This document provides an overview of the concept of human security. It emerged after the Cold War as a way to ensure freedom from want, fear and to live with dignity for all people in order to tackle global insecurity. The 1994 UN Development Report was groundbreaking in establishing seven components of human security: economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political security. It advocates for a people-centered approach that identifies and addresses the root causes of threats to human survival, livelihood and dignity through both top-down policy frameworks and bottom-up empowerment of individuals. Examples are given of issues human security aims to address.

1. An overview

2.  insuring
"freedom from want" and "freedom
from fear“ and “freedom to live in dignity”
for all persons is the best path to tackle the
problem of global insecurity
 In order for human security to challenge
global inequalities, there has to be
cooperation between a country’s foreign
policy and its approach to global health

3.  Emerged
 UN
as a concept post Cold War
Development programme’s 1994
Human Development Report a
groundbreaking work in Human Security.

4.  Society
post Cold War was increasingly
globalised
A
reduced threat of nuclear war
 Exponential
rise in the spread and
consolidation of democracy and human rights
 All
of these factors led to a space in which
development and security could be
reconsidered

5.  This
report supposed that global security
should include threats in seven areas:
 Economic security
 Food Security
 Health Security
 Environmental Security
 Personal Security
 Community Security
 Political Security

6. 
A people-centred, context specific, preventative
and comprehensive approach of policy frameworks
to address widespread and cross-cutting threats
facing governments and people

Identifies the needs of populations under
stress, and positively affects the daily lives of
people threatened in their survival, livelihood and
dignity. Addresses and identifies the root causes of
these threats, priorities based on needs, capacities
of governments, mismatches between
regional, domestic and international policies and
responses.

7. A
dual policy framework: protection and
empowerment
 Top-down norms, processes and
institutions with a bottom-up focus in which
participatory focus supports the role of
people as actors as defining and
implementing their essential freedoms.

8. Transitions to peace and sustainable development in
fragile and conflict affected communities
 Victims of human trafficking, their protection and
empowerment
 Responding to the multidimensional consequences of
climate-related threats
 Urban violence and its impact on health, education,
economic, personal and community security.
 Poverty reduction, social inclusion and communitybased development in isolated areas.
 Economic, environmental and social components of
health-related insecurities.
