Executive Summary

In preparation for the third Ministerial meeting of the Human Security Network in May 2001, the Programme for Strategic and International Studies at the Graduate Institute of International Studies hosted a meeting of non-governmental experts and representatives of Network member governments at the request of the government of Switzerland. The meeting's objectives were to: 1) examine linkages between human security and human development; 2) generate a dialogue between the human security and human development communities; and 3) contribute to the development of a practical policy agenda for the Human Security Network.

Linking security and development

The lack of interaction that characterized relations between the development and security communities during the Cold War period is slowly eroding as both security and development actors have begun to incorporate a human dimension into their policies. One reason behind this shift is the growing realization that a concept of security that places individuals and communities at its center is a fundamental co-condition of development.

Strategies for Implementing a Human Security Agenda

Participants urged the Human Security Network to adopt a comprehensive view of violence in developing their human security agenda. With conflict, crime and repression as the focal point, participants suggested that the linkages between human security and human development are particularly strong in the following areas:

• enforcing the rule of law;
• promoting respect for human rights;
• preventing privileged access to economic and financial resources;
• ensuring that mechanisms are in place to resolve societal conflicts in a non-violent manner;
• establishing a sufficient degree of political stability that individuals are willing to invest in poverty-reducing development.

In order to operationalize these linkages, conference participants identified five broad areas for priority attention:

• governance: strengthening accountability and transparency, including human capacity-building in the public sector and within civil society;
• security sector transformation: strengthening the accountability of security forces to democratically elected civil authorities, with special emphasis on improving the quality of criminal justice systems;
• peacebuilding: incorporating a human security perspective into all aspects of peacebuilding so that individuals are willing to invest in rebuilding their societies;
• partnerships: working collaboratively with key partners, including civil society and the business community;
• local capacity-building: developing the capacity of local actors to tackle the human security agenda, especially civilian specialists on human security issues, and security issues more generally.

Participants also identified three major constraints on linking human security and human development: a "stovepipe" mentality among key stakeholders that keeps cross-cutting issues (and creative policy approaches to solving them) rigidly separate; the difficulty in getting governments to commit to strategies of prevention; and the lack of incentive for some governments to adopt behavior consistent with the goals of human development and human security.

Contribution to a practical policy agenda

A major theme of the discussion was the importance of bridging the gaps between North and South. It was felt that this objective could be best promoted if Network members were to move beyond coordinating policies and to undertake specific joint activities designed to link human security and human development. Participants suggested exploring the opportunities that exist for building the capacity of civil society in member countries and for establishing direct linkages between development assistance efforts and human security.

This civil society work might focus on:

• capacity-building, particularly to promote accountability of state institutions and to contribute to efforts to resolve societal conflicts in a non-violent manner.
• strengthening linkages between civil society and non-governmental organizations in Network states.

There were several areas in which participants suggested that direct linkages between development assistance and human security would be most useful.

• promoting respect for human rights, including human-rights education;
• establishing and adhering to the rule of law;
• strengthening the capacity of the security sector, especially the police and other members of the criminal justice system, to provide security to citizens.

If Network members chose to pursue initiatives related both to civil society and to linkages between human security and development assistance, the Network's resources would be maximized if the activities undertaken in these two areas were complementary. For example, if the Network sought to strengthen the promotion of human rights through development assistance, it would make good sense to focus any civil society work supported by the Network on human rights issues also.

Introduction

In preparation for the third Ministerial meeting of the Human Security Network in Petra, Jordan in May 2001, the Programme for Strategic and International Studies at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, hosted a meeting on March 8-9, 2001, of non-governmental experts and representatives of Network member governments. This meeting, which was organized at the request of the government of Switzerland, had three objectives:

• Examine the ways in which human security and human development issues are linked, and to focus on specific issues where human insecurities have a negative effect on human development.
• Generate a dialogue between the human security and human development communities, by avoiding privileging either the human security or human development side of the equation.
• Contribute to the development of a practical policy agenda for the Human Security Network that examines how building human security is an essential contribution to the development process.

The Human Security Network is composed of states with diverse experiences, cultures and political systems. This both constitutes a strength and presents a challenge to Network members. The diversity of views represented within the Network provides the basis for a rich dialogue and the means of testing ideas generated against a variety of national perspectives. However, it can at times be difficult to reconcile these different national perspectives.

Network members recognize that developing common approaches to human security is a process that will benefit from ongoing dialogue designed to air differences and develop responses that reflect the needs of different societies. The sense of the participants at the March workshop was that joint activities such as workshops and collaborative projects can be helpful in generating and furthering such dialogue.

1. Linking Human Development and Human Security

   Background

   The link between security and development is of great practical importance for contemporary international policy making. Until recently, however, the security and development communities have operated largely in isolation from each other and the linkages between security and development have been poorly understood.

   During the Cold War, the security policy of the superpowers and their allies was intended to garner the support of friendly governments around the world. Military assistance consequently focused on transmitting military or policing skills or transferring arms and other defense and police equipment. Although there was a not-insignificant amount of economic support to key allies of the major powers during the Cold War, the objective of much of this assistance was to reduce the burden of the recipient=s security sector, not to promote development, even where such assistance was provided through development assistance agencies.

   For their part, bilateral and multilateral development assistance agencies sought to avoid involvement with the security sector during the Cold War. Addressing issues relating to national security was considered an infringement of the sovereignty of aid recipients and outside the mandates of most development assistance agencies. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in particular have used clauses in their articles of agreement that contain prohibitions against taking the political character of a country into account when developing programs with member governments as a justification for non-involvement in the security sector.

