Humane Security: Solidarity in Policy and Practice

Abstract

This paper responds to the UNDP 2022 Special Report on Human Security in the Anthropocene (hereafter ‘UNDP Special Report’, UNDP 2022), and HDCA Human Security Thematic Group’s sessions at the 2022 HDCA Antwerp conference, focused on interrogating the ‘soul’ of the human security concept. In order to facilitate the practical implementation of human security principles, I offer six integrative suggestions for a convergent view that reinforces human security’s emancipatory critical and transformative potential, substantiating the UNDP Special Report’s demand for greater solidarity: i) recalling the Stockholm Conference’s agenda for global solidarity; ii) drawing on emancipatory legacies of established social movements; iii) applying differentiated measures to address vulnerability; iv) learning from indigenous and local insights on ‘coordination’ that emphasize relationality; v) decentralizing policy and practice; and, vi) An integrative perspective deepening the ‘humane’ interpretation of human security, taking on the Ogata-Sen recommendations for integrated policies, jointly emphasizing survival, livelihood and dignity. Keywords: Human security; Anthropocene; human development; UNDP Special Report 2022; Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment; Ogata-Sen Commission on Human Security.