Beyond Survival – Post-tsunami Shelter Project Programme, Sri Lanka
Country/Region
Project Summary
Implementation of a nationwide transitional shelter programme.
Project Description
ARUP
Following the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, Arup's Jo da Silva took a secondment as Senior Shelter Coordinator in Sri Lanka with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). She took a lead role in implementing a nationwide transitional shelter programme, moving the displaced population from emergency shelters (tents, schools, emergency camps) to temporary shelters providing an interim solution until the large number of houses lost had been rebuilt.
Her achievements were considerable, and include:
- coordinating the efforts of around 100 NGOs
- 53,000 shelters were built in six months
- by September 2005, 95% of all shelter needs were met (7% by UNHCR) and public buildings vacated, tents and emergency camps de-commissioned.
| Jo da Silva is a civil and structural engineer and an Associate Director at Arup, a global firm of designers and business consultants, where she specialises in building design, urban regeneration and sustainable development. For this role Jo da Silva was a winner in the Individual category of the British Expertise International Awards, 2006. |
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