   Lessons from US Police Assistance

   Between 1973 and 1986, the United States Congress prohibited any use of economic or military assistance to foreign police forces. It was prompted to pass this legislation because previous US police aid had been supplied to repressive governments that committed serious human rights abuses. This aid had been channeled through USAID's Office of Public Safety which was closed once this legislation was passed. When aid to foreign police forces was resumed in the late 1980s, assistance was channeled through the US Department of Justice. Even today, USAID remains wary of involvement in security sector activities.

   Additionally, it was widely believed within development circles that development was a precondition for security and that increased economic development would reduce the incidence of conflict within and, possibly, between states. What is more, the negative experiences of some development assistance agencies, such as the US Agency for International Development, that provided support to security sectors in partner countries during the Cold War significantly reduced their interest in similar activities even after the Cold War had come to an end.

   In recent years, the debate has shifted to potentially more fruitful ground, as both security and development actors have begun to incorporate a human dimension into their policies. In the development sphere, issues such as poverty reduction, micro-credit and participatory development have expanded the debate from a near-exclusive focus on economic growth and development to incorporate issues such as the social and human aspects of development and economic and political governance. This trend is exemplified by the United Nations Development Programme's work on human development and the annual Human Development Index published by UNDP.

   In the security sphere, the increasing use of the concept of human security within the UN system, the creation of the Human Security Network and the independent Commission on Human Security, and the proposal to create a Human Security Report has focused attention on the security needs of individuals and communities within states. There is also a growing recognition among development practitioners that security is a fundamental co-condition, if not pre-condition, for development and that conflict management and sound governance in the security sector are critical to the achievement of security.

   This is, therefore, an opportune moment to consider the linkage between human development and human security. Not only is there greater interest within both the development and security communities in exploring how best to engender human-centered development and security. There is also the growing realization that the lack of development and the prevalence of insecurity have common roots in what the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research has termed "horizontal inequalities" - unequal allocation of economic, cultural and political resources among identity groups defined by characteristics such as class, ethnicity, profession, geographic origin, or religion. It will be important, however, for the Human Security Network to move beyond a simple examination of the linkages between human security and human development to the development of a policy-relevant agenda aimed at enhancing opportunities for human-centered poverty-reducing development and creating secure and stable environments in which this development can occur.

   Conceptualizing human security

   It is now widely acknowledged that in societies where the minimal conditions of human security for individuals and communities are not met, sustainable human development is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. The situation is particularly difficult in countries that have experienced prolonged periods of conflict. Nevertheless, there remains a concern, especially among some Southern states, that a focus on human security may distract attention from the ongoing need for development in their societies. This feeling is reinforced by the fact that many of the sources of human in security are related to a lack of development, rather than to the threat of violence.

   The tension between these two visions has been evident from the very outset of discussions over the concept of human security and they were mirrored in the debate at the Geneva conference. Several conference participants pointed to the fact that disease and ill-health, frequently exacerbated by inadequate nutrition, kill more people annually than armed conflict. The HIV/AIDS pandemic was a specific concern in this regard, in view of its devastating effects on individuals, families, communities, opportunities for economic development, and even the capacity of state institutions. Other sources of human insecurity cited by participants included: unchecked population growth, environmental degradation and pollution, drug trafficking, international terrorism, financial instability, trade instability, global inequality, political inequality, and social inequality.

   Human Development

   "In the final analysis, sustainable human development is pro-people, pro-jobs, and pro-nature. It gives the highest priority to poverty reduction, productive employment, social integration, and environmental regeneration. It brings human numbers into balance with the coping capacities of societies and the carrying capacities of nature. It accelerates economic growth and translates it into improvements in human lives, without destroying the natural capital needed to protect the opportunities of future generations. It also recognizes that not much can be achieved without a dramatic improvement in the status of women and the opening of all economic opportunities to women. And sustainable human development empowers people - enabling them to design and participate in the processes and events that shape their lives."

   Source: UNDP, Human Development Report 1994, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 4.

   One factor complicating the effort to identify linkages between human development and human security is the lack of conceptual clarity surrounding human security. The work of the United Nations Development Programme, particularly the Human Development Report, has familiarized many working in the development sphere with the components of human development. There is no comparable understanding of human security at present. Rather, the discourse on human security during the 1990s has had two rather different strands.

   The first approach to human security was first enunciated by UNDP in its 1994 Human Development Report. The human development approach to human security argues that security should not focus exclusively on nations and territory, but also on individuals who should be at the center of security concerns. What is more, people should be secure everywhere: in their homes, their jobs, their streets, their communities and their environment. The major categories of human insecurity are: 1) unchecked population growth; 2) environmental degradation and pollution; 3) drug trafficking; 4) international terrorism; 5) financial instability; 6) trade instability; 7) global inequality. For adherents of the human development approach to human security, security is best achieved through development, not through the use of force. Additionally, human security is best achieved by addressing all components of human insecurity.

   Thus, UNDP has identified nine dimensions of human security which reflect both the list of causes of human insecurity and the human development agenda: 1) economic security, 2) financial security, 3) food security, 4) health security, 5) environmental security, 6) personal security, 7) gender security, 8) community security and 9) political security. According to UNDP, strengthening human security requires attention to each of these dimensions.

   The Humanized Security Approach

   "A wide range of old and new threats can be considered challenges to human security; these range from epidemic diseases to natural disasters, from environmental change to economic upheavals. Through its foreign policy Canada has chosen to focus its human security agenda on promoting safety for people by protecting them from threats of violence. We have chosen this focus because we believe this is where the concept of human security has the greatest value added - where it complements existing international agendas already focussed on promoting national security, human rights and human development."

   Source: Government of Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Freedom from Fear: Canada's Foreign Policy for Human Security, Ottawa, 2000, www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca p. 5.

