African Environmental and Human Security in the 21st Century
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African Environmental and Human Security in the 21st Century By ...

Chapter 1:  On the Margins
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Operationalizing Human Security: Understanding Its Transnational Components

The UNDP report identified components of human security. They are:

  • Economic security—the threat is poverty.
  • Food security—the threat is hunger and famine.
  • Health security—the threat is injury and disease.
  • Environmental security—the threat is pollution, environmental degradation, and resource depletion.
  • Personal security—the threat involves various forms of violence.
  • Community security—the threat is to the integrity of cultures.
  • Political security—the threat is political repression.26

    • The 2000 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide a measure towards reducing human insecurities. They are:

  • Goal 1: Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty.
  • Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education.
  • Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women.
  • Goal 4: Reduce child mortality.
  • Goal 5: Improve maternal mortality.
  • Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
  • Goal 7: Ensure environmental stability.
  • Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development.27

    • Taken together, most areas suffering from human insecurities are facing issues of economic underdevelopment, environmental degradation and resource scarcity, food insecurity, health insecurities, political and/or civil inequalities, and violence, including human trafficking, terrorism, crime, and armed conflict. Many insecure areas also are vulnerable to radical ideologies that stifle development and exacerbate social tensions. Clearly, not all areas face the same insecurities or combination of insecurities, and, therefore, there is no common strategy for all situations. What strategists can count on is some combination, interconnection, and