show menu

Alternatives to camps - response in urban and rural settings

Last updated:
Key points
  • When the refugee emergency risk is medium or high, always undertake contingency planning and advanced preparedness actions.
  • Prioritise registration, assessment, profiling and information management from the start, to ensure effective delivery of core protection functions.
  • Identify local partners, including local municipalities and community-based organisations, and build an outreach and referral network as soon as possible.
  • Do not set up camps or parallel delivery systems. Wherever possible, mainstream refugees into national systems and structures.
  • Seek efficient and adapted delivery mechanisms. Prefer cash-based approaches; draw on new technologies and innovative approaches. Focus on what refugees want.
  • Activate coordination mechanisms at once. Do so in a transparent and well-documented manner.
  • Invest in market-based livelihood strategies early on in the emergency.
  • Consider that spatial planning and design can serve as a critical enabler and platform for aligning coordination and prioritization efforts in preparing for a refugee / IDP influx and addressing their needs in short, medium and long term.

In this section:

Give us some feedback

Let us know what you think of the new site and help us improve your user experience….

Give us some feedback

Let us know what you think of the new site and help us improve your user experience….

Help us keep the handbook up to date
Suggest an enhancement to this page
CAPTCHA

Welcome to the new UNHCR Emergency Handbook website. If you are UNHCR staff, please use your UNHCR credentials to log in. From 1st April 2023, all non-UNHCR staff may re-register here.