Humanitarian Impacts of the War in Gaza: Shelter, Water and Sanitary Solutions (2024-2025)
This team examined the humanitarian impacts of the war in Gaza, with a focus on shelter and access to essential services such as water and sanitation. Partnering with Clean Shelter, a Germany-based NGO co-founded by an Israeli and a Palestinian woman, the team supported efforts to provide emergency relief to internally displaced persons (IDPs). Clean Shelter has established more than 1,000 facilities, including tents, toilets and community kitchens, despite significant barriers such as sourcing all materials locally and working within an active conflict zone. The team’s research and planning addressed immediate emergency relief as well as long-term rebuilding, including water distribution, sustainable energy, shelter solutions and wastewater management.
Through this collaboration, students contributed to multiple aspects of Clean Shelter’s work, including grant writing, media outreach and internal operations consulting. They also helped the NGO secure fiscal sponsorship in the United States, vastly increasing its fundraising capacity, and supported a press and donor outreach tour in Durham. The team produced Clean Shelter’s annual report for distribution to donors and worked alongside an undergraduate engineering course on desalination and humanitarian shelter solutions. In addition to gaining insight into the functions of a modern NGO in a high-stakes humanitarian context, students built skills in research, fundraising and cross-cultural collaboration. The team will continue its partnership with Clean Shelter, aiming to expand its impact and sustain a multicultural, humanitarian-focused space at Duke centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Timing
Fall 2024 – Summer 2025
Team Outputs
Humanitarian Impacts in Gaza (Poster presentation at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 16, 2025)
Clean Shelter 2024 Annual Report
Press and donor outreach tour for Clean Water, Durham, NC
Draft publications, grant applications in progress
This Team in the News
Student Reflection: Anna Clauer (Master of Environmental Management ’26)
Image: Construction of temporary toilet units in Gaza, courtesy of Clean Shelter