   The second approach to human security involves "humanizing security" and is well captured by the Government of Canada in its report, Freedom from Fear: Canada's Foreign Policy for Human Security (2000). This approach also envisions security extending beyond nations and territory to individuals who are at the center of security concerns. It too recognizes that there are many causes of human insecurity, ranging from epidemic disease through environmental change to conflict. In contrast to the human development approach, however, the humanized security concept does not equate overcoming all causes of human insecurity with improving human security. Rather, it sees human development and human security as two sides of the same coin. Addressing some of the causes of human insecurity will improve human development while focusing on others will strengthen human security.

   The humanized security approach accordingly concentrates on protecting individuals and communities of individuals from violence. Critical elements include the absence of rule of law, the inability to control conflict within and between states, the lack of transparency and accountability in public affairs, and the existence of organized crime and terrorism. The humanized security approach to human security recognizes that states can be both sources of violence, and central to the ability to control violence.

   Measuring human security and insecurity

   In view of the important role that the Human Development Report has played in defining, further developing, and promoting the concept of human development, efforts are now under way to explore the feasibility of creating a Human Security Report. It is hoped that along with UNDP's Human Development Report and its human vulnerability report, a Human Security Report would define human security and help illuminate the links between security and poverty. This report will not, however, be produced by UNDP, but would likely be the product of an independent, university-based undertaking.

   As presently conceived, the core of the proposed Human Security Report will be a human insecurity index. The report will also review trends in systemic precursors of human insecurity such as declining gross national product, lack of transparency, corruption, history of war, degree of horizontal inequality, and access to resources. A third section of the report will examine a range of policy responses to these trends - such as (for example) preventive diplomacy missions, peace operations, progress in operationalizing the International Criminal Court, the Landmines Monitor, or the small arms campaign. Each volume of the report could also contain a series of short policy-oriented essays clustered around a particular theme.

   There was a wide-ranging debate during the conference about the types of indicators that would be most appropriate for inclusion in a human insecurity index. The initial thinking has been that the index will be a composite measure of insecurity and in view of the difficulty in obtaining data across many countries, the information in the index may be aggregated. Recognizing the difficulty of acquiring any meaningful data across a sufficiently large number of countries and years, participants nonetheless suggested that an effort be made to develop dynamic indicators. These would assist policy makers in assessing the probability of future events and get beyond reacting to the situation in a static sense. Specific dynamic indicators that arise out of current social science research include the distribution of goods and services and bad governance.

   Types of Insecurity Experienced by Poor People

   "On the basis of poor people's descriptions, types of insecurity can be broadly linked to the following factors:

   • Survival and livelihoods.
   • Natural disasters.
   • Crime and violence.
   • Persecution by police and lack of justice.
   • Civil conflict and war.
   • Macropolicy shocks and stresses.
   • Social vulnerability.
   • Health, illness and death."

   Source: Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera Kaul Shah, and Patti Petesch, Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. New York, NY: Published for the World Bank, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 159-160, www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/reports.htm#crying.

   Several participants noted that the human costs of insecurity are greater for vulnerable groups and individuals in poor societies. It was also suggested that human insecurity is higher in non-democratic countries because they lack equitable distribution mechanisms.

   The importance of including subjective as well as objective measures of insecurity was another recurring theme. Public opinion surveys and participatory research methodologies were suggested as two particularly useful sources of information in this regard. A persuasive case was made for the importance of measuring fear and of contextualizing it. For example, World Bank work has demonstrated that the urban poor in Colombia have a greater fear of the police and the army than of criminals. Many of the participatory poverty assessments carried out in conjunction with the World Bank's "Voices of the Poor" project showed a similar fear of the official security forces. Yet the question of state-sponsored repression is largely absent from the concepts of development on which international development assistance is based.

   Crime and Violence as Experienced by Poor People

   "I do not know who to trust, the police or the criminals. Our
   public safety is ourselves. We work and hide indoors...and of
   dangers at school...I am afraid that they might kill my son for
   something as irrelevant as a snack."
   From a women's group, Sacadura Cabral, Brazil

   "Violence is a chain: the man beats the woman, the woman
   takes it out on the children, and the children are violent even
   with the animals."
   A youth, Barrio Universitarios, Bolivia

   "To one degree or another, poor people speak of declining public safety as an element of increasing insecurity in almost every country, in both rural and urban areas. People mention it least in India and most often in Brazil and Russia. Increasing crime is linked to breakdown in social cohesion, difficulties in finding employment, hunger, increased migration, drugs and drug trafficking, actions and inactions of the police, and the building of roads that allow strangers to enter communities easily. Poor people connect crime with decline in social community, with competitiveness and people looking out only for themselves. While the well off have more to lose from theft, Jamaicans say that "crime and violence are experienced by poorer more than richer households."

   "Rural communities in different countries especially fear theft of livestock, crops and vegetables. In some communities in Ethiopia women identify increasing livestock theft as the greatest risk to their security. They feel that if such theft is not curtailed, it will be increasingly difficult to deal with urgent needs in the usual way through the sale of livestock. For many poor families, theft of livestock is like having their savings account stolen. Crime and violence emerged as issues, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Africa.

   Source: Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera Kaul Shah, and Patti Petesch, Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. New York, NY: Published for the World Bank, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 159-160, www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/reports.htm#crying.

   In the same vein, one conference participant noted that it would logically follow that as states become more developed and democratized, their citizens would become more secure. Yet the public perception of and confidence in personal security in many of the more developed states has decreased as their economies have matured and democratic institutions have become stronger. In South Africa, the transition from apartheid to majority rule has been accompanied by a significant increase in criminality and violence. White South Africans have become increasingly fearful of their personal safety, retreating behind increasingly sophisticated security systems at home, abandoning the center of Johannesburg, and emigrating in search of "safer" societies. However, the reality is that non-white South Africans still bear the brunt of violence and criminality.

