Global Issues & ODA

The fourth meeting of Friends of Human Security (FHS) was held on 15 May 2008 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Japan and Mexico and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the meeting was co-Chaired by Ambassador Yukio Takasu (Japan) and Ambassador Claude Heller (Mexico). Representatives from 86 Member States and 16 international organizations attended the meeting. As outlined at previous meetings of the Friends of Human Security, the FHS is intended as a flexible and open-ended platform for Member States to advance a common understanding of human security, engage in collaborative efforts, and mainstream human security in UN activities. In this regard, members have agreed to pursue concrete collaboration in line with the broad understanding of human security as articulated in the report of the Commission on Human Security.

In its opening remarks, Ambassador Yukio Takasu of Japan welcomed the participants and reviewed the progress made by the FHS since its initial meeting in October 2006. In underlining the concrete achievements reached by the FHS, Ambassador Takasu highlighted the publication of UN Document A/62/695 which charts the efforts of 5 UN Member States and 17 UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes in advancing the operationalization of human security. Furthermore, he informed the participants of the growing momentum gathered behind the idea of human security – notably in light of the upcoming GA thematic debate – and the growing recognition of the concept's added value in tackling different challenges such as climate change, rising food prices, infectious diseases and natural disasters.

Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico echoed Japan's remarks and reminded the participants of the principal objectives of the FHS to mainstream human security in UN activities and to promote cooperation between Member States on human security challenges at the policy, theoretical and practical levels. He underlined the multidimensional aspects of the human security approach which aims at protecting individuals from all threats and which echoes the objectives enshrined in the UN Charter by placing the protection and empowerment of human beings at the center of the international community's efforts. As such, Ambassador Heller highlighted that human security should be an important factor in the decision-making process of both Member States and the UN as a whole. He added that human security should also be recognized as a pivotal instrument to advance policies on human rights, achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and strengthening of the rule of law.

Following the co-Chairs' introductory remarks, Mr. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, highlighted the added value of human security in achieving the goals of freedom from fear, freedom from want and freedom to live in dignity. He further underlined OCHA's contributions to the operationalization of human security through 175 projects funded since 1999 by the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS). In this context, he thanked the Governments of Japan, Slovenia and Thailand for their contributions to the UNTFHS.

Speaking as the current Chair of the Human Security Network (HSN), Greece highlighted its focus on climate change and human security. Greece explained that climate change has already started to threaten the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable, including women, children, and the elderly, and that the human security framework, based on its holistic approach, is pivotal in bridging the gap between political, scientific and operational efforts in addressing this issue.

The League of Arab States (LAS) thanked the co-Chairs and welcomed the gathering as an occasion to discuss human security from the Arab perspective. In line with past human security events held in the Arab region since 2001, and in view of the current collaboration between the LAS, UNESCO and OCHA on further promoting a common understanding on human security within the membership of the League, the LAS highlighted the need to separate the notion of responsibility to protect from that of human security. Furthermore, the LAS noted that each region needed to determine its own priorities within the broad and accepted framework of freedom from fear, freedom from want and freedom to live in dignity.

On behalf of the African Union (AU), Tanzania reported on recent discussions inside the AU where its Member States acknowledge the multiple dimensions of human security, including: (i) physical security of individuals and communities; (ii) promoting human-centered social and economic development in view of achieving the MDGs; (iii) ensuring respect for human rights; and (iv) mainstreaming the above objectives in post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding frameworks. Tanzania added that the AU welcomed the contributions that human security brings in advancing the agenda of TICAD IV. The representative of Tanzania also highlighted that the human security concept has been adopted as an effective tool by his Government and has been mainstreamed across the country's policy frameworks and action plans to advance development.

Finally, Japan informed the participants that human security was emphasized during the G8 Development Ministers' Meeting, and that the human security approach will be a key element at the agenda of the forthcoming TICAD Conference at the end of May.

Following the previous presentations, the co-Chairs opened the floor for further discussions on issues for cooperation including climate change, MDGs, rising food prices, peacebuilding, human rights education, gender based violence and the upcoming UN General Assembly thematic debate on human security.

