed shelter skills, including concrete pole-making, block- and brick-making, bamboo furniture-making, and bamboo leeching. Almost a quarter of the learners were women.
The programme also provided technical support to Community Driven Natural Resource Management (CDNRM) work by communities in the camps, in the surrounding Thai villages, and in potential return areas in southeast Burma/Myanmar.