   Another participant noted that a human insecurity index would, de facto, produce a definition of human security and that it is important to understand the criteria for deciding which indicators of human insecurity would be included in the index. One criterion might be to assess the degree of government responsibility for problems, such as executions in Saudi Arabia which may be few in number but state-sanctioned for various acts. Another might be sheer size of the problem, such as high crime rates. This participant observed that the former seemed to get more attention than the latter, and this appeared illogical to him. This example also illustrates the sort of situation that gives rise to what was characterized by a number of participants as "the West versus the rest" syndrome. Ideas and proposals that emanate from Western sources are viewed with suspicion by members of the Group of 77 (G-77) simply because of their provenance. Western governments are viewed as proposing standards and principles to which they want to hold other countries but which, it is felt, they do not fully apply to themselves. Underlying this concern on the part of the G-77 is the erosion of sovereignty implied by the increase in humanitarian intervention.

   Finally a strong argument was made to avoid "gender-editing" of the human security report and index. Gender issues (and gender-specific indicators) need to be part of the fabric of the report and index rather than tacked on as an after-thought. This requires the involvement of both men and women from various sectors of society in the agenda-setting and decision-making processes.

   Core features of human security

   Conference participants generally agreed that a broadly accepted definition human security will evolve over time through the work of the Human Security Network, the development of a Human Security Report, and the work of the independent Commission on Human Security. Nonetheless, participants were able to take an important step forward by identifying what may be an emerging consensus on the core features of human security, thus beginning to reconcile the human development and the humanized security approaches to human security.

   While recognizing that the roots of human insecurity are many and varied, the majority of the conference participants agreed that human security and human development are distinct but complementary concepts and that a narrower definition of human security is conceptually and analytically more useful than a broader one. Several arguments were adduced for this position. First, if all threats to well-being are considered threats to human security, then the concept of human security has no analytic value. Similarly, if human security and human development consist of the same elements, it is meaningless to talk of "linkages." Perhaps most important from the perspective of the Human Security Network, if the definition of human security is so broad that it encompasses "all good things", it is quite difficult to use this concept as an organizing principle for operational activities.

   It was suggested by some participants that the end of the Cold War had offered an opportunity to attempt to fund public goods by appending the term "security" to a range of desirable objectives. Since national security was viewed as a public good and had been heavily financed during the Cold War, the hope was that some of the prestige and sense of priority that had been associated with protecting national security could be transferred to other public goods that were critical to human well-being but had been less favored financially. Unfortunately, that logic did not hold, and it has become progressively more difficult to fund public goods, not less so, irrespective of how they are labeled or defined.

   The discussion among participants suggested that at least some of the tendency to conflate human security and human development arises out of the wide variety of sources of insecurity and the use of the word "security" as a synonym for "well-being." Reducing some of these kinds of insecurity increases the welfare and prosperity of individuals and communities (well-being) and thereby enhances human development. Reducing other kinds of insecurity increases the safety of one's environment (security) and thereby enhances human security. There are a some types of insecurity that affect both well-being and the safety and security of the human environment. By decreasing the influence of or even eliminating these forms of insecurity, the quality of both human security and human development can be enhanced. From this it follows that human security is both distinct from, and a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for, human development. There was significant agreement on these points among the participants.

   There was considerable discussion about the concept of violence and its relationship to human security. Participants accepted as a basis for further reflection the proposition that freedom from fear of violence lies at the heart of human security.

   Participants also recognized that violence is a complex issue. Three distinct and equally important components of violence were identified during the conference - conflict, crime and repression. Participants agreed that all three of these components need to be examined with a view to identifying the intersection between human security and human development. They were also strongly in favor of understanding what violence in its various dimensions means to the people who experience it, and how that should influence the agenda of official actors, specifically the members of the Human Security Network.

   Among the issues surfaced during the discussion as important manifestations of violence were: freedom from fear of repression by the state including the actions of the army, the police and official paramilitary forces occasioned in large part by the absence of good governance; the pernicious effects of the proliferation of small arms including the existence of increasingly well-armed criminal groups; widespread violations of human rights, especially systemic violence against women.

   A number of participants strongly underscored the dual role of states. They are both a major threat to human security and a major vehicle for guaranteeing human security. State repression in its various manifestations has been a significant source of human insecurity in the post-World War II period. Several participants noted that states have been responsible for the vast majority of deaths since the middle of the 20^th century. Many of the participants from Southern countries argued that guaranteeing human security requires attention to improving the quality of governance and the capacity of the state to provide security for individuals. The objective should be to create effective and efficient democratically-governed states. There was widespread support for this proposition among participants.

   Participants heard about the experience of Jordan where, in the early 1980s, the government recognized that ensuring the security of the state did not automatically ensure individual security. It thus began to embrace the concept of human-centered security. Participants were told that Jordan's experience suggests that developing states need assistance to address new security concerns. It was argued that experts should give more attention to developing ways of assisting states to implement a human security agenda, rather than focusing on the efforts of NGOs and other non-governmental groups that are trying to advance human security as a concept.

   With regard to Latin America, it was argued that the civil authorities and armed forces in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala are moving in opposite directions as far as democratic consolidation is concerned. Although there has been a significant state reform process in much of South and Central America over the last few decades, little has been done to counterbalance the traditional autonomy enjoyed by the armed forces. More expertise on security-related issues is required in the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as within civil society.

   The Police and Human Security

   "The criminals have public safety; we do not."
   A woman, Sacadura Cabral, Brazil

   "Officers do not even care to talk...if they are not given money. If a poor man is beaten by a
   rich man and goes to file a case against the rich man, the officer concerned does not even
   register the case."
   A discussion group participant, Gowainghat, Bangladesh.

