Humanitarian assistance extends to a broad spectrum of activities directed at attempting to satisfy human needs—often under the most trying circumstances--including the Foundation's current focus upon disaster relief and housing and water poverty reduction.

Most commonly, requirements for humanitarian assistance arise as a result of man-made or natural events of sufficient magnitude to cause a breakdown in a society’s ability to meet the basic needs for food, water, shelter, or the health of its population.  Those events can be either rapid onset; such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods, or slow onset; such as drought and famine, and may include the realm of complex emergencies wherein politico-military and socio-economic instability creates or compounds the societal breakdown by adding safety and security concerns.

As our global population grows, many situations and events are greatly exaggerated by the absolute numbers of people involved.  Among the most important issues, and those upon which Daedalus is currently focused, are housing poverty reduction, water poverty reduction, and sanitation. Solutions to those problems are best addressed in the framework of the creation of community and sustainable economic growth..