UNDERSTANDING HUMAN SECURITY & EMERGING THREATS

Kwalar Vera MuringDevelopment 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 SECURITYO 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 development- Food, 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 WORKO 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 -

MENUO Terrorism

O Drug trafficking

O Human trafficking

O Piracy

O Climate change

O Electoral violence

O Cyber threats

O Undemocratic governance

O DiseaseO Financial InstabilityO CorruptionO MigrationO PovertyO Resource scarcity:

O Food O WaterO 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 starvingOne billion lack clean drinking

waterTwo billion lack sanitationTwo million are dying from AIDS

each year175 million international migrantsNearly 1 billion illiterate adultsSeveral 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 -