2004
Obstacles to human security
Analysis of the 2004 Social Watch national reports
Karina Batthyány
From the Social Watch national reports it emerges clearly that in industrialised or developed countries the main obstacle to human security is linked to the economic dimension. The main problems are recession, weak growth, economic crises, and deterioration in the quality and conditions of people’s lives. The outstanding obstacles are the lack of equitable parameters in the distribution of social benefits and the provision of access to basic services for all sectors of society. These reports offer a vision of human security which will enable all human beings to live in dignity.
Security has been the subject of a heated debate all over the world, a debate
about policies that would make the world and the societies in it more secure, a
debate about the factors
causing
uncertainty, fear and insecurity among people and
within States. This debate is complex and involves a wide range of antagonistic
opinions. It is an expression of the world’s great diversity and a reflection of
the varying opinions and positions held by different countries and their
policy-making apparatus. In this ongoing and unavoidable global re-assessment of
security the concept of human security can help shift the focus of the
debate in the direction of what humanity really wants rather than what a few
States and their specialised security bodies are interested in or perceive.
The concept of human security has different dimensions, and the statistics in
the 2004 Social Watch Report are organised around them.
Origins and
definition of human security
The concept of human security appeared in the context of research for peace in
the 1980s as a counterpoint to the concept of “national security” predominant
during the Cold War. It came into widespread use internationally in 1994 when
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) built its Human Development
Report
around it. UNDP maintains that the core of human insecurity is vulnerability and
that we must ask ourselves how people can be protected, insisting on their
direct involvement and on the close linkage between development and security.
As a starting point, UNDP
identified the following eight dimensions of human security (and therefore,
human insecurity): economic, financial, food, sanitary, environmental, personal,
gender, community and political.
A
few years later, governments in countries such as Japan, Norway and Canada
adopted the collection of ideas underlying this concept in the design of their
foreign policies. They also adopted a list of specific subjects including the
prohibition of anti-personnel mines, the control of light arms, the prevention
of recruitment of child soldiers, the promotion of International Humanitarian
Law, support for new human rights bodies set up by the United Nations,
assistance for refugees and participation in peacekeeping operations.
The concept of human security, then, is evolving, and the discussion that it
generates is an excellent opportunity to redefine the old security schemes based
on military force and to identify the needs of the planet as a whole in all its
diversity, aspects which have hardly been considered in general public policies.
According to the Commission on Human Security, human security “means protecting
vital
freedoms. It means protecting people from
critical and pervasive threats and situations, building on their strengths and
aspirations. It means creating [political, social,
environmental, economic, military and cultural] systems that give people
the building blocks of survival, dignity and livelihood.”
Human security is complementary to the notion of territorial security of the
State in that it is more concerned with the individual and the community than
with the State itself. It is therefore possible to differentiate clearly between
“national security” policies which focus on the State’s territorial integrity
and the freedom to determine its form of government, and “human security” which
emphasises people and communities, and in particular civilians who are in
situations of extreme vulnerability, whether owing to war or social and economic
marginalisation. Dangers to people’s security include threats and situations
which, from the point of view of state security, are not always classified as
threatening. Moreover, the human security focus widens the range of actors
involved in such a way that the State is not the exclusive actor. The aim of
human security is not only to protect people but to empower them so that they
can fend for themselves.
Leading academics like Economics Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen have been
calling for years for the adoption of this new human security perspective as an
instrument for re-thinking the future and for re-assessing the concept of
development itself, which is not only related to the growth in per capita income
but also with expanding people’s freedom and dignity. Sen advocates re-defining
the old international institutions that were set up in the 1940s and drawing up
an agenda of the changes that are most needed. Among others, he includes trade
agreements, patents laws, global health initiatives, universal education,
dissemination of technology, environmental policies, foreign debt, conflict
management, disarmament, etc. An agenda, in short, that will make human security
viable.
The objectives of human security also agree with the Programme of Action on a
Culture of Peace and the Millennium Declaration adopted by the UN General
Assembly in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Although the idea of human security and
the early work in this sphere originated in predominantly Western circles and
governments, from the very start the debate acquired an international dimension
and has included all the different shades of opinion and divergent positions
which characterise the political and cultural diversity of the world. The
academic and political debate is centred on whether human security should focus
on first generation political rights or whether it should also include second
and third generation rights, including the rights to development and to food.
Human security is inclusive and people-centred. It emerges from civil society in
an attempt to protect individuals and their communities. It goes beyond issues
of territorial defence and military power. And it is based on the notion of
personal security, on the understanding that not only the State but also
non-State actors and human beings are responsible for development and must
become involved in promoting policies and actions that will strengthen people’s
security and development.
Human security is multi-dimensional. It seeks to define the political, economic,
social, cultural and environmental dimensions which affect people’s security,
and identify traditional and non-traditional threats to security based on the
fact that security is not unidimensional but encompasses many spheres.
