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Human security

Human security refers to the security of people and communities, as opposed to the security of states. It recognises that there are many different dimensions to feeling safe, ranging from freedom from fear, freedom from want and freedom to live in dignity. A people-centred approach to security has implications for how we do and understand conflict assessment, programme planning, implementation and evaluation of peacebuilding initiatives. It addresses sustainable peace by recognising the social, economic and political grievances that are often at the root of violent conflict and societal violence. It challenges us to consider participative ways of doing and evaluating our work. The human security approach is not only centred on people as objects of interventions, but also as providers of security in their own right.

As a founding principle for GPPAC's approach, our work on Human Security has served to strengthen our normative framework for policy engagements as well as bringing together the common threads and principles for the ‘doing' of conflict prevention and peacebuilding in practice. This has focused on two main pillars:

1) defining and promoting a human security approach to conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and

2) demonstrating and developing how such a human security approach can be ‘operationalised'. The main principles we promote through human security are context-specificity; local ownership and inclusiveness; and multi-stakeholder engagement.

What is Human Security?

GPPAC's Human Security animation is also available in French and Spanish.