Understanding CCCM

1Three roles, three responsibilities

The CCCM sector (Camp Coordination and Camp Management, known in French as CGC) rests on three functions that must never be confused:

• Camp administration: this is the responsibility of the national authorities. They designate and allocate land, issue documents, ensure security, law and order and the civilian character of the site, and remain responsible for protecting their citizens and the people on their territory.
• Camp coordination: this is the responsibility of the cluster lead agency. At global level, the CCCM cluster is co-led by UNHCR (conflict-induced displacement) and IOM (natural disasters). It creates the humanitarian space between sites: common strategy, standards, gap analysis, advocacy, information.
• Camp management: this is the responsibility of the site management agency, often a national or international NGO. It coordinates services within the site, ensures residents' participation, monitors standards and maintains infrastructure.

The site manager does not provide all services itself: it ensures that the right actors provide them, at the right level, without duplication or gaps.

2Planned sites, spontaneous sites and collective centres

CCCM covers all "camp-like settings" where displaced people live:

• Planned camps: land chosen, prepared and divided into plots before or during people's arrival, with services planned from the outset.
• Spontaneous or self-settled sites: people settle on their own on public or private land, often without the owner's agreement, with a high risk of eviction and improvised services.
• Collective centres: existing buildings (schools, churches, mosques, warehouses, public buildings) that host families; typical problems are lack of privacy, overcrowding, insufficient sanitation and competing uses (the school needs to reopen).
• Transit and reception centres: short stays, in principle a few days, before referral to a more durable site.

Key reminder: most displaced people live out of camps, with host families or in rented housing. A camp is a temporary solution of last resort.

3The camp life cycle

The Camp Management Toolkit describes three phases, which often overlap:

• Set-up (opening): choice of land with the authorities, assessment (water, drainage, access, security, land ownership), planning, reception and registration, first life-saving services.
• Care and maintenance: service monitoring, infrastructure maintenance, resident governance, complaints management, risk preparedness. This is the longest phase: many "temporary" camps last ten years or more.
• Closure: planned from opening, it accompanies residents towards a durable solution, rehabilitates the land and hands over the infrastructure.

Thinking about the exit from the outset changes technical choices: reusable materials, written land agreements, infrastructure that is useful to the host community.

4The CCCM cluster and its reference tools

The CCCM cluster is activated when mass displacement exceeds national capacities. It works with the Shelter, WASH, Protection, Health and Food Security clusters, since most services on a site come from them. Its reference tools:

• the Camp Management Toolkit (NRC, 2015 edition): the site manager's field manual;
• the Minimum Standards for Camp Management (CCCM cluster, 2021): what a management agency must guarantee (presence, participation, coordination, site environment, exit);
• the Sphere Handbook: quantified standards for space, shelter, water and sanitation;
• the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) for population and needs data by site.

The basic principles remain those of humanitarian action: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, independence, together with the centrality of protection and accountability to affected people.

5Architecture and mandates: who decides what, at which level

In the field, most bottlenecks on a site do not stem from a lack of technical skill but from blurred responsibilities: the local authority believes the site management NGO "takes care of everything", the WASH partner waits for an instruction from the site manager, and the cluster waits for an alert that never comes. An experienced site manager therefore always starts by clarifying, in writing, who decides, who implements, who is consulted and who is informed.

How the CCCM cluster is activated and organised

1. Activation decision: the Humanitarian Coordinator, together with the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), proposes the activation of a cluster when national mechanisms are not sufficient to cover needs; the decision is confirmed at IASC level. Activation is meant to be temporary, with deactivation criteria and a transition to the authorities.
2. Cluster Lead Agency (CLA): at global level, UNHCR for conflict-induced internal displacement and IOM for disasters. At country level, the division of roles may vary with the context and is confirmed by the HCT. In some countries, the Shelter and CCCM clusters are merged into a single cluster.
3. Provider of last resort: where critical gaps persist and no one else can act, the cluster lead agency commits to filling those gaps itself, to the extent that access, security and funding allow. This is not an unlimited guarantee: it is an obligation to do everything possible to ensure that an actor covers the need, and to report back when this is not possible.
4. Coordination team: a national coordinator, often an NGO co-coordinator, one or more information management officers, and subnational focal points (by province or by displacement area). The government co-chairs whenever possible and where this does not compromise humanitarian principles.

