Following the events of last June, ACTED focuses on building upon the initially constructed transitional shelters by providing conflict-affected families with a sustainable living space.

OSH [ACTED News] -- The outbreak of violence in south Kyrgyzstan in June 2010 led to the destruction through either looting or burning of over 1,900 houses. Over 400,000 people were displaced by the conflict, which tore apart the cities and surrounding areas of Osh and Jalalabad provinces. Families were forced to take refuge in camps for internally-displaced persons, or as refugees in neighboring Uzbekistan. As tension continued, people sought shelter with family or neighbours or in tents provided by the international community.

A consortium of aid agencies, including ACTED, came together to build 1,951 transitional shelters. These shelters were two or three-roomed seismically sound brick shelters. Each was installed with a stove and double-glazed windows, as well as roof and floor insulation to ensure that families were well-equipped to face the harsh winter, where temperatures fell to minus 20°C. ACTED built 568 of the transitional shelters and its activities spanned Osh and Jalalabad oblasts.

One year on, with the support of Asian Development Bank (ADB), ACTED and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) have partnered with the local authorities in Osh and Jalalabat to continue the shelter project by extending the houses built in 2010. The current shelter project, implemented by ACTED and DRC, will provide adequate permanent housing for 1,500 families. The households selected were those who were most affected by the June violence.

With the help of ACTED, it is expected that by December 2011, 502 conflict-affected families will benefit from a real living space they can call home. Although the shelters built in the near-immediate aftermath of the June events were crucial for conflict-affected families to get through the winter months, the new shelter project intends to provide, not a minimal standard of protection, but a home in which they can rebuild their lives.