   "Overall, participants report extraordinarily widespread evidence of corrupt, criminal, and sometimes brutal activities by the police, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Eastern Europe. The range of reported bad behavior by the police includes being:

   • Unresponsive: Absent where needed, not coming when called or coming very late; only coming when someone has been killed.
   • Corrupt: False arrest, accusation, and imprisonment, with release only on heavy payment; theft, including stealing money from children; bribes for documents or to register cases; lying; threats, blackmail, and extortion; demanding protection money; using drugs; and conniving with criminals and releasing them when arrested.
   • Brutal: Harassing street vendors and other poor people; confiscating identity documents; raping women who go to police stations; beating up innocent people; torture; and murder, including killing street boys....

   "Despite these low ratings, people say they desperately need police to provide a modicum of safety in neighborhoods. In response to mounting violence in one community, Bode, Brazil, people organized, collected money, built a police station on their own and invited the police to come and work from it. In November 1992 after great pressure, the police agreed to come, but they left in February 1993 because some marginais destroyed the police station."

   Source: Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera Kaul Shah, and Patti Petesch, Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. New York, NY: Published for the World Bank, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 163-164, www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/reports.htm#crying.

   A number of participants stressed the importance of giving priority to the criminal justice system in order to strengthen the state governance capacity in a manner consistent with improving human security. One reason why the criminal justice system was highlighted is the concern with violent crime that is evident in many societies in both the North and the South. While wealthier citizens are often able to guarantee their personal security through the use of private security firms, most do not have this option and depend on state security services. When these are inefficient, repressive, or corrupt, the ordinary citizen is at the mercy of criminals; women and children are unable to protect themselves against abuse; and a culture of impunity may develop leading to widespread human-rights abuses.

   Impact of Small Arms and Light Weapons

   "Small arms abuse causes violent death, injury, and psychological trauma to hundreds of thousands of people each year. These casualties occur in the context of national and regional conflicts (each with its own political, economic, social, religious and ethnic dimensions and expressions) as well as in abusive law enforcement practices, violent repression of democratic rights and violations of the right to self determination. The easy availability of small arms is also directly linked to the increase in violent crime, domestic assaults, suicides, and accidents. In the context of political conflict, small arms help fuel violence and insecurity which breeds the sort of fear and instability which has led to the existence of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons. Many of these human-made tragedies could be prevented by controlling access to and availability of small arms - domestically and internationally - within the broader framework of measures to tackle the root causes of conflict."

   Source: International Action Network on Small Arms, Founding Document of IANSA, www.iansa.org/mission/m1.htm.

   Additionally, when the state is unable to provide its citizens with adequate security, its runs a serious risk of losing its monopoly over the means of violence. Under these conditions, all types of violence can become more pervasive. In countries such as Sierra Leone and Colombia, the state has lost control of large parts of the country to insurgent groups. In many countries, the civil authorities exert no effective control over their own security forces which pursue economic and political agendas that undermine the ability of states to provide a safe and secure environment for all citizens. These political and economic activities also increase the incentives for the security forces to repress citizens seeking to alter the status quo.

   One fact that is key to the spread of violence is the availability of small arms and light weapons. These weapons are readily available in many parts of the world, particularly those affected by conflicts. They are symbols of authority, fear and power and are facilitators of all aspects of violence: conflict, crime and state repression.

   Conference participants were told that small arms and light weapons undermine the structure and stability of the state. Additionally, these weapons introduce a "fear factor" which significantly decreases the productivity of labor and the psycho-social well-being of individuals and communities. Acknowledging that some of the high-level attention currently being given to small arms may wane over time, many participants also were of the opinion that human security would be enhanced if access to small arms and light weapons were curtailed over the long run.

   Societal Violence Against Women

   Although both poor men and women are forced to look for jobs, credit and assistance, women and men both report that women face special vulnerability. In many contexts, women must face the humiliation of sexual abuses. In Brazil and Jamaica, women report feeling vulnerable to sexual assault and rape. In Bangladesh, insecurity for women includes abduction and being forced to spend the night with the abductor and being returned the next day, being `teased' on the road by men, and being victims of acid-throwing incidents."

   Source: Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera Kaul Shah, and Patti Petesch, Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. New York, NY: Published for the World Bank, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 155, www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/reports.htm#crying

   Human rights was a theme which ran throughout the entire conference and was recognized as a bridge between human security and human development since neither human security nor human development can occur where human rights are routinely violated. Women are consistently among those who experience gross violations of human rights as a result of violence. Not only are women victimized during war, for example, through rape and other forms of sexual abuse, women also often find themselves war widows in societies where opportunities to guarantee the livelihoods of themselves and their children are highly circumscribed. Even when their families remain intact, women are sometimes forced to become the main breadwinner in their families because employment opportunities for men are minimal. This can have a negative impact on gender relations within families and increase the incidence of domestic violence against women.

   Domestic violence is, of course, a problem of significant proportions in some societies even in the absence of violent conflict. Domestic violence often increases when households are faced with growing economic problems. Alcohol and drug abuse are also linked to higher rates of domestic violence. Additionally, women can face sexual abuse at the hands of non-family members as they attempt to go about their lives on a daily basis in non-conflict environments. Violence against women requires a gender-sensitive approach, but all too often women are treated as if they were the perpetrators rather than the victims of sexual crimes. In some societies, women who attempt to report sexual abuse to local authorities not-infrequently find themselves subject to further abuse.

   At the same time, some participants cautioned that it is important to remember that women are not always victims. Women can be perpetrators of violence and should not be idealized as inherently more peaceful than men.

