06 bhattacharjee 2007
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However, shattering the dreams of the dreamers, the forthcoming years brought in numerous threats, conflicts, and challenges in practically every sphere of life that the global individual had to pass through. The only difference from the Cold War era and the post Cold War era was the dispersing of the threat to the well being of the world society. The security challenges that normally emanated Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharjee 1 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1303250 1TRANSCRIPT
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1303250
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CHALLENGES TO THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN SECURITY
Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharjee1
“Human security is a child who did not die, a disease that did not spread, a
job that was not cut, an ethnic tension that did not explode in violence, a
dissident that was not silenced. Human security is not a concern with weapons –
it is a concern with human life and dignity … It is concerned with how people live
and breathe in a society, how freely they exercise their many choices, how much
access they have to market and social opportunities – and whether they live in
conflict or in peace”.1
After the post Cold War era, the idea of human security has again come
up in the forefront as an issue that is being dealt as well as analyzed in detail
around the entire global intellectual arena. The era of the Cold War, was seen as
a time period that is co terminus with the period of tacit as well as overt conflict.
The threat of war loomed over the entire human race all throughout the four
decades after the end of the Second World War, and no nation or nationality
could have seen themselves secure from the clash of the two super powers,
super ideologies, or super power blocs.
But with the end of the Cold War, global analysts seemed to rest back as
they thought that after the long period of conflict situation, the long expected era
of peace and development will usher in.
However, shattering the dreams of the dreamers, the forthcoming years
brought in numerous threats, conflicts, and challenges in practically every sphere
of life that the global individual had to pass through. The only difference from the
Cold War era and the post Cold War era was the dispersing of the threat to the
well being of the world society. The security challenges that normally emanated
1 Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharjee, Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Siliguri College, Darjeeling, West
Bengal
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1303250
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from power centers during the Cold War now got dispersed and scattered among
the civil societies of the world. It is the sphere which includes ‘religious networks,
communities, work places and other associations which can be termed
private…sometimes it is seen as a fluid association of social groupings which are
based on caste and kinship linkages…a rag bag, consisting of households,
religious denominations, and each and every activity which is not of the state’.2
Everyone by today will be aware about the manner in which the Acquired
Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS works. It breaks down the inbuilt immune
system that is present in the body without the awareness of the general human
body. The security threat that has taken shape before the society today functions
in a similar fashion where the society is being affected at the very roots without
the general awareness of the society, or, if aware, they have no control over it.
Today the concept of security has been broken down from the security of
nations to the security of the individual and the people. According to the 1994
UNDP report on human security in the Cold War period, involved ‘security of
territory from external aggression, or as protection of national interests in foreign
policy, or as global security from the threat of nuclear holocaust. It has been
related more to nation – states than to people’.3 Traditional notions of security,
shaped largely by the Cold War, were concerned mainly with a state’s ability to
counter external threats. Threats to international peace and security were also
usually perceived as threats from outside the state environment that is not
injurious to their health and well-being. But today the concept of security has
become more individual and people centered. The civil society has turned out to
be the vanguard of the security at a very individual level. UNDP has analyzed
human security more as an integrative concept rather than a defensive one.
Sadako Ogata mentioned in the 56th annual DPI/NGO conference that the hopes
that were raised after the end of the cold war quickly were dampened by the
resurgence of widespread and pervasive insecurities. The need to address these
appalling situations affecting the daily life of so many people has become more
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urgent than ever. For this, a new understanding and consensus on security
thinking is urgently required.
The Commission on Human Security’s definition of human security is to
protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhances human freedom
and human fulfillment. Human security means protecting fundamental
freedoms— freedoms that are the essence of life. It means protecting people
from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations. It means
using processes that build on people’s strengths and aspirations. It means
creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems
that together give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity.4
Mahbub ul Haq pointed out in the UNDP report that the concept of human
security has mostly seven values. They are ‘economic security, food security,
health security, environmental security, personal security, community security
and political security’.5 Human security implies that States are responsible for
national security (including promotion of peace) but also for ensuring that citizens
enjoy a wide range of rights. While this shift in emphasis is primarily conceptual
in nature, it nonetheless entails concrete policy and institutional changes that are
necessary to respond to the challenges posed by human security.6 The basic
elements of human security include survival, safety, opportunity, dignity, agency
and autonomy.7
The present age has been a witness to a massive amalgamation of
cultures, traditions and identities. The spread of people from one area to another
has been the trend of the age in search of greener pastures that might provide
them with better opportunities in life. The movement also has been prevalent due
to the nature of job one is involved with.
If the seven values of Mahbub ul Haq is taken, then it will be seen that all
these seven elements has, in some way or the other, gone through rapid
transformations that has brought in significant changes in the lives of the ordinary
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individual. In each and every way, the life and liberty of the individual has been
threatened and scarred. ‘Security becomes an all-encompassing condition in
which individual citizens live in freedom, peace and safety and participate fully in
the process of governance. They enjoy the protection of fundamental rights, have
access to resources and the basic necessities of life, including health and
education, and inhabit an environment that is not injurious to their health and
well-being’.8
Though there is no broad consensus to this definition, but still there is all
throughout a unanimity on the decision that there must be a full scale awareness
about the degrading situation of the lives of the normal individual that might be
due to the fight against terrorism, separatism, racism and communalism; the
diffusion of weapons of mass destruction; the incessant war against one another;
the spread of infectious diseases; the loss of employment , huge population
explosion, the day by day scarcity of resources that is leading to the decline in
economic growth.
