Establishment of the Commission

Widespread and pervasive insecurities stemming from ddversities such as conflict, poverty, infectious diseases, and human rights violations threaten the survival and dignity of millions of people today. Furthermore, globalization has deeply transformed relationship between and within states. Money, goods, information, and people move fast across and within borders. In response to these challenges, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called upon the world community to advance the twin goals of "freedom from want" and "freedom from fear".

As a contribution to this effort, the Commission on Human Security (CHS) was established with the initiative of the Government of Japan. It is Co-Chaired by Sadako Ogata, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. It benefits from the participation of ten distinguished Commissioners from around the world.

The goals of the Commission are:

1. to promote public understanding, engagement and support of human security and its underlying imperatives;
2. to develop the concept of human security as an operational tool for policy formulation and implementation; and
3. to propose a concrete program of action to address critical and pervasive threats to human security.

Research

Two broad areas of research and related consultative processes inform the Commission's deliberations. One area deals with human insecurities resulting from conflict and violence, and the other with the links between human security and development. Together, the two areas of research address the need for providing effective protection as well as empowering people to take charge of their own lives in critical situations.

The project on conflict focuses on individuals or communities facing extreme situations like displacement, discrimination and persecution. It addresses the special security needs of people and the protection of victims, refugees and internally displaced people. It also addresses the interrelations between insecurity and the need to ensure that developmental activities proceed alongside conflict resolutions.

The project on the developmental aspects of human security focuses on insecurities related to poverty, health, education, gender disparities, and other types of inequality. It also works on problems that cut across these themes, including institutional arrangements for reducing insecurities and new vulnerabilities associated with the current global situation.

To advance an integrated approach for collaborative action, the Commission draws widely on other initiatives and consultations. Through outreach, consultations and collaborative arragements, the Commission both propagates its ideas and benefits from first hand experience of people in need of human security, civil society partners, governments, and regional and international organizations. The Commission aims at issuing its final report in 2003, integrating all its research efforts and proposing a concrete plan of action for the international community.

The work of the Commission is possible by the support of the Government of Japan and the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank (Adfrica Region), the Greentree Foundation, the Government of Sweden, and Japan Center for International Exchange, and is carried in close collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Its various research activities include public meetings in Central Asia, Central America, and South and West Africa.

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