Since 2010, we have had the opportunity to collaborate with the Shelter Cluster to support projects aimed at improving housing and strengthening international solidarity. In episode 5 of the podcast “2005–2025 | Key Moments”, Olivier Moles reflects on the many contributions of this collaboration for CRAterre, which began following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.
Joining the Shelter Cluster has enabled CRAterre to:
• Gain a deeper understanding of the humanitarian sector and its realities;
• Confront and enrich our methods and approaches through dialogue with other organisations;
• Amplify the voices of local actors and better integrate their expertise into decision-making processes;
• Sustainably share information, tools and methods from one crisis to another through the Global Shelter Cluster platform;
• Promote, among all stakeholders, the potential of local building cultures for appropriate post-disaster responses.
Over the years, collaboration with the Shelter Cluster has also enabled us to develop guides and country profiles that help better understand and integrate local building cultures into many shelter projects. In 2025, these efforts received strong recognition with the integration of local building cultures into the Haitian National Building Code.
This experience reminds us that co-construction, knowledge sharing and listening to local actors are at the heart of sustainable and context-appropriate housing solutions.
🎧 Listen to the full episode to look back at 20 years of action by the Shelter Cluster:
