CoDRRAThe United Nations cluster approach groups responders by area of work so organisations can coordinate assistance.
A large disaster creates needs across several areas at once. The United Nations cluster approach gives organisations working in the same area a way to share information, identify gaps and coordinate assistance with other sectors.
Logistics concerns the movement of people and supplies. Food security and nutrition address access to food and whether it meets people’s needs, including those of infants and children. Shelter and camp coordination cover places to stay and how they are run. The article uses evacuation centres and temporary housing as familiar examples from Japan.
Other areas include health, protection, emergency telecommunications, early recovery, education, and water, sanitation and hygiene. If a school becomes a shelter, for example, both the shelter team and the education team have a role in helping children resume learning and play.
Mental health and psychosocial support is relevant across these areas. The way responders distribute food, run a shelter, restart a school or provide health services can shape how safe and supported people feel.
Before a disaster, work out what your own team can do, whom you need to coordinate with and how you will refer needs that fall outside your role. Knowing those relationships makes them easier to use when the response begins.