Multiple organizations like that of the Commission of Human Security,
under the aegis of the United Nations as well as the UNDP have been working
on the quest of Human Security and the ways and manners to define as well as
address the problems associated with it. They have tried to find out a proper
definition of the concept as well as narrow down the analysis so that the real
threat can be perceived and addressed. Various seminars that have been held
have come about with three perspectives on human security. Human survival,
human well being and human freedom have been seen as the principle binding
force that gives the uniqueness to the concept of human security.
The regions of the world where the idea of human security is still
simmering on the back burner are the regions of the developing as well as the
least developing world. The idea of providing the people with a good life is still a
distant dream for nations, who are still going through the process of nation
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building. There are nations in Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia, where
individual liberties are not provided with but they are curbed with strong hands.
Nations going through political, social and economic turmoil have overlooked the
idea of human security, which has resulted in the gross violation of the civil
liberties that an individual enjoys in the global arena.
Today, the number of people living below the poverty line and is unable to
provide themselves as well as their dependents, the number of starvation deaths,
the growth of unemployment due to numerous factors and reasons, child labour,
environmental degradation, communal disharmony, population displacements,
drug trafficking and drug abuse, small arms trafficking, low agricultural
productivity, misuse of societal wealth by governing bodies, gender crimes and
suppression as well as oppression of the women folk, economic inequality and
numerous such social evils are on the rise. In the age of globalization, where all
the nations are standing or trying to stand on the same economic platform, the
incongruity amongst the development as well as the wealth of nations, has led to
severe exploitation by the wealthier nations on the less developed nations. The
developed nations are still practicing the age old convention of growing and
developing themselves by sucking the life blood of the less developed nations.
Though there are global mechanisms to check such misuse, but due to the
predisposed nature of the organizations towards the developed world, they fail to
check such gross violation of rights and liberties practiced by the developed
world.
‘Human security is not a ‘defensive concept’ -- the way territorial or military
security is. It is an ‘integrative concept’ acknowledging the universal desire of
people for self-preservation and self-improvement. The world will not be secure
from war and violence if men and women have no security of their individual self.
It is the people’s security which has come to the forefront over and above the
emphasis on territorial and national security. It is being felt that increased
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safeguards and preventive measures should be in place both at national and
global levels to protect the people from the real threat to human security’.9
CORE ISSUES OF HUMAN SECURITY
The areas that mostly are being taken as the core issues that are related
to the concept of human security and their challenges have been mentioned
above. There are some common problems that the societies of the developing
nations face. As the idea of human security is challenged mostly in these
societies, for that reason, there is a need to look into the basic cleavages from
where the security of the individual is being threatened.
With the introduction of numerous new ideas and movements for the
successful growth of global trade and interaction, the functioning of the nation
states in the global platform has certainly gone through as well as going through
phases of transformation. The movement that has been brought about
‘globalization’ in the global scenario has made a favorable as well as an adverse
effect on the national as well as the international civil sphere. Especially, on the
idea of human security in the developing nations, globalization has brought in
more adversities for the common man, than it has brought in development in the
lives of men. Globalization has placed them with those societies, who are well
endowed with more skills as well as by their respective societies.
Especially in the area of economic growth of the developing nations that
make an immediate impact on the daily lives of the ordinary individuals,
globalization has practically ‘prohibited the governments from developing new
public sector productive activity’.10 ‘Industrial policies and programmes to develop
the national labour force of a developing nation, for example, are of little interest
to firms committed to and dependent on overseas operations; indeed, in so far as
those policies and programmes carry a cost – as they always do – such firms are
likely to oppose them’.11
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On top of that the ‘outflow of particularly skilled nationals affects the
human security of nationals in countries of origin. “Brain drain” in some parts of
the world has resulted in serious delays in development, posing a major
impediment to shifts towards service and higher technology economies, for
example. Efforts to counter brain drain include incentive programmes for
nationals to return to their countries of origin after having acquired skills
elsewhere; diaspora contributions to their country of origin (through financial or
in-kind contributions, apprenticeships, etc.); training and replacement schemes;
and maximizing the value of remittances’.12
That does not mean that the concept of globalization itself has to be
ostracized or base ones belief with the idea that by ‘going global’ brings harm to
the foundations of the nation states. It must be kept in mind that ‘globalization’ as
a concept or a movement is, no doubt, a necessity for the proper development of
the societies, as the world today has become more interdependent not only
economically, but in every other sphere of life. However, when globalization is
used for the betterment of one or a group of nations, putting the well being of a
nation or a group of nations at stake, then there only the security and well being
of the latter society is at risk. One thing must be kept in mind, that when the world
was a larger place and communication was scarce and sparse, possibly the
Darwinian principle of ‘survival of the fittest’ could have been applicable and the
promotion of national prestige and honour through the means of imperialism and
colonialism was a valid and legitimate plan of action. But when in the present
world structure, when every action of every global actor is closely watched and
scrutinized, ‘survival of the fittest’ becomes more of a misnomer as the well being
and the increase of national prestige and honour of a state or a group of states
has shifted to the honour and well being of the mankind. With the introduction of
the concept of the global state, the well being and development of every
individual living on this planet becomes the responsibility of every state and non-
state actor.
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With the advancement of the age of globalization and internationalism, the
role of the nation state is losing its grip. The more it loses its grip, the more the
role as well as the liberties of the individual in the so called developing states is
at stake. Those individuals who has access to the social and economic wealth in
the society can only reap the benefits that globalization brings forth. But in the
developing nations, the percentages of such individuals or groups are dismally
low. Here is where the role of the civil society becomes extremely important, as
they act as the platform from where the life of the individual can be closely
viewed by the individual himself as well as by the entire society. As the civil
society becomes the reflection of the lives of those living in that society, bringing
the concept of ‘human security’ into the basic foundation of the civil society itself
becomes a must.
The next point of challenge that the individuals face is forced or voluntary
migration from one land to another. Even internal displacement has turned into a
considerable challenge for the state as well as the societal machinery of these
nations. Despite the many positive implications of migration (including reducing
demographic pressures, meeting labour demands, transfers of skills and
technology, and cultural exchange, for example), migration can entail great
personal sacrifice and hardship. While it has been argued in the past that human
security underpins the notion of many threats being common to all people13,
ensuring a broad range of rights14 for different migration categories including
refugees, migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and trafficked persons
can prove to be most challenging.15
Generally, the causes of internal displacement are divided into two broad
categories: one, conflict-induced internal displacement (including armed conflicts,
internal strife and systematic violations of human rights) and two, internal
displacement caused by development projects, natural disasters or economic
migration. Although in actual terms there are many more IDPs than refugees in
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the world16, it is only recently that international attention is being drawn to the
plight of IDPs since these have always been considered a matter of domestic
jurisdiction and concern. Indeed, despite multiple sources of insecurity, states
have always been considered as having a primary responsibility in securing the
protection and devising solutions to the plight of IDPs. As for refugees, the
impact on the human security of IDPs is considerable due first and foremost to
the fact that they have been forced to flee their homes and possessions. It is also
in jeopardy since they are often unable to gain a livelihood in the region to which
they flee and/or are susceptible to the hostility of local host communities.17
The international definition of “trafficking”, refers to “the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of the threat or
use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the
abuse of power or a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of
payment or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over
another person, for the purpose of exploitation.18 All migrants are susceptible to
negative reactions in countries of destination—be it in the form of xenophobia,
racism, discrimination or other forms of intolerance, although it is unauthorized
migrants whose human security may be in comparable peril to those of refugees,
IDPs or victims of trafficking. Moreover, due to their undocumented status, such
migrants work in the context of the unregulated and unprotected informal
economy, where they have little if any access to outlets that can ensure minimum
standards of protection. In addition to affecting the daily lives of local host
communities, large flows of refugees or displaced persons can in and of itself
have a destabilizing effect on countries and communities in destination states.
Large spontaneous flows of persons can destabilize regions, challenge situations
of peace and stability, and even alter the geopolitical landscape. As stated in a
recent human security report, Undoubtedly, massive refugee displacements are
bound to have destabilizing consequences for global security, affecting, in
particular, regions near zones of conflict and (only indirectly) core areas. 19
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The next core issue that threatens the concept of human security is that of
health security. ‘Good health is both essential and instrumental to achieving
human security. It is essential because the very heart of security is protecting
human lives. Health security is at the vital core of human security—and illness,
disability and avoidable death are “critical pervasive threats” to human security.
Health is defined here as not just the absence of disease, but as “a state of
complete physical, mental and social well-being”. Health is both objective
physical wellness and subjective psychosocial well-being and confidence about
the future. In this view, good health is instrumental to human dignity and human
security. It enables people to exercise choice, pursue social opportunities and
plan for their future.’20 But good health, like so many things, is inequitably
distributed. The average lifespan in Sierra Leone and Ethiopia is only about half
that in Japan and Sweden.21 The World Health Organization (WHO) recently
estimated that more than 40% of the 56 million deaths each year are avoidable,
given the world’s existing knowledge, technologies and resources.22
‘In just two decades, HIV/AIDS has become the world’s fourth ranking
cause of death. Life expectancy averages only 47 years in Sub-Saharan Africa,
15 years less than it would without AIDS. With 22 million cumulative deaths and
more than 40 million HIV-infected people, HIV/AIDS will soon become the
greatest health catastrophe in human history—exacting a death toll greater than
two world wars in the 20th century, the influenza epidemic of 1918 or the Black
Death of the 14th century. The devastation is being superimposed on other
crises, such as the ongoing drought and famine in Southern Africa. Among the
few poor populations with reliable health statistics, the worst health condition
documented, due to both HIV/AIDS and underdevelopment, is in Bandim,
Guinea-Bissau, where life expectancy today is a meager 36 years’.23
The United Nations Security Council adopting the Resolution 1308, which
addresses a health issue for the first time, how even global organizations like the
UN are slowly waking up to the health security hazards that are posing a serious
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threat in front of the world order. The UN has also been mandated to follow up
this resolution and to open dialogue on HIV/AIDS as a security issue as well as
to develop a global plan of action, focusing particularly on peacekeeping
operations.24 In some nations, the level of infection of the disease is so high that
the question of human survival is at stake. Especially for the case of women and
children the scenario is much gross and disheartening. The ostracism that is
brought about by the disease kills them over and over again.
‘AIDS causes poverty even where it did not exist before but when AIDS
hits those who are already poor its impact is more intense-- AIDS deepens and
prolongs poverty. Poverty reduction is therefore an integral part of reducing
vulnerability to HIV and reducing the impact of AIDS. Similarly, in regions of war
and conflict, populations are more at risk of HIV infection, from the presence of
armies, the use of rape as a weapon of war and from social dislocation and
insecurity. The spread of HIV is facilitated by conflict, but it also serves to prolong
conflict as it places new strains on health and economic infrastructures and
destabilizes family and social structures’.25
‘Poverty has also created an environment of risk to HIV. Firstly, it
aggravates lack of access to education and health services and other economic
resources, dislocation due to cross-border or internal migration in pursuit of work,
engagement in risk occupations for survival reasons -- factors that increase
vulnerability. Secondly, those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS are further
pushed into poverty due to, among others, loss of gainful livelihood, inability to
afford health care, and alienation from community support. The poverty
experienced by women and men in developing countries has been deepened by
increasing global economic inequalities. This global economic order has
increased the vulnerability of developing countries to HIV/AIDS both in terms of
infection and impact’.26 ‘Within a few years of its discovery of HIV/AIDS, this
equal-opportunity pathogen has spread to every continent, every country. It kills
productive adults, impoverishes families, creates orphans, destroys communities
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and weakens fragile governments. Even the elderly are affected because of the
deterioration of their adult working children. In some heavily-infected countries,
HIV/AIDS is depleting skilled workers (teachers, nurses, police officers, civil
servants); with health staff losses as high as 40% in some countries’.27
Diseases like HIV/AIDS turn out to be a challenge to human security when
it becomes a threat to socio-economic development and also to human survival.
No part of the society is free from it and crosses every barrier of equality and
inequality, and has destabilized the society in every sphere and strata. ‘At a
macro-economic level the effects are as important, with severe consequences
felt at the national economic level and with the general well-being of the people,
including adverse affects on life expectancy and literacy rates. A nation can
expect a decline of 1% of its GDP each year when more than 20% of the adult
population is infected with HIV’.28 To face the challenge that has been posed by
such a health hazard some steps can be taken that will increase the perception,
awareness as well as knowledge about the disease. Issues like women
empowerment, training social workers as well as law enforcement officers that
might even are in the army, who are involved in maintaining peace in troubled
areas inside the nation, strengthening international commitment, as well as the
growth of the awareness of the institutions in the civil society. On top of that the
problem of the spreading of diseases is embroiled in a bigger social issue.
HIV/AIDS is spread through a lot by drug abuse when drug is taken intra venous,
or after the intake of drugs, people tend to indulge in irresponsible or
adventurous actions. The intake of drugs or the increase of drug addiction rises,
when individuals uses drugs as escape routes from the social frustrations that is
brought forward by unemployment, social inequalities, uneven economic growth,
below quality standard of living and so forth. The UNAIDS has formulated four
strategies that can exert a link between health and human security.
• ‘The scale of the disease burden now and into the future.
• The urgency for action.
• The depth and extent of the impact on society.
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• The interdependencies or “externalities” that can exert ripple effects
beyond particular diseases, persons or locations’.29
The next challenge that is faced by today’s individual in the path of his
personal liberties and development is the conflict situation that prevails inter as
well as intra regions. The conflicts that take place within states, that might involve
sorts of proxy wars that even include terrorism poses a major risk in front of the
individual’s survival, livelihood and dignity. ‘An estimated 190 million people were
killed directly or indirectly as a result of the 25 largest violent conflicts in the 20th
century, often in the name of religion, politics, ethnicity or racial superiority’.30
Especially, during such conflicts, the elements that are behind such conflicts as
well as those who are involved in countering such conflicts, engage ion gross
violation of human rights and liberties that include loss of lives, property in
massive quantity as well as suffocates the civil society with the ubiquitous feeling
of hopelessness and insecurity. Conflict brings forth in the society the prevalence
of weapons like land mines and other military hardware that causes great harm
to the society in general. Especially, in conflict regions, usage of landmines has
been extremely prevalent. It has been recognized all throughout the world that
especially in the nations of Africa that experienced civil wars, even during peace
times land mines remained as death traps for farmers, children, women folk and
every other ordinary individual.
‘Of the 20 countries with the lowest scores on the human development
index in 2002, 16 are in conflict or just out of it. The large majority of these
conflicts have been internal. Among the key factors that cause violent internal
conflict:
• Competition over land and resources.
• Sudden and deep political and economic transitions.
• Growing inequality among people and communities.
• Increasing crime, corruption and illegal activities.
• Weak and instable political regimes and institutions.
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• Identity politics and historical legacies, such as colonialism’.31
The inter as well as intra regional conflicts normally brings along with it
abject poverty of every conceivable resources that the region had that has a
domino effect on the other security challenges that is brought along with it. If the
cases of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda and the like in the
continent of Africa and the cases of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal
and other South and South East Asian nations are taken into consideration, then
it would be found that due to the incessant internal conflict that took place and in
some nations are still taking place, has pushed the zones of conflict into the
spheres of underdevelopment, poverty, food scarcity, drug abuse and trafficking,
immigration and human trafficking as well as numerous other evils.
As borders are no more an obstacle in constraining a conflict zone, for that
reason it easily overlaps into nearby nations increasing its area of operation as
well as damage. On top of that, groups taking recourse to violence for achieving
some political, economic or social objective, comes in close contact with criminal
groups that are involved in small arms, drugs as well as human trafficking.
Terrorist groups, which has turned into one of the principle security challenges to
the society, nowadays functions hands in glove with such groups. As terrorism
has turned out to be of a transnational nature, its effect on the civil societies it
functions in has been extremely pronounced. Most of the insurgent as well as
terrorist group’s works with state sponsorship making them more vicious and
powerful and their impact more long lasting.
Today, ‘fighting terrorism is taking precedence over protecting human
rights and promoting the rule of law and democratic governance’.32 The manner
in which attempts are being made to counter as well as ouster terrorism from the
society, brings forth serious questions on its aptness to move with tandem with
the idea of human security. The focus has been rather on ‘short-term coercive
responses rather than also addressing the underlying causes related to
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inequality, exclusion and marginalization, and oppression by states as well as
people’.33 When it comes to crime prevention and to the prevention of terrorism, it
is often the mix of social and environmental adaptations on the one hand and
technical solutions on the other that produce the best results.34
While formulating policies to combat terrorism as well as insurgent groups
that has an overlapping affect, five principles must be kept in mind if the
combating is done multi laterally or uni laterally.
‘• Placing human security on the security agenda.
• Strengthening humanitarian action.
• Respecting human rights and humanitarian law.
• Disarming people and fighting crime.
• Preventing conflict and respecting citizenship’.35
‘The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty
emphasized the responsibility of states and the international community to
protect people—militarily if necessary—in situations resulting in a “large scale
loss of life, actual or apprehended, with genocidal intent or not, which is the
product of either deliberate state action, or state neglect or inability to act, or a
collapsed state situation; or large scale ‘ethnic cleansing’, actual or apprehended,
whether carried out by killing, force expulsion, acts of terror or rape”.36
The United Nations Security Council for the promotion of human security
in such situations and areas has come up with an ‘aide memoire on the
protection of civilians, focusing on four themes: protection of civilians in conflict;
women, peace and security; children in armed conflict; and conflict prevention’.37
But as according to the Final Report of the Commission on Human Security
2003, that ‘few mechanisms can be invoked to protect the security of people in
violent conflict. Organizational mandates and mechanisms draw heavily from
state security assumptions, which are inadequate for responding to security
issues in internal conflicts. In many instances, there are no cease-fire
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arrangements to uphold, and it is often hard to distinguish combatants from
civilians. Many of the reforms of the UN peace operations recommended in the
Brahimi Report still need to be implemented— strengthening conflict prevention
and peace-building, developing rapid deployment capacities and improving
management’.38 The important thrust also must be on the reconstruction or
rebuilding of the societies that has been affected by the operations that has been
undertaken for the eradication of terrorism from a region or nation. Experiences
that has been gained in several incidents clearly indicates that wherever there
has been no sincere attempts in the reconstruction of the affected societies has
given birth to more violence and terror that has been more difficult to undermine
or control.
The growth of regional organizations must take a strong initiative in the
promotion of the decrease in violence intra region so that the incidence of
security for the ordinary man is on the higher side of the graph. The level of
violence has been the highest inside a nation’s boundary and especially in the
nations in Africa and Asia, people have been the worst affected, having their civil
liberties curbed in every point of life. The manner of violence has been so varied
that it is very hard to check each and every type of violence as they all do not fall
in the hard and fast definitions of terrorism. Caste violence, violence emitting out
of social and economic inequalities, ethnic tensions, violence due to religious
fundamentalism and extremism are some of the manners of violence that is
normally found in the whole region that can be defined outside the purview of
‘terrorism’.
However, ‘unless there are clear links between the deteriorating security
of people and threats to international peace and security, the international
community is unlikely to adopt preventive strategies or to respond. For refugees,
for example, the Security Council recognized in resolution 1296 (2000) the threat
that massive forced population movements pose to international peace and
security and the need to adopt specific measures to create a safe environment.
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In the same resolution, the Security Council asked to be informed of situations
where such a threat may occur. In practice, however, the Council is seldom in a
position to propose and authorize any specific steps’.39 How much one makes an
attempt, single handedly it is simply not possible, to manage the entire problem
of providing a sense of security to the ordinary masses. There must be a
wholesome approach towards the point of where the violence is getting emitted
from and that has to be addressed in the beginning to provide the right of life to
men. Then the issues must be addressed without any biasness towards any
community. One must always remember that it might seem that with the aid of
some short term goal implementation, that the problem is well solved but without
having a long term objective in mind, eradicating such menaces is nearby to
impossible. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan suggested ways to strengthen the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.40
The human rights machinery should be improved, particularly the treaty
bodies and committees. And the investigation of country situations and issues
should be streamlined. Including human rights principles and mechanisms in
peace agreements provides the basis for rebuilding communities and countries.
Regional human rights mechanisms—for individuals to turn to in times of
conflict—can address state obligations, as did the Inter-American Commission
and Court for Human Rights during the civil conflicts in Guatemala, El Salvador
and Nicaragua. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
promotes protection of human rights through its “Human Dimension” programme,
which links multilateral security issues with growing respect for domestic human
rights and democratization. Its High Commissioner on National Minorities
addresses the relationships between ethnic groups in conflict situations. Similar
approaches on behalf of minorities in other regions would be a helpful step
forward.41
The next challenge that the developing nations normally face is the ratio
as well as the quality of food that is present to cater to around half of the
18
population of the world that resides in the developing nations. Not only food but
the availability of drinkable and hygienic water is counted amongst one of the
scarce commodities in these regions. It poses a basic security threat to the
nations human resources and as well as the health of the general masses that
leads to the degeneration of the society. ‘The intellectual resources rather than
natural resources determine national power and economic growth. How can a
nation compete internationally when 20-50% of its population is physically and
intellectually compromised? Investing in food and nutrition security is a necessity,
not a luxury.’42
The right to adequate food has a crucial role to play as a strategic tool in
policies aimed at eradicating poverty as well uplifting the general health of the
society. ‘Health is also a fundamental human right, and a right whose realization
is necessary for the exercise of other human rights and freedoms’.43 In short,
health and human security as well as rights are complementary and
interconnected approaches towards sustainable human development and the
advancement of the general human well-being.
The lack of food is not necessarily due to the unavailability of resources to
the individual but as the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
observed in General Comment No. 12 has mentioned that, “the roots of the
problem of hunger and malnutrition are not lack of food but lack of access to
available food, inter alia because of poverty, by large segments of the world's
population.”44
The right to adequate food is the right of all individuals, alone or in
community with others, to enjoy physical and economic access to adequate food
or the means for its procurement as the right to food is guaranteed in Article 11 of
the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.45
The core content of the right to food implies two things. First is the
availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs
19
of individuals, free from adverse substances and acceptable within a given
culture; and secondly the accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable
and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights.46
The ‘accessibility of food’ encompasses both economic and physical
accessibility. ‘Economic accessibility’ implies that personal or household costs
associated with the acquisition of food for an adequate diet should be at such a
level that the satisfaction of other basic needs is not compromised. ‘Physical
accessibility’ implies that adequate food must be accessible to everyone,
including the vulnerable. If access to their ancestral lands is threatened,
indigenous peoples have a particular vulnerability. The notion of sustainability is
intrinsically linked to the notion of adequate food or food security, implying food
being accessible for both present and future generations. The notion of
‘sustainability’ incorporates the notion of long-term availability and accessibility.47
The right to adequate food also encompasses food safety and food security.
Food safety implies that food shall be free from adverse substances whether
from adulteration, poor environmental hygiene or other causes. The Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Food appointed by the UN Human Rights
Commission has stressed that the term “food” covers not only solid foods but
also the nutritional aspects of drinking water. He also pointed out that water - like
food - is vital for life. Clean drinking water is an essential part of healthy nutrition
and also a necessary condition for the enjoyment of other human rights (such as
the right to life and to health). In his reports, the Special Rapporteur has stated
that, as a component of the right to food, access to safe, clean drinking water
and basic irrigation water must be protected, including through international
cooperation.48
Water is also very crucial to development.49 Sufficient and safe drinking
water is a precondition for the realization of all human rights. Overcoming the
world water crisis – achieving water, food and environmental security
simultaneously – is one of the most formidable challenges for sustainable
20
development.50 An estimated population of 1.1 billion lack access to an adequate
water supply (the overwhelming majority of these persons live in rural areas).51
On top of that, an estimated population of 2.3 billion each year suffers from
diseases linked to water.52 The right to drinking water is directly related to the
right to the highest attainable standard of health (Art. 12.1).53
CONCLUSION
As has been discussed in the Mahbub ul Huq report, sustainable
development must be handled with utmost care and must not be initiated just for
the sake for its initiation. It must match with the needs of the society and that too
not only the developing and the less developing nations, but keeping a global
perspective from the very beginning. In 1987, the World Commission on
Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) defined sustainable
development as:
“…development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the international community
adopted Agenda 21, an unprecedented global plan of action for sustainable
development. Agenda 21 was a landmark achievement in integrating
environmental, economic and social concerns into a single policy framework. It
identified three components of sustainable development – social development
economic development, and environmental sustainability – as interdependent
and mutually reinforcing pillars.54 The entire perspective of sustainable
development must be broken into four parts of development; global, regional,
national and local.
The global view must work towards the growth of machinery that will
manifest the developmental procedure and provide a world wide support network
that will always work towards the betterment of the global environment. There is
21
also a necessity to provide a leadership as well as a guide in the entire process
of sustainable development that will increase the ambit of human security. Rather
being arrested in summits and conferences, it must play a more dynamic role
that will provide a global leadership to the other three organs.
The entire world is still broken up into various regions and for that the
security challenges too must be seen and analyzed from the regional perspective
as well. The applicability of one solution or programme might not be applicable to
a different region. If that is done, the intrinsic problems that take birth with a
region will be overlooked and the relevance of the entire effort that will be given
for the upliftment of the development pattern of the region might get stalled in the
very initiation process. The manner in which food scarcity is being controlled in
nations of Africa, where productivity itself is very low due to the natural
adversities might not be present in some nations in Asia, where proper
development and research in the field of irrigation and agriculture might solve the
issue of food scarcity.
The concept of human security still involves those who live in a nation,
and for that reason keeping the nation state outside the purview of human
security will be a judgmental error. National policies as well as the government of
the nation still acts as the protector of civil rights and works for the development
of the individual. Any sort of challenges that the individual faces today in a nation
can be resolved in some way or the other by the state. Sometimes, the problem
at hand can be mitigated through state intervention as well as the global and
regional policies that are being taken in higher forums can be moulded and
interpreted for its proper implementation by the state machinery only. For that
reason, nation too plays a very important role in the promotion as well as the
safekeeping of human security.
Last but not the least comes the role of the civil society, in which the
individual directly resides and interacts with. If the societal structure is not mature
22
or stable, providing individuals with any liberty or rights is nearby impossible as
well as will be a farce. If the organs of the civil society are not aware about the
methods and means through which the well being of the individual can be
brought in, then it becomes the responsibility of the other three organs to develop
as well as train the organs for the civil society to perform its duties. All the basic
challenges that the individual faces in the path of its development is in the sphere
of the civil society and this is why this sphere itself can address the problem as
well as look forward for its reconstruction and an amicable solution for the proper
growth of those residing in that society. Especially, if the general health of the
children in a society, reflects the effects of development as well as holds a
promise for the future of the nation. After birth, growth promotion and
development programs, integrated early childhood programs, and parent
education are critical—and cost-effective. The return on investment in growth
promotion and micronutrient programs varies from 7:1 to 84:1, and early
childhood development programs are calculated to have a benefit-cost ratio of
around 2:1.55 Through local development programmes, the development and well
being of the individuals can be properly addressed. They will be able to identify
the vulnerable areas as well as communities as well as the economic,
environmental, social, and cultural threats experienced at the household and
village levels, and the corresponding coping strategies of the community. To
ensure human security, there is a need to identify the vulnerable, the economic,
environmental, and socio-cultural threats they face, the strategies they use to
cope when under duress, and the mechanisms used for conflict management.
This is best done at the local level through governments that represent the
interests of all groups or through coalitions between government and civil society
that allow for wide representation.
To cope with the existing threats four areas becomes critical to strengthen
positive coping strategies and reduce negative coping strategies. Firstly, there is
a need for the development of human resources through the provision of a wide
range of skills related to economic activities, community organization, and
environmental protection and management. Secondly, in developing nations the
23
need for the environmental management of land, water, and forests resources
has turned into a necessity. Indigenous means need to be documented and
studied as well as techniques for the improvement of land quality, management
of water during floods and droughts, and protection and replenishment of forest
resources have to be imparted at the village level. Dependence on the vast but
rapidly dwindling environmental resources is a primary coping strategy with
dangerous implications in the long term if the resources are depleted and
degraded. Thirdly, access to credit seems to be the key to initiating alternative
means of livelihoods to reduce vulnerability and food shortages and for that
reason provisioning of the society with such credit also becomes an important
need. And lastly, the communities must be mobilized for the participation in
planning and implementation of projects for livelihoods, infrastructure,
environmental resource management, and cultural preservation.
1 United Nations Development Programme, “Redefining Security: The Human Dimension”, Current History, Vol. 94, 1995,
p. 229. 2 Neera Chandhoke, State and Civil Society, New Delhi, Sage Publications, 1995, p. 167, p. 28, p. 38.
3 Ibid.
24
4 Final Report on the Commission of Human Security, 2002 - 2003 Commission of Human Security, New York, Chapter 1,
‘Human Security Now’, p. 4, see www.humansecurity-chs.org/finalreport 5 Ibid, pp. 230 – 234.
6 Colleen Thouez, A Global Programme for Government Capacity Building and Cooperation
Migration and Human Security, Paper submitted by The International Migration Policy Programme, For the Consultations on
International Migration, Berlin, 21-22 October 2002, p.1. 7 Elhadj Sy, Gender, HIV/AIDS, and Human Security, UNAIDS see http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/Sy2001.htm,
downloaded on Saturday, March 06, 2004, 10:23:31 AM. 8 Final Report on the Commission of Human Security 2002 – 2003, p. 3.
9 Keynote Paper by Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, Permament Representative of Bangladesh to the United
Nations on "Human Security: A Broader Dimension" presented at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Disarmament
Issues in Kyoto, Japan, 27 July 1999 10 Arthur MacEwan, “Globalisation and Stagnation”, Paper presented on “The Worlds Today: Circumstances and
Alternatives”, Centro de Investigaciones Interdisciplinaria en Humanidades, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
Mexico City, December 7, 1993. 11 E.J. Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire, Penguin Books, London, 1969, as cited by Arthur MacEwan.
12 Op. Cit. (Colleen Thouez, 2002) p. 9.
13 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 1994 “New Dimensions of Human
Security”, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, p.22. 14 Commission on Human Security (CHS) Report, Third Meeting of the Commission on Human Security, Haga Castle,
Stockholm, 9-10 June 2002, p. 4. 15 Op. Cit. (Colleen Thouez, 2002) pp. 1 – 2.
16 Estimated figures for IDPs from conflict range from 20-22 million. However, as stated in the “ Internally
Displaced People: A Global Survey” publication, “if everyone who ever fled their homes for whatever reason was included
(in the definition of IDP), then the global figure for IDPs would probably exceed 100 million.” In Janie Hampton (ed.)
Internally Displaced People: A Global Survey, Norwegian Refugee Council, Earthscan Publications, 1998, p. xvi 17 Ibid. p. 5.
