News & Updates

Tents in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where parts of the camp has experienced flooding. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

When Emergency Shelter Fails the Test of Dignity

As winter tightens its grip on Gaza, the inadequacy of emergency shelters supplied to displaced families has become impossible to ignore. Reports from the ground describe tents unable to withstand cold, wind, and rain—leaving already vulnerable communities exposed to further hardship.

For manufacturers involved in humanitarian shelter, this moment demands reflection, responsibility, and action.

At Nizam, we believe that emergency shelters are not temporary products—they are temporary homes. And every temporary home must meet a minimum threshold of safety, durability, and human dignity, regardless of cost pressure, speed of deployment, or geopolitical complexity.

The Reality on the Ground

Winterized shelter is not optional in cold and wet conditions. When tents lack:

• adequate insulation,

• weather-resistant materials,

• reinforced seams and anchoring,

• proper ground protection,

they cease to function as protection. They become symbols of systemic failure—where urgency overrides engineering, and speed eclipses suitability.

The humanitarian sector operates under immense constraints. We recognize this. But constraints do not absolve responsibility.

Manufacturing Matters

Shelter performance is determined long before deployment—at the design table, material selection stage, and production floor.

From decades of experience manufacturing humanitarian tents and relief supplies, we know:

• Lightweight does not have to mean fragile

• Cost efficiency does not require compromising thermal performance

• Speed does not justify ignoring climatic context

Winterized displacement requires context-specific shelter, not one-size-fits-all solutions.

A Manufacturer’s Responsibility

As one of the world’s long-standing producers of humanitarian shelter, Nizam holds a clear position:

Emergency shelter must be designed for the conditions people will live in, not the conditions assumed in procurement spreadsheets.

This includes:

• climate-appropriate materials,

• durability over repeated use,

• repairability in the field,

• and ethical accountability throughout the supply chain.

Humanitarian aid must not only arrive quickly—it must work.

Building Better, Not Louder

Criticism alone does not improve outcomes. What improves outcomes is collaboration between:

• humanitarian agencies,

• field operators,

• and manufacturers with technical depth.

This is why Nizam has invested heavily in:

• recyclable and modular tent systems,

• durability-focused redesigns,

• sustainable tarpaulin innovation,

• and lifecycle-based shelter engineering.

Our approach under Nizam One is simple:
If a product cannot protect people properly, it does not deserve to be deployed—no matter how fast or how cheap it is.

A Call for Higher Standards

The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis layered upon crisis. While manufacturers cannot solve geopolitics, we can ensure that the products we deliver do not worsen suffering.

Winter should never be a second disaster.

The global humanitarian system must collectively raise the baseline for emergency shelter—moving from minimum compliance to meaningful protection.

Because dignity is not seasonal.
And shelter should never fail when people need it most.