DISTRIBUTION OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE/TOOLKIT: 3. Selection and Procurement of Items
Aperçu
Selecting and procuring NFIs requires time and detailed planning. Poorly planned interventions can limit the effectiveness and relevance of our response. Start the identification of needed items as early as possible and consider the timeframe from the start of procurement process until receiving items at IOM warehouse/distribution location.
Selecting items and kits
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Refer to Sphere Standard 4 Household Items: Household item assistance supports restoring and maintaining health, dignity and safety and the undertaking of daily domestic activities in and around the home.
- To support harmonization and a coordinated response, first check if there are standard items and/or kits defined by the Cluster/Sector/Working Groups. If not, work with relevant Clusters and active partners in the affected area to harmonize/standardize items and kit components whenever possible.
- Based on the need assessment and other available data such as PDM reports from recent distributions in the same area, determine what and how many items are to be distributed per individual or household.
- Carefully select essential household items such as kitchen items, cooking fuel, child and elderly care items to ensure they are adequate to the needs of the individuals in household. *1
- Items and kits should be based on gender, age and diversity sensitive need assessments. Lack of appropriate items (e.g. adequate clothing, bedding, fuel) may hinder freedom of movement, self-confidence, and choice significantly, or put people at risk through harmful coping mechanism or added burdens. *2
- Consider the weight and volume of items that people must carry after the distribution. Provide transport assistance as needed
- For more details about gender sensitive selection of each household items, refer the chapter 5.1 Non-Food Items (NFIs) of the GENDER & SHELTER Good Programming Guidelines. *3
- For selection of the Hygiene kit and other WASH related NFIs, see IOM Emergency WASH Items Catalogue 2023, or if available, follow the standard Cluster WASH kit content in the country.
Replenishment of consumables, repeat and/or seasonal distributions
- Some items such as fuel, and hygiene items may need to be replenished.
- Other items such as clothing or bedding for winter, mosquito nets, etc. may need to be distributed or redistributed at specific intervals.
- Consider defining an replenishment kit that contains mainly consumable items that beneficiaries need more often versus a full NFI kit.
- Multi-round NFI assistance is another solution to replenishing NFIs, which can be done through in-kind and cash/ voucher modalities. *4
Resources | File Format | Language |
Sphere Standard 4. Household Items (Sphere 2018) |
Online | EN |
Selecting NFIs for Shelter (IASC 2008) |
EN | |
GENDER & SHELTER Good programming guidelines (Care International UK 2016) |
EN | |
Armonización de kits de artículos domésticos en el contexto del apoyo a las personas refugiadas y migrantes de Venezuela (R4V 2023) |
SP | |
Lineamientos nacionales: Armonización de Artículos No Alimentarios (NFI) (Grupo de Trabajo de WAN (Ecuador), 2022) |
SP |
Specifications
See IOM LOGISTICS EMERGENCY CATALOGUE entry to identify detailed specifications of most commonly procured non-food items. Also see the following resources for procurement, logistic, and material usage.
Resources | File Format | Language |
TENT (OCHA 2004) |
EN | |
Plastic Sheeting (IFRC/Oxfam GB 2007) |
EN | |
Timber (IFRC, UN/OCHA and CARE International 2009) |
SP | |
Shade Nets (MSF, Shelter Centre 2006) |
SP |
Items that require donor approval
For certain items such as mosquito nets, approval from donors is required. Refer to donor guidelines if any items need particular attention for inclusion in the proposal, and for procurement and distribution.
Resources | File Format | Language |
BHA Emergency Application Guidelines: Health Annex A - Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (USAID 2021) |
Word | EN |
Mode of procurement
See NFI Procurement section in the SHELTER AND NFI OPERATIONS entry.
In addition, refer to following guidance for long-term agreements (LTA), acquiring global stocks, and managing in-kind contributions.
