This document provides a comprehensive set of standardized indicators, definitions, and usage guidelines to support Shelter Cluster partners in effectively tracking, reporting, and analyzing shelter, settlement, and non-food item (NFI) interventions across humanitarian contexts. It serves as a practical reference to ensure consistency, comparability, and quality in monitoring and evaluation efforts—across emergency, transitional, and recovery phases. By clearly outlining the purpose, scope, and appropriate use of each indicator, the document aims to strengthen collective accountability, improve coordination among implementing actors, and enable evidence-based decision-making at country and global levels.

Importantly, the indicators presented in this guidance are closely aligned with the Shelter Severity Classification (SSC) framework, which assesses the severity of shelter needs through three pillars: The Shelter, the Living Conditions and the Settlement. The document supports the generation and analysis of data that feeds into each of these pillars, enabling a more nuanced and structured understanding of shelter vulnerabilities across affected populations. By linking monitoring data to SSC dimensions, the indicators also help guide prioritization in response planning and contribute to more targeted and effective shelter interventions.

Furthermore, the guidelines promote harmonized data collection and reporting into 5Ws, response dashboards, HRP monitoring frameworks, and joint needs analysis tools, ensuring alignment with inter-cluster standards and enabling strategic monitoring of progress toward collective outcomes. Ultimately, this document contributes to more accountable, evidence-based, and dignified shelter and settlement responses for crisis-affected populations.