2. Strategies for Implementing a Human Security Agenda

   Practical linkages between human security and human development

   Governance as a Conflict-Prevention Tool

   "Violent conflict is increasingly taking place within rather than between states, and the principal victims are civilians. In addition to the obvious effects of death and destruction, the long-term social, political, and psychological effects of these conflicts are lasting. Such crises can reverse decades of economic progress and severely limit future development. The escalation of social, economic or political tensions into open confrontation is thus a major obstacle to sustainable human development. For states to successfully deal with these tensions and avoid escalation to conflict and violence, they must be able to effectively manage competing societal interests and loyalties and to control socio-political tensions. Development strategies which emphasise the foundations of good governance therefore offer the best chance for sustainable human development under peaceful conditions."

   Source: United Nations Development Programme, UNDP AND GOVERNANCE: Experiences and Lessons Learned, Management Development and Governance Division, Lessons Learned Series No. 1, http://magnet.un dp.org/docs/gov/Lessons1.htm October 1998, Chapter 7.2.

   If the core features of human security relate to freedom from fear of violence, there are a number of issues areas where human security and human development intersect. While armed conflict clearly affects the capacity for human development and the quality of human security, many participants felt that the human security agenda has thus far focused disproportionately on armed conflict. They suggested that by adopting a more comprehensive view of violence, the Human Security Network could make an important contribution to bridging the gap between those who support external intervention as a major method of addressing breaches of human security and those who prefer a more low-key or nuanced approach.

   Participants suggested that the linkages between human security and human development are particularly strong in the following areas:

   • enforcing the rule of law;
   • promoting respect for human rights;
   • preventing privileged access to economic and financial resources;
   • ensuring that mechanisms are in place to resolve societal conflicts in a non-violent manner;
   • establishing a sufficient degree of political stability that individuals are willing to invest in poverty-reducing development.

   In order to operationalize these linkages, conference participants identified five broad areas for priority attention: governance, security sector transformation, peacebuilding, partnerships and local capacity-building.

   Governance. The vast majority of participants recognized that a human security agenda cannot be implemented in the absence of accountability and transparency in the affairs of state. Some argued that strengthening governance may well be the most important strategy of all to promote human security. One participant observed that history is the story of people progressively gaining control over their states. What is more, there are clear links between improved governance that reduces the risks of conflict, repression and criminal activities on the part of state actors (corruption), on the one hand, and the implementation of human-centered development strategies, on the other hand. Evidence is mounting, for example, that the costs of bribery are disproportionately heavy for the poor and for small enterprises.

   Strengthening systems of governance involves a range of activities. It means strengthening the capacity of state employees and organizations to carry out their tasks effectively and efficiently. It also means developing and implementing the rule of law so that there is predictability and accountability in the affairs of state. However, many participants argued that improved governance involves more than strengthening the state. It is also necessary to ensure that civil society in all its manifestations is able to participate fully and competently in developing and implementing policies. This means capacity-building for civil society organizations and acceptance on the part of the state that non-state actors have not only the right but the responsibility to express their views, even if those views are counter to state policy.

   Two important caveats about civil society were added by one participant. The term "civil society" should not be used interchangeably with the term "non-governmental organization." Civil society consists of a wide range of formal and informal groupings. External actors, however, tend to focus on the formal organizations and particularly those that can be classified as NGOs. Second, it is important to remember that not all civil society is civil. Many civil society organizations have their own particular political and economic agendas that, if implemented, would work against the enhancement of human development and human security.

   The Process of Strengthening Security Sector Governance

   "As a logical consequence of country "ownership", where countries have been encouraged to make the security decision-making process more inclusive and

   democratic, and succeed in doing so, donors need to accept that this will not always result in patterns of government spending consistent with their own preferences or priorities. Not only is the process likely to be gradual, and sometimes halting, but, as the cases of Western nations illustrates, countries may choose, through democratic debate, to meet national policy goals (both economic and security related) through military spending. The long-term challenge of security sector reform should, therefore, be seen as one of bringing about changes in social norms and values consistent with a greater emphasis on achieving national policy goals through non-military and preventive means.

   Source: United Kingdom, Department for International Development, Security Sector Reform and the Management of Military Expenditure: High Risks for Donors, High Returns for Development. Report of an International Symposium , London, 15-17 February 2000, para. 50, www.dfid.gov.uk search term "ssrmilex."

   Security sector reform. Transforming the security sector is essentially a component of strengthening governance but was given special emphasis by a number of participants since it encompasses three critical preconditions for human security: physical security, justice, and the rule of law. Evidence from participatory poverty assessments such as those carried out in conjunction with the World Bank's work on poverty during 2000 underscores the degree of which the lack of physical security and freedom from fear of violence inhibit the well-being and human development of the poor.

   Since state-sponsored conflict and repression are major sources of physical insecurity and fear of violence, the instruments of violence controlled by the state must be transformed so that they support, not undermine, the achievement of human security. One important element in this transformation is teaching the security forces respect for human rights. A second important element involves enforcing the principle that the security forces do not engage in either political or commercial activities which, in the past, have given them and their civilian allies privileged access to political and economic resources. A third critical objective is to inculcate the principle of accountability to democratic, civilian governments, which involves transparency on a broad range of issues relating to the development and implementation of security policy.

   Since crime is also a major component of violence, it is important that the elements of the criminal justice system function effectively. Although some development assistance agencies have begun to support judicial and police strengthening activities, a comprehensive view of how to approach the criminal justice system is frequently lacking. For example, the World Bank, the major source of development funding, is unwilling to support police reform and has had a limited view of legal and judicial reform. Additionally, donors have tended to view security sector reform as essentially a matter of reducing military spending. There has been less appreciation for the fact that in order to provide a safe and secure environment in which individuals are willing to invest in poverty-reducing development, it may be necessary to increase expenditure on certain components of the security sector, notably the police and the other agencies that provide accessible justice.