The core functions of a cluster

The IASC Reference Module for Cluster Coordination at Country Level sets out six core functions, plus accountability to affected populations: supporting service delivery (avoiding duplication and gaps), informing the strategic decision-making of the Humanitarian Coordinator and the HCT, planning and developing the sectoral strategy, monitoring and evaluating performance, building national capacity in preparedness and contingency planning, and supporting advocacy. A CCCM focal point is assessed against these functions, in particular during the annual Cluster Coordination Performance Monitoring (CCPM) exercise.

Refugee contexts and mixed situations

In a refugee situation there is no cluster: coordination falls under UNHCR's Refugee Coordination Model, which organises sectors (including a site management and coordination sector) together with the government. Where refugees and IDPs live side by side in the same area, the Joint UNHCR-OCHA Note on Mixed Situations (2014) sets out how the two systems fit together. For a site manager, the difference is concrete: in a refugee camp, registration is carried out by UNHCR and the government, and the site manager never creates parallel lists of its own.

Site responsibility matrix

The matrix below serves as the basis for the memorandum of understanding between the site management agency and the authorities. It uses the logic R (responsible, carries out), A (accountable, decides), C (consulted), I (informed).

Field rule: if a function on your site has no clearly assigned "A", it will not be performed. Write the matrix down, have it validated in a meeting with the authorities and the cluster, and annex it to the memorandum of understanding.

6Selecting and opening a site: a step-by-step assessment method

The choice of land is the most consequential decision in the entire life of a camp. Poor land costs years of flooding, epidemics, land disputes and drainage expenditure. Yet it is often decided within a few days, under political pressure. The method below makes it possible to remain rigorous within that timeframe.

Step 0: ask whether a camp is needed

A camp is a last resort. Before looking for land, the team checks with the cluster and the authorities whether other options exist: supported host families (cash transfers, materials for extensions), rental assistance, public buildings temporarily rehabilitated, small sites integrated into existing villages. This analysis is documented: donors and evaluators often ask why the camp option was chosen.

Step 1: estimate the need (days 1 to 2)

• Current population and projections at three and six months (low, medium and high scenarios), based on flow monitoring data (DTM), the authorities and protection actors.
• Surface area required: projected population × 45 m², plus an expansion reserve of 15 to 25%.
• Known characteristics: share of farming or pastoralist households (space needed for livestock), groups in tension, proportion of persons with specific needs.

Step 2: identify possible sites with the authorities (days 2 to 4)

The authorities propose the land; the cluster and technical partners assess it. Always ask for at least two or three options, each with its known land tenure status (public, communal, customary, private).

Step 3: multisectoral technical visit (days 3 to 6)

A team made up of at least a shelter or site planning specialist, a hydrogeologist or WASH engineer, a protection officer and the site manager visits each plot of land. It completes the same form for every site, takes GPS coordinates and photographs, and meets the customary authorities and the neighbouring host community.

Step 4: scoring and decision (days 6 to 8)

The weighted scoring (for example out of 5 points per criterion, with a weight of 1 to 3) is shared with the authorities and the cluster. It protects the team against a purely political choice: if the authorities impose a lower-ranked site, the additional risks and costs are recorded in writing.

Step 5: secure the land agreement (in parallel)

The written agreement specifies at a minimum: the parties, the plot (coordinates, surface area, map), the duration and renewal conditions, any compensation (rent, infrastructure left to the community), permitted uses (shelters, latrines, boreholes, trees), the notice procedure if the land is reclaimed, rehabilitation obligations and the dispute resolution mechanism. The Housing, Land and Property (HLP) working group and the Protection Cluster's legal experts review the agreement.