Among the topics discussed, Mexico explained that climate change is a multidimensional challenge that requires concrete actions as well as a coordinated global response. Mexico stressed that climate change threatens to make current environmental, development and security challenges even harder to overcome. By causing tensions over access to land and water while deepening food insecurity, degrading human ecosystems and causing risks for human health, climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing the international community today. Moreover, climate change can add fuel to the politics of resentment between the originators and those who are victims of global warming and as such can affect both North-South and South-South relations. A challenge to international, regional, state and human security, climate change has the potential to be a daunting threat. Nevertheless, Mexico also highlighted the opportunity underlying the inter-linkages between climate change and human security to raise awareness and to advance a system-wide coherent response at the United Nations. In this regard, Mexico emphasized the importance of adopting sound policies and actions on both mitigation and adaptation according to our common but different responsibilities and respective capacities.

Meanwhile, Mongolia argued that the MDGs were the minimum benchmark to the achievement of human security and highlighted that more political will was needed in this area. Mongolia also brought attention to the wider framework articulated in the Millennium Declaration as a useful platform to discuss human security within the General Assembly. Emphasizing the importance of human-centered approaches, Mongolia felt that aggregated development objectives – such as those focusing on economic growth rates – were inadequate to account for urgent needs on the ground and insufficient to devise efforts that could help lift all individuals and communities from extreme poverty and human insecurity.

The Philippines moreover noted that the global food crisis was also a pressing issue under the human security framework, notably due to its complex and inter-related causes that threaten the very heart of human existence and impact the most vulnerable. The Philippines recognized that the current rise in global demand for food, persistent market imbalances particularly in trade, the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity, and the growing diversion of foodstuff towards producing biofuels have the potential to affect the social and political stability of some Member States. In this regard, the Philippines commended the UN's efforts in bringing the issue to the fore and called for an in depth structural study and policy review of the causes of the current food crisis, preferably within the remaining time of the 62nd Session of the General Assembly.

In the area of peacebuilding, El Salvador highlighted the importance in having human security as an integral component in the work of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and its operations in the field. On the same topic, Switzerland briefed the participants on its current initiative in partnership with the Peacebuilding Support Office and Harvard University to promote coordinated information sharing on peacebuilding efforts.

Speaking on human security and human rights education, Chile noted that awareness on human rights had to start in schools. Similarly, security sector institutions and political institutions also needed comprehensive human rights education to consolidate public safety and freedom to live in dignity, both of which are key components in achieving human security.

Ireland welcomed the strong cooperation between the HSN and the FHS and its positive impact to achieving the common goals of both groups. Ireland then briefed participants on its upcoming Chairmanship of the HSN which will concentrate on the issue of genderbased violence (GBV).

Finally, Japan highlighted the significance of the upcoming UN GA thematic debate on human security on 22 May 2008 as a follow-up to the 2005 UN Summit (A / RES / 60 / 1).

Among members providing additional input, Greece, Jordan, Guinea and Slovenia thanked OCHA for its efforts in advancing human security and reiterated their commitment to advance the human security agenda and to the exchange of views in the upcoming General Assembly debate. Similarly, Morocco recognized the added value of human security in addressing cross-cutting issues which it noted the UN had often approached in a mostly segmented manner.

Germany also welcomed OCHA's efforts in advancing human security and its preparation of UN Document A/62/695 which it saw as a useful overview and excellent basis for further discussions on human security in the General Assembly. Germany however noted that it was imperative to clearly identify the added value of the human security concept in order to build on the current momentum behind the concept.

Meanwhile, Ecuador stressed that the human security concept should not be seen as synonymous with the responsibility to protect agenda and noted that human security was driven by a culture of prevention, capacity building and local ownership. Ecuador also welcomed the initiative to discuss human security in the General Assembly and called for the strengthening of UN activities in support of human security, including the UNTFHS.

Furthermore, the Republic of Korea stated that human security offered a much needed framework to integrate peace, development and human rights. In this regard, human security is pivotal in addressing climate change, building peace, eliminating gender-based violence and strengthening human rights education. The Republic of Korea particularly emphasized that achieving the MDGs would require a more holistic approach and that the current global rise in food prices could have detrimental impacts for both human development and human security.

Egypt similarly commended the work of the UNTFHS and agreed that the General Assembly was the ideal forum to continue discussions on advancing a common understanding of the human security concept. Egypt also stressed that human security should be clearly separated from the discussions on the responsibility to protect.

Echoing earlier remarks made by Mongolia, Papua New Guinea emphasized that aggregate indicators are insufficient to account for the varied human security challenges at the community level and highlighted the need to review the MDGs in a holistic manner. Papua New Guinea also added that climate change was a critical human security challenge not least from the perspective of the Small Island Developing States.