   Peacebuilding. The international community has come to recognize that warring parties require assistance not only in negotiating peace agreements but also in sustaining and consolidating the peace. Countries that have experienced prolonged or intensive periods of violent conflict are generally severely constrained by institutional weaknesses, limited human and financial resources, and economic fragility. In consequence, they have increasingly turned to the international community for financing, technical assistance, and political support in overcoming the ravages of internal conflict.

   There are three main components of peacebuilding: strengthening political institutions, reforming internal and external security arrangements, and revitalizing the economy and the nation's social fabric. Participants agreed that human security concerns need to be at the forefront of peacebuilding efforts. Evidence from Bosnia was presented which amply demonstrated that without a safe and secure environment and in the absence of political stability, Bosnians are unwilling to make the investments necessary to revitalize the economy and their society. Rather, more than 60 percent of them have indicated the desire to emigrate to more hospitable environments.

   External aid aimed solely at revitalizing the economy will not be effective under these conditions. In countries such as Bosnia, it is vital to give attention to establishing the rule of law, promoting respect for human rights, breaking the monopoly of political and military elites on political and economy power, and fostering mechanisms to resolve societal conflicts by peaceful means. Once ordinary citizens see that a serious effort is being made in these areas, they will be more inclined to invest in their society.

   Partnerships. In view of the complexity of the issues involved in creating and maintaining human security, efforts to promote human security require the collaboration of a number of strategic partners at the regional and local levels. Regional organizations, national governments, local governments, civil society, and private enterprise were among the groups most frequently mentioned by participants as having a key role to play in creating an environment conducive to human security.

   Consistent with the Human Security Network's strong interest in promoting the role of civil society as a formal partner in the process of building human security, a good deal of attention was given to the role of civil society. Representatives of civil society from Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East made a strong case for the role that civil society organizations can play in promoting human security, particularly in promoting the transparency and accountability of state institutions and in broadening the public debate on crucial issues. Civil society organizations can also provide training in areas such as human rights and conflict management. Furthermore, civil society can enhance social capital and civilian ownership of peacebuilding processes and it can provide an early warning system of growing human insecurity.

   Mitigating Violence Against Women

   "The findings about the linkages between decreased violence, women's increased economic roles and the benefits of supportive actions to reduce violence give hope. Activities that are specifically aimed at building awareness about gender inequities and improving gender relations have made a difference where they are available. In communities with NGOs that run gender awareness training and counseling programs, where safe houses and police protection exist, or where church members reach out to curb the violence, women speak of improvements in their lives. Without access to comparable support, men sometimes express resentment about so many resources targeted to women."

   Source: Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera Kaul Shah, and Patti Petesch, Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. New York, NY: Published for the World Bank, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 131, www.worldbank.org/ poverty/voices/reports.htm#crying.

   The importance of strengthening corporate responsibility in areas relating to human security was also stressed, particularly in conflict-affected countries and regions. Recent activities relating to conflict diamonds demonstrate the importance of involving the corporate world in efforts to reduce human insecurity. Participants also heard about a code of "Voluntary Principles on Human Rights" that was signed in December 2000 by two governments, seven multinational firms, nine human rights organizations and one civil society organization. While voluntary agreements of this nature have no standing in law, an recent agreement for the exploitation of oil resources in Papua New Guinea actually included the obligation to adhere to the Geneva Conventions. If the Geneva Conventions were to be violated while this contract was in force, it would constitute a breach of contract and thus be enforceable before a court of law. It was suggested that voluntary codes might be the first step toward more legally-binding agreements with corporations by creating progressively greater acceptance of norms.

   Local capacity-building. For human security to become a reality, individuals, communities, governments and regional organizations need to have the capacity to address the human security agenda.

   One area that was highlighted in this regard is the dearth of civilian specialists in all aspects of security policy. Developing and implementing security policy has long been the preserve of the security professionals who have actively discouraged the involvement of civilians - in both government and civil society - in these activities. If critical human security issues such as promoting human rights, incorporating a gender perspective, and strengthening governance are to become mainstream activities, the monopoly of security professionals over security policy must be broken. This requires concerted efforts to build the capacity of individuals and organizations to contribute to policy debates, to implement policy, and to act in a watchdog capacity.

   One participant pointed out that in Latin America, expertise on security affairs continues to reside primarily with the security forces while civilians in the executive branch, the legislature, the political parties, and civil society remain at a considerable disadvantage. One reason why human security is an attractive policy to promote for some in Latin America is the expectation that the inclusion of non-traditional security issues will help alter the balance of power between civilians and security force personnel.

   Constraints on Linking Human Security and Human Development

   Participants identified a number of constraints on linking human security and human development, three of which were highlighted during the discussion. None of these are insurmountable in principle. They are nonetheless formidable obstacles, and attention should be given on a priority basis to developing new patterns of behavior to help overcome them.

   The first constraint relates to what is frequently termed "a stovepipe mentality" among organizations involved in different aspects of promoting human security and human development. Organizations mandated to address questions of security address solely questions of security. Organizations mandated to address questions of human rights address solely questions of human rights. Organizations mandated to address questions of development address solely questions of development. This tendency to look at an issue through one's institutional lens is not solely a matter of professional training. It is complicated by strong instincts to protect one's institutional turf which in turn produces strong disincentives for individuals to venture into subject matter that is considered to be on another organization's turf. Nor is turf protection a matter of one organization versus another. Different divisions within the same organization can refuse to work with each other or share information.

   Under these circumstances it is extremely difficult to develop multidisciplinary approaches to a problem. Unfortunately, most problems require multidisciplinary responses, and human development and human security are multidisciplinary issues par excellence. Sometimes this institutional isolationism can be broken down by strong individuals who know how and when to exceed their mandates. Sometimes organizations make a conscious effort to overcome the problems of stovepipe thinking and turf protection. All too often, however, innovative ideas and approaches have been still-born because of these two tendencies.