Step 6: develop the site before settling people

Even in an emergency, a few days of preparation make all the difference: staking out roads and firebreaks, marking plots, first emergency latrines and water points, a reception area with lighting and registration. Settling people first and planning afterwards means relocating families later, which creates conflict and mistrust.

7Worked example: opening the Kilembe site

Fictional context: in the province of Nord-Talima, fighting in Bassa district has displaced some 9,000 people to the town of Mbéla within three weeks. Flow monitoring records 350 to 500 arrivals per day. The schools in Mbéla are already hosting 2,100 people and are due to reopen in six weeks. The governor asks the CCCM cluster to open a site. The fictional NGO "Solidarité Grands Lacs" (SGL) is earmarked as site management agency.

1. Population projection

Surface area required for the medium scenario: 12,500 × 45 m² = 562,500 m², or about 56 hectares. With a 20% expansion reserve, the search is for about 68 hectares. The high scenario would require 90 hectares: an expansion zone or a second site is planned from the outset.

2. Comparison of the plots

Calculation for site B: water 3×3 = 9, surface area 4×3 = 12, access 3×2 = 6, community 3×2 = 6, security 4×3 = 12; total 45, plus 1 bonus point for the favourable slope, giving 46. For site C: 4×3 + 1×3 + 5×2 + 4×2 + 2×3 = 12 + 3 + 10 + 8 + 6 = 39, minus 1 for the low-lying area, giving 38. Site C can only accommodate about 8,200 people (37 ha ÷ 45 m²) and is too close to the fighting. The cluster recommends site B, on two conditions: rehabilitation of the track before the rains, and a written agreement with the herding community on a livestock corridor.

3. Site plan and first services

The site is organised on a modular basis inspired by the UNHCR Emergency Handbook: about 16 families per community (about 80 people), 16 communities per block (about 1,250 people), 4 blocks per sector (about 5,000 people). For 12,500 people: 10 blocks spread over 3 sectors (the third one incomplete, reserved for expansion).

4. The site management agency's first 30 days

What an evaluator takes away from such an opening: the documented projection, the written comparison of plots, the land agreement signed before people settled, the voluntary and prepared relocation from the schools, and the presence of the site management agency from day one.

8Setting up a site management agency: the first 90 days

Being designated as site management agency commits the organisation beyond a single project: it becomes the day-to-day interlocutor of residents, authorities and all service providers, and it will be held responsible for whatever does not work, even when the cause lies with another actor. The Minimum Standards for Camp Management (2021) organise this responsibility around five areas: the site management agency itself (presence, competencies, staff conduct), participation and community engagement, site-level coordination, the site environment (safe, maintained, compliant with standards) and exit or transition.

Structuring the team

The standards do not set a universal staff-to-resident ratio: team size depends on the population, the complexity of the site, the number of service providers and the level of insecurity. The practical benchmark is to be able to ensure a visible daily presence in each block, complete monthly service monitoring and an accessible information desk. Example structure for a site of 10,000 to 15,000 people:

The 90-day plan

Documents to produce

• Memorandum of understanding with the authorities, with the responsibility matrix annexed.
• Terms of reference for the site coordination meeting and for each committee.
• Site rules drafted with residents' representatives, consistent with national law and fundamental rights.
• Standard operating procedures: reception of new arrivals, management of departures, serious incidents (fire, death, violence), referral of protection cases.
• Data management plan: what is collected, why, where it is stored, who has access to it and for how long.

The budget of a site management agency

Typical budget lines are staff (often 50 to 70% of the budget), small maintenance and risk mitigation works (drainage, firebreaks, lighting), paid activities for residents, support to committees (training, materials, meeting spaces), communication (notice boards, radio, phone line), information management (tablets, data collection software), fire safety equipment and minimal visibility. Donors expect a justification of the cost per resident and evidence that the maintenance budget is not swallowed up by salaries.

