Almost 30,000 Better Shelter units improve refugee living conditions around the world

Working with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR and other humanitarian partners, the Swedish social enterprise Better Shelter has provided more than 30,000 shelters in over 40 countries since 2015. About half of these – 14,900 – were delivered last year to 22 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia. As well as serving as temporary homes for refugee families, the units are being used as classrooms, clinics and community centers in countries with large refugee- and IDP populations including Uganda, Iraq and Bangladesh.The Swedish social enterprise has teamed up with international and local NGOs to set up temporary homes and other refugee camp infrastructure to help hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have fled violence and armed conflicts.

Better Shelter also released an upgraded version of its shelter and the organisation has become a member of the UN Global Compact – the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

“Our partner UNHCR is breaking new ground by realising bold ideas through our partnership. We hope our collaboration will continue to pave the way for other similar projects that will benefit refugees and other displaced people in their time of greatest need”, says Johan Karlsson, Managing Director of Better Shelter.

Another strategic partner is the Swiss NGO Terre des hommes, which set up more than 1,100 units in Iraq during the autumn of 2018. Today these units function as temporary learning spaces in more than 300 schools in the Kirkuk and Saladin Governorates. They have permitted 150,000 Iraqi children aged six to twelve a better access to education while their permanent school buildings are restored after years of conflict.

In refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar region in Bangladesh, US-based non-profit Health and Education for All (HAEFA) conducts 1,800 health consultations per week for refugee patients in two Better Shelter clinics. The region currently hosts more than 900,000 refugees from the Muslim minority group Rohingya, who have sought protection from extreme violence in Myanmar after a series of violent crackdowns in 2017. Crowded, unhygienic conditions and unsafe water cause a variety of health problems for refugees, who receive free healthcare and medicine from HAEFA.

“While the world becomes richer, more people than ever are displaced due to the devastating impacts of conflicts and natural disasters. Last year, the international humanitarian system answered unprecedented needs. We are immensely proud to be able to contribute to the great accomplishments of our partners, and to make a real change in the lives of so many people.”, says Johan Karlsson.