Human security emphasises association and joint effort, that is to say, multi-lateralism
and co-operation. The current international context and the results of
globalisation have changed the scale of the problems which were formerly seen
from an exclusively national perspective. We are now faced with a new
international order in which the capacity to interact is essential if States are
to recover their ability to work with other actors and generate a system able to
meet people’s demands at national, regional and international levels.
Human security
and human development
In Kofi Annan’s view human security “…in
its broadest sense, embraces far more than the absence of violent conflict. It
encompasses human rights, good governance, access to education and health care
and ensuring that each individual has opportunities and choices to fulfil his or
her potential. Every step in this direction is also a step towards reducing
poverty, achieving economic growth and preventing conflict. Freedom from want,
freedom from fear, and the freedom of future generations to inherit a healthy
natural environment - these are the interrelated building blocks of human - and
therefore national - security.”
The paradigm of human development links human security to equity,
sustainability, growth and participation, since it allows an assessment of the
degree of life security attained by people in society, as well as interpreting
the possibilities and challenges that society may encounter in its progress
toward full and sustainable human development.
From the perspective of human security, what matters in terms of security is not
so much that States and societies should be concerned with guaranteeing peace
from external threat, but rather that they should guarantee the minimum
conditions for people to be secure and to feel secure in their societies.
Two basic
dimensions
There are two basic dimensions to human security. The first is to protect people
against chronic threats like hunger, disease and repression; the second is to
protect them against
sudden and
damaging changes in their daily lives, whether it is in the home, in employment
or in the community. These threats can have a negative impact on people at all
income levels and stages of development in a country.
Human security complements State
security, promotes human development and enhances human rights. It is
complementary to State security in that it focuses on people and on fighting
causes of insecurity which were formerly not considered as specific threats to
State security. By contemplating these new types of additional risks it extends
the scope of human development beyond the notion of “growth with equity.”
What lies at
the core of protecting human security is respect for human rights. The promotion
of democratic principles is a step toward achieving human security and
development in that it permits people to participate in governance structures,
thus allowing their voices to be heard. In order to achieve this it is necessary
to set up stable institutions which establish the rule of law and empower
people.
Human security is only possible
when it is based on sustained development. This presupposes security at
different levels for all members of society - security from physical danger and
threats, income security, security in education, housing security, health
security and environmental security.
Threats and
obstacles to human security as viewed from
the
national reports
The Social Watch national reports
offer a series of arguments and evidence about the problems and difficulties
which put at risk the security of people in different countries.
The possible threats or obstacles can be grouped into seven main dimensions:
economic, food, health, personal, community, cultural (including the gender
dimension) and political, all of which appear in the different national reports.
In country after country it is poverty, economic exclusion, social inequality
and food insecurity that stand out as the biggest and most common obstacles to
human security.
While this article does not attempt
to make a regional analysis in the strict sense of the word, it is possible to
identify different problems in different regions of the world or the different
ways countries are positioned in the international context.
Thus, it emerges clearly that in industrialised or developed countries the main
obstacle to human security is linked to the economic dimension. The main
problems mentioned are recession, weak growth, economic crises, and
deterioration in the quality and conditions of people’s lives. The outstanding
obstacles in these countries are the lack of equitable parameters in the
distribution of social benefits and the provision of access to basic services
for all sectors of society.
On this point,
the reports from Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany are very
illuminating. The Portuguese report cites the deterioration in people’s
conditions of life due to the economic crisis and a growing feeling of personal
insecurity. Switzerland reports on the poor economic growth since the beginning
of the 1990s, and the impact of tax reductions that are making it increasingly
difficult to implement social improvements, which means that social inequality
in Switzerland will continue to grow. The report from the Netherlands deals with
the way economic problems are affecting social security, and to what extent they
also affect tolerance and hospitality toward immigrants. The report from Germany
also mentions these problems and dwells on the obstacles to human security that
stem from fiscal problems and the reduction in expenditure on social welfare.
Poverty and
economic inequity
An issue which
recurs again and again in the reports from developing countries is poverty and
the resulting deterioration in the living conditions of millions of people.
There is no doubt that poverty stands out as one of the biggest obstacles to
human security.
The seriousness
of this problem appears eloquently in the reports from Algeria, Bangladesh,
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama
and Uganda, to mention only a few.
Poverty is
closely linked to other obstacles. The Algerian report lists the main threats to
human security as “widespread and increasing poverty, frequent terrorist attacks
and natural disasters”. In Kenya, poverty and organised crime are the biggest
obstacles. Again, in Panama poverty affects 40% of the population, so the
biggest challenge to human security is the fight to contain it, particularly in
rural areas, and to ensure that the population receives the minimum services it
requires. The report from Colombia explains that it will not be possible to
guarantee full human security while war, poverty and inequality continue to
worsen.
