The UNHCR Damak sub-office oversees the three remaining refugee camps of Bhutanese refugees whom have been hosted by Nepal for over 20 years. During my internship, the UNHCR was carrying out a major resettlement program, reducing the refugees to only about 23,000 from an initial 200,000.
 

My contribution was to identify issues with existing semi-permanent shelters, distributed for individuals designated as “Extremely Vulnerable.” In conjunction with the refugee community and implementing partners, I modified the existing shelter designs to resolve issues concerning accessibility; water and sanitation; overheating; ventilation; and shelter and security. In addition, I coordinated with the Protections team to identify and distribute the newly designed shelters. Throughout the process, I communicated closely with internal UNHCR stakeholders, implementing partners, and members of the refugee community to help guide the entire process and integrate their input during the design, construction and implementation phases. A total of 25 shelters where constructed in Beldanghi II Camp. The design was used one year later in an initiative to provide semi-permanent shelters during the emergency relief effort after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake.