The objective of humanitarian S&S assistance is to ensure access to safe and appropriate living spaces in
neighborhoods where affected households can resume critical social and livelihoods activities. S&S assistance
facilitates a process of sheltering and associated neighborhood and community interventions—including
provision of health and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and disaster risk reduction (DRR)
activities—that focus on immediately reducing economic, social, and physical vulnerabilities of disaster-affected
households while simultaneously laying the foundation for longer-term recovery. Humanitarian shelter S&S
assistance addresses the health, livelihood, privacy, security, and WASH needs of affected populations in a
comprehensive and integrated manner and may even evolve to meet permanent housing and community
solutions.