[3] The handbook presents minimum standards for provision of humanitarian relief activity for food aid, water and sanitation, nutrition, shelter and health care.

[2] The 2004 edition added two chapters, one on food security another on processes of participation, monitoring & evaluation, and staff management.

[4] The technical chapters were revised to show the importance of greater system-wide preparedness, coordination and technical quality, including recognition of the need to support and strengthen local health systems, to provide standards around transitional longer-term reconstruction, and to develop a more integrated approach to the prevention and treatment of malnutrition that addresses wider causes such as poverty and livelihoods in emergencies.

[4] The fourth edition expanded further into standards for humanitarian response in urban settings[2] and includes greater focus on the role of local authorities and communities as actors of their own recovery.

There was also updated standards in areas such as water and sanitation, palliative care in health, security of tenure in shelter and settlement.