Transcript human security - Institute for Security Studies

UNDERSTANDING
HUMAN SECURITY &
EMERGING THREATS
Kwalar Vera Muring
Development Consultant
WHAT IS HUMAN SECURITY
O Human security is defined as “protecting the
vital core of all human lives in ways that
enhance human freedoms, human fulfillment,
and fundamental freedoms constituting the
essence of life, and protecting people from
critical and pervasive threats and situations”
(Ogata, 2002).
HUMAN SECURITY
O Human Security focuses primarily on protecting
people while promoting peace and assuring
sustainable continuous development.
O It emphasizes aiding individuals by using a
people-centered approach for resolving
inequalities that affect security. Security has
gone global.
O It is no longer simply related to the security of
nation states.
O The security of the individual now directly
impacts the security of the state and vice versa.
O During the cold war, security tended to be defined
almost entirely in terms of military might and the
balance of terror. Today, we know that ‘security’
means far more than the absence of conflict. We
also have a greater appreciation for nonmilitary
sources of conflict. We know that lasting peace
requires a broader vision encompassing areas such
as education and health, democracy and human
rights, protection against environmental degradation,
and the proliferation of deadly weapons. We know
that we cannot be secure amidst starvation, that we
cannot build peace without alleviating poverty, and
that we cannot build freedom on foundations of
injustice. These pillars of what we now understand as
the people-centered concept of ‘human security’ are
interrelated and mutually reinforcing.”
Kofi Annan
THE STATE SECURITY
PARADIGM
O The international system as one of states
O Threat to state as ultimate threat to
security
O Securing state guarantees security of all
O “Seek ye first the security of states…”
THE STATE SECURITY
PARADIGM
O traditional notions of national security, that has
the nation -state as the soul guardian of security
around realist motivations of appropriating both
military and economic power over the pursuit of
ethics and ideals,
O a paradigmatic shift to new dimensions of
security emerged in the last three decades.
«symbolizing security from the threat of disease,
hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict,
political repression and environmental hazards
THE STATE SECURITY
PARADIGM
O In both Tunisia and Egypt, the sources of the
Non-violent Movement that ushered in change
were driven by these appalling human security
dimensions. Characterized by widespread
political repression, endemic corruption and
bureaucratic
ineptitude,
the
Mubarak
government in Egypt and the Ben Ali government
of Tunisia, were consumed by an educated
young generation and a vibrant middle class
demanding protection from pervasive threats of
human decadence in terms of political freedom
and
sustainable
developmentFood,
Employment, Health and Political Security.
PROBLEM OF THE STATE SECURITY
PARADIGM
O State security can coincide with insecurity
of people (Critical Security Studies)
O State security can be pursued through
victimization of people
O State is not the sole/most important
element in the international system
O By the end of the Cold War, it became
evident that personal security and food
security constitute core of the usurping
formulations from traditional notions of
national security. Fundamentally, it became
evident that no other aspect of human
security is vital for people other than their
personal security-security from violence,
food and health security
O Underlying these parameters, human security
therefore encompasses“creating systems that
give people the building blocks of survival,
dignity and livelihood, and connecting different
types of freedoms
–freedom from want,
freedom from fear and freedom to take action
on one’s own behalf .”(Ogata, 2002).
GROUP WORK
O What are some of the themes in your
communities that you bring out in your work
as artists and as socail workers?
O What Will Be the Greatest Threats to Human
Security in Africa in the Next 25 Years?
THE HUMAN SECURITY
SHIFT
O Human security shift: security as wellbeing
and safety from:
O Economic insecurity O Food insecurity O Health insecurity O Environmental insecurity O Personal insecurity O Community insecurity O Political insecurity -
MENU
O Terrorism
O Drug trafficking
O Human trafficking
O Piracy
O Climate change
O Electoral violence
O Cyber threats
O Undemocratic
O
O
O
O
O
O
governance
Disease
Financial Instability
Corruption
Migration
Poverty
Resource scarcity:
O Food
O Water
O Energy
WHY ‘EMERGING’ THREATS
O “There is nothing new under the sun but there are
lots of old things we don't know.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary US author &
satirist (1842 – 1914)
O Geography: are new to Africa but existed elsewhere
O Gravity: existed in Africa but have become more
intense
O Orientation: changing ways of seeing issue in terms
of criminality of intensity
O some“22 million people died of preventable
diseases in 2001 and HIV/AIDS has emerged as
the greatest health catastrophe”(HDI, 2002).
O In developing countries, the major causes of
death are infectious and parasitic diseases,
which kill 17 million people annually, including
6.5 million from acute respiratory infections, 4.5
million from diarrheal diseases and 3.5 million
from tuberculosis.
O in developed countries, the major killers are
diseases of the circulatory system(5.5million
deaths a year), often linked with diet and life
style, and cancer (Human Security Now, 2002).
GLOBAL POPULATION
INSECURITY
800 million are starving
One billion lack clean drinking water
Two billion lack sanitation
Two million are dying from AIDS each year
175 million international migrants
Nearly 1 billion illiterate adults
Several billion affected by global warming
FOOD INSECURITY –
HEALTH INSECURITY -
COMMUNITY INSECURITY
Food insecurity Health insecurity Community insecurity Political insecurity -
PERSONAL INSECURITY
Economic insecurity - Personal insecurity Community insecurity - Political insecurity -
Economic insecurity Personal insecurity Political insecurity -
Food insecurity Health insecurity Environmental insecurity -