18 (Sexual exploitation, prostitution, forced labor, slavery, servitude, removal of organs,)”. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, Article 3, United Nations, 2000. 19 Op. Cit. (Colleen Thouez, 2002) p. 7. p. 9.
20 Final Report on the Commission of Human Security, 2002 - 2003 Commission of Human Security, New York, Chapter 6,
‘Better Health for Human Security’, p. 96, see www.humansecurity-chs.org/finalreport 21 Human Development Report 2002: Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World. New York and Oxford, Oxford
University Press 2002 22 2003World Health Report. Geneva.
23 INDEPTH Network. 2002. Population and Health in Developing Countries: Volume 1. Ottawa: IDRC.
24 Ulf Kristofferson, HIV/AIDS as a human security issue: a gender perspective, EGM/HIV-AIDS /2000/WP 2, 7 November
2000. 25 Ibid
26 Elhadj Sy, Gender, HIV/AIDS, and Human Security, UNAIDS see http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/Sy2001.htm,
downloaded on Saturday, March 06, 2004, 10:23:31 AM. 27 Desmond Cohen, Human Capital and the HIV-Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. Working Paper 2. ILO Programme on
HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. 2002. 28 Ibid.
29 Final Report on the Commission of Human Security, 2002 - 2003 Commission of Human Security, New York, Chapter 6,
‘Better Health for Human Security’, p. 97 30 R. J. Rummel, Death by Government: Genocide and Mass Murder since 1900. New Brunswick, NJ: Transactions
Publications. 1994 as cited in Final Report on the Commission of Human Security, 2002 - 2003 Commission of Human
Security, New York, Chapter 2, ‘People Caught up in Violent Conflict’, p. 21. 31 Nat J Coletta, 2002. “Conflict, Human Security and Poverty: Implications for IFI Reform.” Paper prepared for the
Commission on Human Security. [www.humansecurity-chs.org]. as cited in Final Report on the Commission of Human
Security, 2002 - 2003 Commission of Human Security, New York, Chapter 2, ‘People Caught up in Violent Conflict’, p. 21. 32 Ibid. p. 23.
33 Ibid. p. 24.
25
34 National Crime Prevention Institute. Understanding Crime Prevention. 2nd edition. Boston, Butterworth Heinemann, 2001.
see http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/speech_2001-10-10_1.html as downloaded on Saturday, March 06, 2004, 11:01:41 AM 35 Op. Cit. (“Conflict, Human Security and Poverty: Implications for IFI Reform.”), p. 24
36 ICISS (International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty). 2001. The Responsibility to Protect. Ottawa, p.
xii, as cited in Final Report on the Commission of Human Security, 2002 - 2003 Commission of Human Security, New York,
Chapter 2, ‘People Caught up in Violent Conflict’, p. 24. 37 Security Council, 4492nd, SC/7329, 15 March 2002.
38 Final Report on the Commission of Human Security, 2002 - 2003 Commission of Human Security, New York, Chapter 2,
‘People Caught up in Violent Conflict’, p.24 , as well as see, United Nations, Security Council. 2002b. Report of the
Secretary-General on Small Arms. S/2002/1053. New York and United Nations. 2000. “Report of the Panel on United
Nations Peace Operations.” S/2000/809. 39 Ibid. p. 25.
40 United Nations, General Assembly, Strengthening of the United Nations: An Agenda for Further Change: Report of the
Secretary-General.A/57/387, 2002. 41 Op. Cit. (Final Report on the Commission of Human Security, 2002 – 2003, Chapter 2, ‘People Caught up in Violent
Conflict’), p. 29. 42 Food Security for Human Resources Development or Why Nutrition is Important for Human Capital, ECOSOC High-
Level Segment 2002 Ministerial Roundtable Breakfast on “Food security for human resources development”, Prepared by
World Food Programme 2 July 2002, p. 1. 43 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General comment 14: The right to the highest attainable standard of
health, E/C.12/2000/4, 12 August 2000. 44 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General comment 12: para 5 E/C.12/2000/4, 12 August 2000.
45 Human Rights, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development: Health, Food and Water, World Summit on Sustainable
Development, Johannesburg, 26 August – 4 September, 2002, pp. 9 – 10. 46 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “General Comment No. 12: The Right to Adequate Food”
(E/C.12/1999/5). 47 Ibid. para 7.
48"Report by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food" submitted pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution
2000/10 (E/CN.4/2001/53). "Report by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food" submitted pursuant to Commission on
Human Rights resolution 2001/25 (E/CN.4/2002/58). 49 E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/10, para. 37
50 “No Water no Future: A Water Focus for Johannesburg”, HRH the Prince of Orange, 14 February 2002.
51 World Health Organization, the Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000, Geneva, 2000, at p. 1.
52 UN Commission on Sustainable Development, Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the
World, Report of the Secretary General, New York, 1997, p. 39. 53 Article 12.1 of the ESCR reads as follows: “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to
the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.” See also the General Comment No. 14 on the
Right to Health by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (paras. 11, 12(a), 12(b), 12(d), 15, 34, 36, 40, 43
and 51). 54 Human Rights, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development: Health, Food and Water, World
Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 26 August – 4 September, 2002, p. 3. 55 Nutrition: A Foundation for Development; Geneva: ACC/SCN 2002.