   A second constraint is the difficulty in getting governments to commit to strategies of prevention. Governments and other bureaucratic organizations such as the United Nations tend to react to immediate problems and to shift their attention once a problem is "solved" and another looms on the horizon. Because the benefits of prevention are long-term, they do not catch the attention of policy-makers in the same way as crises do. Since both human security and human development are preventive strategies, they simply are often not a high priority for policy-makers. Some progress on this point has been recorded in recent years. Many policy-makers have come to understand that prevention is less expensive in a variety of ways than having to pick up the pieces after a crisis. However, institutions have, for the most part, yet to internalize this new knowledge.

   Importance of Preventive Action

   "There is near-universal agreement that prevention is preferable to cure, and that strategies of prevention must address the root causes of conflicts, not simply their violent symptoms. Consensus is not always matched by practical actions, however. Political leaders find it hard to sell prevention policies abroad to their public at home, because the costs are palpable and immediate, while the benefits-an undesirable or tragic future event that does not occur-are more difficult for the leaders to convey and the public to grasp. Thus prevention is, first and foremost, a challenge of political leadership. "

   Source: Kofi A. Annan, We the Peoples. The Role of the United Nations in the 21^st Century, New York:

   United Nations, 2000, pp. 44-45, www.un.org/millenium/.

   Finally, participants noted that while the issues that need to be addressed in order to promote human security and human development are increasingly well known - strengthening governance, transforming security sectors, increasing accountability of governments to their citizens, improving transparency in government operations - governments are often unwilling to accept these prescriptions. The cause of their reticence is simple. If they implement changes in these areas, their hold on power will be threatened. One means of addressing this problem is to build capable constituencies for change, both inside government and in the non-governmental sector. This is a long-term process but, as the experience of South Africa indicates, under the right conditions, it is an investment that can help transform the political landscape of a country.

3. Contribution to a Practical Policy Agenda

   A major, overarching theme of the discussion at the Geneva conference was the importance of bridging the gaps between North and South. One participant from the South noted that developing states often see a disjuncture between the rhetoric and actions of developed states. This leads the developing countries to distrust the policy prescriptions emanating from the North, an attitude which can work to their disadvantage. It was felt that dialogues such as the one conducted under the auspices of the Human Security Network could go a long way toward overcoming this divide.

   Several representatives of Network participating governments expressed the desire for concrete proposals for practical steps that the Network could take to advance human security. To date, the Network has focused on aligning foreign policy positions on a number of subjects such as landmines and child soldiers. Network members appear to be prepared to take the next step of engaging in collaborative activities designed to strengthen human security.

   Two clusters of possible activities emerged in discussion during the Geneva conference. The first related to the opportunities that exist for building the capacity of civil society in member countries. The second related to the establishment of direct linkages between development assistance efforts and human security.

   Civil society

   Two main areas relating to civil society in which conference participants suggested that the Human Security Network could make an impact were:

   • capacity-building, particularly to promote accountability of state institutions and to contribute to efforts to resolve societal conflicts in a non-violent manner.
   • strengthening linkages between civil society in Network states.

   These two objectives clearly could be combined. A first step would be to survey civil society activity in Network states in one or two selected issue-areas, as well as major civil society initiatives already underway in non-Network states in the same areas. Such a survey could be done relatively rapidly by engaging individuals and institutions knowledgeable about the chosen issue(s) and preferably already engaged in a major civil society undertaking in the relevant issue-area(s). Civil society organizations working on democratization and security sector transformation issues, for example, are already developing inter-regional connections both within Africa and among Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. There is, consequently, a growing awareness of the organizations involved in particular issues in a wide variety of countries. Based on this survey, a small meeting of civil society organizations could be convened for a consultation on specific topics where value could be added to existing initiatives or where existing initiatives could provide support to new initiatives in Network participating states.

   Direct linkages between development assistance and human security

   There were several areas in which participants suggested that creating more direct linkages between development assistance and the promotion of human security would be most useful. These included:

   • promoting respect for human rights, including human-rights education;
   • establishing and adhering to the rule of law;
   • strengthening the capacity of the security sector, especially the police and other members of the criminal justice system, to provide security to citizens.

   Each of these issue-areas currently receives support from development assistance agencies, including those of several states participating in the Network. Network participants might wish to determine which of these issue-areas holds the highest priority for them as a group and then hold a consultation with donor agencies about the possibilities for enhancing their activities in that issue-area. Such a consultation might be combined with a survey of existing lessons-learned studies on the issue-area under consideration in order to get a sense of how much is known about good and bad practice and to what extent what is known supports the enhancement of human security. States and individuals participating in the activities of the Network could thus advocate for the integration of the results of lessons learned that enhance human security into the work of donors agencies and their own governments.

   Maximizing the returns from Network activities

   If Network participants chose to pursue initiatives related both to civil society and to linkages between human security and development assistance, the Network's impact would be maximized (and resources managed efficiently) if the activities undertaken in these two areas were complementary. For example, if states participating in the Network sought to strengthen the promotion of human rights through development assistance, it would make good sense to focus some of the civil society work supported by the Network on human rights issues also. If the Network sought to build the capacity of civil society to address issues relating to the criminal justice system and policing, then it would be desirable to focus a development assistance initiative on the same subject.

   Although the agenda of issues linking human security and human development is a large one, with unclear contours, it was clear to participants in this conference that the Human Security Network has (and will have) an important part to play in advancing the dialogue and debate on these issues, and in giving impetus to practical policy measures for building human security and human development. This conference was one important first step in that direction.