Ozair Ahmad Qureshi
HUMAN security is a concept defined by the United Nations General Assembly as “an approach to assist Member States in identifying and addressing widespread and cross-cutting challenges to the survival, livelihood and dignity of their people.” It is a relatively modern concept and slightly different from the traditional concepts of state security or national security. Unlike those concepts, human security involves a human-centred approach with a core focus on human development. It evaluates different aspects that can affect human development and welfare. The United Nations has identified seven aspects or dimensions that directly relate to human security; these are: i) economic, ii) food, iii) health, iv) environmental, v) personal, vi) community, and vii) political. The concept of human security can be studied from evaluating the strength of these seven aspects in the lives of people living in a particular region.
Among these seven dimensions, the first, “economic,” can include people’s economic security or economic welfare. This aspect can also include their earnings or wages and other economic indicators such as inflation, per capita income, budget constraints, and purchasing power parity as part of their economic security. The second dimension, “food,” can cover access to a sufficient quantity and quality of food and water. It can also include freedom from hunger and malnutrition. Food security also requires all essential nutrients in food to be available. The third aspect, “health,” involves people having health security or access to quality healthcare. The fourth, “environmental,” includes the safety and protection of the people from adverse environmental conditions such as natural disasters, climate change, global warming, hurricanes, storms and floods. The fifth dimension, as defined by the United Nations, relates to the “personal” well-being of individuals. This can include conditions such as access to quality education and knowledge. Individuals’ psychological well-being can also be included in this.
The sixth dimension relates to “community” welfare. It requires peace, cooperation and security in the community. Consequently, it can include all those factors that can contribute to the welfare of the community, for instance law enforcement, the protection of fundamental human rights, and freedom to practise any religion. Lastly, the seventh dimension is related to “political.” Politics is an essential feature of every human society and humans are directly affected by the nature of politics that is practised in their society. In effect, regional and international politics can both impact human security. For example, regional or international political measures aimed at curbing terrorism and installing peace can have effects on human security. According to the UNGA’s Resolution 66/290, human security interlinks peace and human development. Thus, politics, whether regional or international, has to be directed at ensuring peace and at installing measures for human development.
Unfortunately, there are some massive challenges that now directly threaten human security in different regions. These issues include poverty, food and water scarcity, lack of access to quality healthcare, domestic violence — especially violence against women — human trafficking, terrorism and armed conflicts. According to World Bank estimates, there are 736 million people living in poverty. Many of them lack access to a sufficient quantity of food and water, while many lack healthcare facilities. Pertinently, terrorism has also emerged as a grave threat to human security. Likewise, the armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen in the last two decades have caused many human casualties.
In addition, the environmental threats to human security are also large in magnitude and grave in their impact. For example, the rise in the average temperature of the earth due to increased concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is creating numerous problems for the earth’s natural habitats. The melting of glaciers, the rise in sea levels, the adverse change in climate, and the arrival of floods and hurricanes are some of the prominent consequences of global warming. These environmental hazards are threatening human security. For example, millions of people residing in regions near the Indus River basin have become vulnerable to floods due to the glaciers’ increased rate of melting. Similarly, people residing in coastal regions face unpredictable threats from tsunamis and storms.
The international community is well aware of the threats that are looming over human security. So far, to mitigate the threats, the United Nations has taken the lead role in developing policies and implementing sustainable agendas for strengthening human security. It has taken several important steps; for instance, the establishment of the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS) is one of its valuable contributions for strengthening human security in marginalized regions. The UNTFHS implements the concept of human security in vulnerable regions and aims at ensuring the sustainable development of the people living there. In addition, it also aims at implementing long-term policies and programs that make insecure people self-sufficient in attaining adequate human security.
To counter the climate change threats, the United Nations has recently organized the Paris Agreement 2016, which imposed binding restrictions on the United Nations member states on burning fossil fuels. Effective cooperation from nations in following the restrictions set by the Paris Agreement can reduce total global greenhouse gases emissions. Fortunately, Norway, the Netherlands and France have announced that they will ban vehicles running on diesel to meet the Paris Agreement targets set for them by 2025, 2030 and 2040 respectively. Such measures should also be adopted by other countries for environmental well-being that leads to human security.
—The writer is final year student at Cadet College Hassanabdal.