Conditions that
go hand in hand with poverty, like unemployment and economic inequity are also
cited in reports from countries such as Bolivia and El Salvador.
These are
situations of economic insecurity framed in the context of generalised extreme
poverty. Two key elements in the fight toward eradicating poverty are the
setting up of markets that operate adequately, and the creation of institutions
outside the market. A number of the reports suggest that the essential issues
are a fair distribution of wealth and economic growth which will benefit people
living in extreme poverty.
Besides chronic
poverty, other obstacles to human security are unfavourable economic conditions,
the social impact of economic crises, and natural disasters. Social policies
which meet people’s basic needs and guarantee minimum economic and social
conditions are required if the people affected by the crises are to have real
security or some way of escaping from poverty. Three quarters of the world
population do not have social security protection or do not have a guaranteed
job.
Another aspect
is the different obstacles that are rooted in gender. It is vitally important
that everyone should have access to land tenure and/or ownership, access to
credit, education and housing, particularly in the case of poor women.
The equitable
distribution of resources is perceived as crucial for guaranteeing the means of
life. Moreover, social protection measures and security networks can contribute
to establishing minimum social and economic conditions for the most vulnerable
sectors of the population.
Health
security
Another subject
which stands out in the reports is health security, that is, health as an
element in human security. In spite of the progress made in health care, more
than 20 million people died in the past year from diseases that could have been
prevented. Health is an essential component because the very foundation of
security is the protection of human life, and good health is a precondition for
social stability.
Three big
health problems are identified as closely linked to human security: infectious
diseases, health threats related to poverty, and the
dangers to health resulting from violence, conflicts and war.
The most serious problems in this
area are infantile mortality and HIV/AIDS. There is a close relation between
child mortality and poverty, since the direct causes of the
former
are
malnutrition, lack of drinking water and adequate sanitation, infections, poor
food and lack of medical attention. A further vulnerable point is the increase
in the numbers of HIV/AIDS victims, particularly evident in sub-Saharan Africa
and Brazil.
Governance
problems, political insecurity and corruption
As well as the economic and sanitary dimensions to human security there are
other threats which have to do with people’s security in the political and
social spheres. These include the weakness of democratic governance and the
instability of political systems. These dimensions of vulnerability lead to
violence in a number of countries such as Colombia, Nepal, Nigeria and Uganda.
Governments across the world have developed national security plans in the
framework of the global fight against terrorism, but this has not contributed to
alleviate the political insecurity prevailing in many countries. The national
reports emphasise the need for democratic conditions, good governance and
political security as pre-requisites for human security.
In many
countries human security is jeopardised by corruption, discrimination based on
race, sex, ethnic origin, religion or political orientation, as well as
political insecurity and the absence of democratic possibilities.
Different
forms of violence
Another group
of obstacles to human security mentioned in the reports, principally those from
Africa and Latin America, are those connected to different kinds of violence
such as urban violence, murder, organised crime, armed conflicts and terrorist
attacks.
Criminal
networks are clearly on the rise, causing urban violence to increase,
particularly in Latin America. The country that stands out is Brazil, where one
of the main obstacles to human security is urban violence in general, especially
urban violence aimed at poor young people. The murder rate is nearly ten times
higher in this population sector than for the country as a whole.
There is a greater awareness that
among the different kinds of violence reported, it is women and children who are
the main victims. According to the reports, gender-related violence is on the
increase.
The social
inequalities of gender
Finally, special attention should
be paid to the problems of gender. In general, the overall panorama of human
security for women is bleak, expressed by non-recognition of the specific rights
of women, particularly with respect to work and reproductive health rights, and
violence against women in various different spheres.
Although the question of gender is
addressed in the reports from a number of developed countries, it is the
developing counties that show particular concern and interest in providing
options and opportunities for those who have never had them - education for
girls, protection for women against domestic violence and violence in the
workplace, and access for all women to real political and economic power. The
emphasis placed on the dimensions affecting gender equity is determined by the
reality in each different country.
Three obstacles
To sum up, the
three most serious obstacles to human security are, firstly, threats to the
security of individuals and their communities, in particular to the most
vulnerable sectors of society; secondly, conflicts, threats and different kinds
of violence (inter-State conflicts, breakdown of States, human rights
violations, terrorism, organised crime, etc.); and thirdly, poverty and economic
exclusion.
The national
reports offer a vision of human security which will enable all human beings to
live in conditions of justice, equity, freedom, tolerance, good health, and to
have access to adequate food, education and a healthy environment. In other
words, the conditions that allow us to live in dignity.
Notes:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
New dimensions of Human Security. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Human Security Commission. “Final Report” at
www.humansecurity-chs.org/finalreport/
Kofi Annan. “Secretary-General Salutes International Workshop on Human Security
in Mongolia.” Two-Day Session in Ulaanbaatar. 8-10 May 2000. Press Release SG/SM/7382.
www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2000/20000508.sgsm7382.doc.html
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