Shelter - NFI SPHERE - OCHANet

Introduction
Links to international legal instruments
The Minimum Standards in Shelter, Settlement and Non-Food Items are
a practical expression of the principles and rights embodied in the
Humanitarian Charter. The Humanitarian Charter is concerned with
the most basic requirements for sustaining the lives and dignity of those
affected by calamity or conflict, as reflected in the body of international
human rights, humanitarian and refugee law. In humanitarian response,
shelter and settlement are familiar terms that fall within the scope of the
right to housing, which is enshrined in human rights law.
Everyone has the right to adequate housing. This right is recognised in
international legal instruments and includes the right to live in security,
peace and dignity, and with security of tenure. Key aspects of the right
to housing include the availability of services, facilities, materials and
infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and
cultural appropriateness. The right to housing also extends to goods
and services, such as sustainable access to natural and common
resources; safe drinking water; energy for cooking, heating and lighting;
sanitation and washing facilities; means of food storage; refuse disposal;
site drainage; and emergency services. People should have adequate
space and protection from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind or other threats
to health, structural hazards and disease vectors. The appropriate siting
of settlements and housing should provide access to health-care services,
schools, child-care centres and other social facilities and to livelihood
opportunities. The way housing is constructed, the building materials
used and the policies supporting these must appropriately enable the
expression of cultural identity and diversity of housing.
Shelter
The right to housing is inextricably related to other human rights,
including that of protection against forced eviction, harassment and
other threats to physical safety and well-being, the right of everyone to
be protected against arbitrary displacement from their home or place
of habitual residence, and the prohibition of indiscriminate armed
attacks on civilian objects.
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