Like it or not, Non Food Items and Shelter come together.  Whether you see them as Essential Household Items (EHIs) or Core Relief Items (CRIs) or a catch all for anything that is not food, they remain popular with donors, local Government, humanitarian actors and can be life-saving.  Creating and agreeing the contents of a standard kit as early as possible is good practice and will save time and energy later in the process.  Additional resources can be found at:

https://www.sheltercluster.org/working-group/working-group-nfi-practices

• 2Ci: Iraq 2017 – Non-Food Items (NFI) Technical Guidance. This is the recommended format with a good standard introductory text. The specifications have been revised and finalised – it is Version 12 of the document.
• 2Cii: IASC 2008 - Selecting NFIs for Shelter. This ten-year old publication is essential reading and covers the whole NFI theme including climate issues, the process of selecting and specifications. A classic and timeless text.
• 2Ciii: Yemen 2017 & Nigeria 2008 - Guidelines for the Distribution of Shelter/NFI Kits. Although the major NGOs will have internal SOPs for distributions in-time, a contextualised guideline with minimum standards will still provide a good reference point in the event that their internal SOPs are under development. For smaller and local organisations drawn to the NFI sector, well developed guidelines can be essential to avoid difficult distributions and set best practice.