Which approach to human security do you find most convincing?

Gabriele Virbasiute
183891
IRL385 Advanced Studies in Human Security
Professor Georgiandrea Shani
International Christian University
Word count: 1,410

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, it was

apparent that even though the war ended and people were not threatened by
neither absolute nuclear nor war threats, they were being killed by numerous
other problems that were not really considered beforehand. Issues, such as,
poverty, hunger, disease, violence and human rights abuses had been masked
by the realistic approach towards international security and had not been
treated as a threat to the individual. A new approach to security emerged, the
core of which was the individual. Human security, as defined by the United
Nations Commission on Human Security, is the protection of the vital core of
all human lives in ways that enhance human fulfilment and freedom (Human
Security Now, 2003). Not only was it necessary to protect the individual, it is
crucial to sustain the security and stability as well. Human security recognized
that there are multiple causes that make people insecure. All these problems
can correlate and may cause the domino effect. For example, conflict or a
flood in one country could easily spread and cause damage across borders,
affecting

even

international

security.

By

improving

individual

lives,

communities are growing stronger as well. As all debates have different

opinions, so does human security, which has two varied approaches a broad
approach and a narrow approach. The broad approach to human security,
which is going to be argued as the most convincing one,

is based on the

concept of freedom from want and the narrow approach is based on

freedom from fear (Human Security Now, 2003). The latter asserts that only
violence is a threat to humans and their counter-reactions are based on
immediate intervention. Whereas the advocates of the broad approach suggest
that there are far more threats, such as poverty, environment, terrorism, etc.
and they base their actions on long-term planning, which is beneficial in the

long run.
We still live in a world where a fifth of the developing worlds population
goes hungry every night, a quarter lacks access to even basic necessity like
safe drinking water, and a third lives in a state of abject poverty (Human
Development Report, 1994). It is apparent that individuals are facing problems
out of a states reach. As a matter of fact, not only violence possesses a threat
for the individual, other issues have to be tackled as well. The World Social
Charter, which was drawn up in 1994 by the United Nations, encompasses a
wide range of social issues and a pledge for all nations to ensure the
provision of at least the very basic human development levels for all their
people (Human Development Report, 1994). One of the global targets was
family planning, where the goal was to ensure family planning services for all
willing couples. Even though the Charter was drawn up in 1994, this problem
is still a major issue. For example, what do the United States of America, Papua
New Guinea and Oman have in common? The fact that they are the only three
countries in the world that do not provide any paid leave for new mothers, not
to mention fathers. It is apparent that even with the broad approach towards
human security some issues still cannot be tackled in developed countries. The
US law allows workers to take twelve weeks of unpaid leave, however the
majority of them cannot afford it. Furthermore, according to the Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993, employees in businesses that have less than 50
employees are non-eligible for unpaid leave (U.S. department of labor, 1993).
Supporters of the narrow approach would over-look job and employment
security problems as these are not caused by violent acts. However, it is more

than apparent that this is a violation of not only employment security, but
health, economical security and even human rights as well.
The Canadian government acknowledges the UNDP conception as a
phase in the development of human security, but envisions a much more
focused definition, one centred on violent threats, as an instrument of policy
(Liota, P.H., Taylor, O, 2006). The Canadian government, which is a supporter of
the narrow approach towards human security centres only on violent threats.
However, the broad approach makes a much more convincing statement as
there are so many threat issues that the current society has to tackle. Even
after violent threats, wars, revolutions and so on, weaker governments are in
need off post-conflict state building and support. Since 1999 the United Nations
have been carrying out peacebuilding and political missions to states in need.
These missions oversee various stages of peace negotiations, treaty signings
and long-term peace-building activities, as well as play a vital role in conflict
prevention. Conflict prevention carried out by UN missions definitely belongs to
the broad approach to human security, as it most definitely is freedom from
want. Such missions can defuse tensions before they escalate, help avoid
damage caused by conflicts, war, genocides and help a state establish a basic,
steady democracy. (Political Missions Report, 2013) One recent example of a
beneficial mission is the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
The main goal of the mission is to advise and assist the Government and
People of Iraq, assist in elections and protect and promote human rights
(UNIRAQ, 2003). Not only these missions promote human security, they
maintain international security and peace. Furthermore, one of the most
ambitious initiatives of the United Nations was the establishment of the

Millennium Development Goals. This collection of eight specific goals promoted

human security and strived to halve world hunger, provide primary education
to everyone and eradicate various diseases amongst the other five goals. Even
though, the goals were not fully successful and achieved, they did provide a
specific framework for human development and put the growth of human
security before the growth of the states GDP.
Lastly, in close relationship with the United Nations is the Responsibility
to Protect (R2P). Even though, it is part of the narrow approach, advocates of
the broad approach take into account the core idea of the narrow approach as
well. Responsibility to Protect, as stated in the 2001 report by the same name,
was based on the United Nations Charter and International Law. According to
the document, it is the states own responsibility to protect their people,
however if the state is unwilling or unable to halt or avert it, the principle of
non-intervention yield to the international responsibility to protect (ICISS
2001: xi). One of the best examples of R2P is the crisis in Libya in 2011. After
months of civil war between the rebel forces and the regime of Gadhafi, the
R2P was put in action with UNSCs resolution 1973. According to the resolution,
it demanded Gadhafi to end all civilian casualties that occurred in the conflict
of Libya and authorized other member states to take all necessary
measuresto protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of
attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a
foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory (UNSC,
2011). Even though Muammar Gadhafi agreed to a ceasefire, it did not happen
and members of the UN had to interfere. The case of Libya was considered a
success for human security and the responsibility to protect by UN Secretary

General Ban Ki-moon. The UNs devotion has yielded great results and it is
apparent that human security should not only be considered from the
perspective of the narrow approach.
The supporters of each approach towards human security, broad and
narrow, argue on what individuals should actually be protected from: only
violent threats or global issues, such as poverty, famine, diseases? The narrow
approach does not take into account all the other threats and problems that the
individual faces. Global poverty and environmental problems respect no
national

border.

Their

grim

consequences

travel

the

world

(human

development report, 1994). The best example of how the broad approach
problems are being tackled are the United Nations and their peace-building and
political

operations

that

have

definitely

yielded

success.

Furthermore,

Responsibility to Protect plays a major role in human security as well. Taking all
these examples into account, it is apparent that the broad approach towards
human security is far more convincing that the narrow one. In order to
eradicate the physical harm and violent violations of human security, it is
necessary to deal with the social structures that normalise them in the first
place.

Bibliography:
Liotta, P.H & Taylor Owen, 2006. Why Human Security? Whitehead
Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations Vol VII, No. 1: 37-55.

United Nations Commission on Human Security, Human Security Now

(New York: United Nations, 2003), available from
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/91BAEEDBA50C6907C125
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United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report
(New York: Oxford University Press 1994), available from
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ts.pdf. Last accessed 21st May 2015.
United Nations Political Missions, Report of the Secretary-General
(Vienna: United Nations, 2013), available from
http://www.unis.unvienna.org/pdf/0_Regular_Updates/Political_Missions_Report.
pdf. Last accessed 21st May 2015.
United Nations. (2003). UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. Available from
http://www.uniraq.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=943:unassistance-mission-for-iraq&Itemid=637&lang=en. Last accessed 21st May
2015.
United States Department of Labor, Family and Medical Leave act of
1993 (Washington: U.S. Department of Labor, 1993), available from
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs28.pdf. Last accessed 21st May
2015.