NGO PRESS BRIEFING ON HUMAN SECURITY

NGO PRESS BRIEFING ON HUMAN SECURITY

Speaking to the press on the last day of the DPI/NGO Conference on “Human Security and Dignity:  fulfilling the Promise of the United Nations”, two of the event’s key speakers emphasized the importance of an integrated approach to reducing global human suffering and insecurity, which should bring together State and civil society players. 

Participating in the Headquarters press conference this afternoon were Sadako Ogata, Chair of the Advisory Board on Human Security, and Roland Wiederkehr, Member of the Swiss Parliament and founder of the Green Cross -– an organization dedicated to providing aid during environmental disasters.  Mr. Wiederkehr is also Coordinator of Green Cross International’s “Destroy Chemical Weapons Now” Campaign.

Ms. Ogata said that the concept of human security and dignity complemented State security in today’s globalized world.  Following the Millennium Summit, that concept had been further defined by the Commission on Human Security -- an independent body inspired and supported by the United Nations and the Government of Japan -– which she had co-chaired for two years. 

During the Summit, the Secretary-General had emphasized the importance of human security as freedom from fear and want, stressing the need to involve not only governmental and international bodies, but also communities, professionals, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society in tackling trans-global issues.  That was exactly what the Department of Public Information (DPI) had decided to focus on in organizing the three-day meeting this year.  She would be addressing the Conference later today regarding the pivotal conceptual framework of the issues involved.

Human security could be attained in two ways:  “top-down” from the State side and “from the bottom up” from the people and community side.  Secure societies could not be built, unless those two approaches were put together.  A “top-down” approach involved the rule of law, the use of governments’ administrative capacities and defence issues.  Alone, however, such an approach could not ensure real security.  It was also necessary to take into account the issues of education, health care and social security, as well as protection of civilians in conflicts.  As the High Commissioner for Refugees until the end of 2000, she knew that the role of States was not sufficient in protecting people in conflict situations, and it was her own experience that led her to accept her position at the Commission on Human Security.

Mr. Wiederkehr agreed with Ms. Ogata that without a “bottom-up” approach, governments would fail completely.  Civil society participation was particularly important in handling the threats and contamination involved in chemical and nuclear disarmament programmes, for example.  NGOs could play a mediation role between governments and the population, as in the case of a nuclear warhead disposal facility in Siberia, which had been put on hold as a result of public pressure and population concerns.  That programme had been initially established by the Russian Government with the help of the United States, but the public had not been informed at all.  The future of the project was currently unclear, but Green Cross was mediating between the military, the civil authorities and the population concerned in order to resolve the problem. 

Governments needed to understand that they had to involve the people and that they could no longer go over their heads, he continued.  For example, even if the United States authorities had found the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, they would still have faced problems, because they had not created confidence among the population.

From a European point of view, it appeared that President Bush had gone into Iraq because of the oil, on which the United States was dependent, he said.  Actually, most developed countries today depended on “non-democratic” kinds of energy, including oil and nuclear energy.  In order to improve the situation in the world, it was important to promote democratic production and distribution of energy in the regions involved.  As soon as the people received the means of controlling their own energy supplies, the power would be taken out of the hands of States and powerful international companies. 

Missing within the United Nations system was an alternative energy agency, he said.  It was time to create such a body in order to empower people.  As a politician, he had placed a motion in the Swiss Parliament, asking the Government to facilitate the establishment of a United Nations sustainable energy agency in Geneva.  It was absolutely worthwhile to create “a hybrid organization”, which should involve both governmental and non-governmental players, including the private sector.  Alternative energy needed to be developed not only as a tool of overcoming climate change, but also as an instrument of achieving peace. 

Asked what could be done to promote human security in conflict areas, Ms. Ogata emphasized the importance of safety and security.  Involved in providing assistance to the population in need were humanitarian agencies, NGOs, peacekeepers and observer missions.  However, if the security situation got out of hand, all those organizations had to withdraw.  In today’s world, a much better system of providing security was needed, bringing the policing and military aspects together. 

A correspondent asked how the integration of “top to bottom” and “bottom-up” approaches could be achieved in a country like Iraq, where “the top” was alien and foreign and there were no NGOs at the bottom.  Ms. Ogata replied that while there was no blueprint for cases like that, Iraq had many highly-educated and well-trained people.  It was possible to build many structures from the bottom up, and it was important to develop administrative structures at the local and provincial levels, as she had found during her recent visit to Afghanistan.     

Mr. Wiederkehr added that while the infrastructure had been destroyed in Serbia, the country had many talented people, who needed to be supported. 

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