9Variations by context, common mistakes and the donor's perspective

Adapting the set-up to the context

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Confusing management with service delivery: a site management agency that builds latrines itself because the WASH partner is slow ends up carrying responsibilities it cannot fund, and the WASH cluster is no longer alerted. A life-threatening gap is filled only exceptionally, with the cluster's agreement, and the exit is documented.
• Arriving after the families: a spontaneous site without initial planning then costs months of re-planning. Even three days of staking out before people settle make a lasting difference.
• Verbal land agreement: the word of a chief or a mayor does not survive their replacement. Every agreement must be written, signed, dated and include a map.
• Intermittent presence: a team that only comes for meetings leaves the ground to self-appointed leaders. Daily presence is a standard, not a luxury.
• Data without use: collecting dozens of indicators that nobody analyses exhausts both residents and the team. Collect what informs a decision.
• Forgetting the host community: services reserved for the displaced, unregulated wood cutting, grazing land occupied without agreement: the resulting tensions then threaten the whole site.

What donors and evaluators look at

• Relevance and targeting: why this site, why this agency, how the project fits into the cluster strategy and the Humanitarian Response Plan.
• Indicators: number of sites and people covered by site management, percentage of sites with a representative governance structure that includes women, percentage of complaints responded to within the agreed timeframe, number of gaps identified and resolved, coverage of monthly monitoring. Donors such as ECHO and BHA expect indicators aligned with those of the cluster.
• Accountability: evidence of consultation, a functioning complaints mechanism, PSEA commitments, alignment with the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS).
• Coordination: regular participation in the cluster, sharing of the dashboard and the 4W, no duplication.
• Sustainability and exit: a credible exit strategy, handover of responsibilities to committees and authorities, managed environmental impact.
• Audit: for residents' paid activities, attendance lists, published selection criteria, rates aligned with those of the cluster; for small works, quotations, works acceptance and geotagged photos.

A convincing site management report does not say "we held 24 meetings": it shows how many gaps were detected, how many were resolved, how quickly, and what residents say about it.

10Interview questions and key references

Interview questions

1. "What is the difference between camp administration, camp coordination and camp management? Give an example where these roles come into tension."

A good answer defines the three roles precisely (authorities, cluster lead agency, site management agency) and then illustrates a real tension: for example, authorities who want to close a site for political reasons while the cluster and the site management agency observe that the conditions for return are not met. The candidate explains how they document, escalate to the cluster and contribute to advocacy without stepping outside their role.

2. "The authorities offer you a plot of land that your assessment classifies as flood-prone. What do you do?"

It presents the data (flood marks, testimonies, topography), proposes ranked alternatives, costs out drainage and the health risks, involves the cluster and the lead agency in advocacy, and if the site is imposed nonetheless, records the risks in writing and prepares mitigation measures and a seasonal relocation plan.

3. "How do you organise your first week as manager of a site that has already been open for a year?"

It mentions reviewing existing data (profile, dashboard, 4W, complaints), meeting each service provider and the authorities, visiting each block with the committees but also without them, separate focus group discussions, identifying the five main gaps and the seasonal risks, and checking the land agreement.

4. "What is the provider of last resort?"

It explains the commitment of the cluster lead agency to fill critical gaps when no one else can, and its limits (access, security, funding), specifying that it is first and foremost an obligation to mobilise and to report back.

5. "When is a camp not the right response?"

It cites the risks of camps (dependency, protection, harm to livelihoods, environment) and the alternatives: host families, rental assistance, small integrated sites, area-based approaches, and stresses that the choice depends on people's preferences and on security conditions.

Key references

• Camp Management Toolkit, 2015 edition: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), for the CCCM Cluster.
• Minimum Standards for Camp Management, 2021 edition: Global CCCM Cluster.
• The Sphere Handbook, 2018 edition: chapters on Shelter and Settlement, and Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion.
• UNHCR Emergency Handbook: entries on site selection and site planning.
• Reference Module for Cluster Coordination at Country Level: IASC.
• Joint UNHCR-OCHA Note on Mixed Situations: Coordination in Practice (2014).
• Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (United Nations, 1998) and the Kampala Convention (African Union, 2009).
• Collective Centre Guidelines: UNHCR and IOM (2010).
• Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS), revised 2024 edition.
• Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) methodological documentation: IOM.