Resources | File Format | Language |
Global Long-term agreement suppliers NOTE: These contracts are pre-negotiated following specifications on IOM LOGISTICS EMERGENCY CATALOGUE and because of this have lower prices and assured quality. |
SharePoint | EN |
Global Stock Community of Practice page NOTE: This page provides information and resources for accessing IOM's Global Stocks, which are IOM's globally pre-positioned relief items available to country missions. |
COP page | EN |
International Pre-positioned Stock Procurement Options NOTE: IOM can purchase or borrow global stocks of partners such as IFRC and Oxfam through agreements with those partners. For more information. |
EN | |
Guidance Note on Accessing Global Stocks for COs NOTE: Global stocks are IOM's globally pre-positioned relief items available to country missions and follow the specifications listed on IOM EMERGENCY RELIEF ITEMS CATALOGUE entry. |
EN | |
Guidance note: Managing in kind donations (Under Development) NOTE: IOM is a key recipient of in-kind donations from large donors including FCDO, BHA, ECHO, and others. IOM may also receive stocks from smaller non-governmental donors. In-kind donations avoid procurement costs, but quality and appropriateness must be confirmed. |
WORD | EN |
Packaging
- At the procurement stage, consider the volume and weight of items and kits that beneficiaries will be receiving and carrying home.
- Whenever possible, package into kits before distribution for easy transportation. Depending on the distribution timeframe and procurement lead time, consider kitting NFIs at supplier side or at IOM warehouse.
- Make sure the package includes details about the kit content and quantity of each item.
- Add hotline number or other ways people can provide feedback or raise a complaint
- Bags with thin straps may be uncomfortable to carry, specially for people on the move or in transit. Camping-type backpacks, bags with wheels or small waterproof backpacks should be considered. *5
Environmental considerations
- Choose items that will not result in harmful environmental impacts for recipients and their communities.
- Choose items that do not deplete natural resources or cause long-term environmental impact. *6
- For selecting fuel and household energy supply assistance, assess health and safety, reliability, affordability, and environmental sustainability of the supply system. *7
- Consider salvaged, reused, recycled, or re-purposed materials. *8
- Avoid unnecessary individual sub-packaging and/or single-use plastic whilst ensuring medical supplies, food items, personal hygiene products ware safe to use. *9
- Minimize items made of plastic and opt for more durable items.
- Reduce transportation distance of items, consider local procurement as much as possible.
To learn more about greening NFIs, visit following links.
Resources | File Format | Language |
Green - ICRC/IFRC Emergency Items Catalogues NOTE: Under each item, sustainable procurement information sheets is available. (ICRC/IFRC 2022) |
EN | |
Shelter Methodology for the Assessment of Carbon (SMAC) - a step by step user guide (BRE 2021) |
EN | |
The Nexus Environmental Assessment Tool (NEAT+) (EECENTRE 2023) |
WebPage | EN |
ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST FOR SHELTER RESPONSE (V1.5 2020) (Shelter Cluster Vanuatu 2020) |
EN |
Contacts
For more information, please contact the Shelter and Settlements Unit in Geneva: ShelterSupport@iom.int.
Please also find the contact information to the IOM Shelter Reference Group: ShelterReferenceGroup@iom.int.
Footnotes
*1 CARE International UK and IOM. 2016. Good Shelter Programming - Tools to Reduce the Risk of GBV in Shelter Programmes (Link)
*2 CARE International UK. 2016. GENDER & SHELTER Good programming guidelines (Link)
*3 Ibid.
*4 IOM Turkey and ShelterNFI Cluster X-Border Operation Turkey hub. 2021. NFI Distribution Guidelines in Northwest Syria. P.16 (Link)
*5 Grupo de Trabajo de WAN. 2022. Lineamientos nacionales: Armonización de Artículos No Alimentarios (NFI) (Link)
*6 Sphere Association. 2018. The Sphere Handbook (Link)
*7 ibid.
*8 ibid.
*9 ICRC/IFRC. 2020. Information sheet: Packaging (Link)