The Human Level: A human security blog

A Hospital for Haiti-Your help is needed

2010-04-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

Recovery in the Haitian nation will consist many different aspects of the services, and civil society across the globe still has the opportunity to help with it. The same team that lead the Utah Hospital Task Force has launched a new project: Building a Hospital. I urge you to help in any way you can. To get more information on this initiative go to their blog: http://mmh.gifthaiti.org/.

Creativity in Conflict Transformation

2010-04-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Search for Common Ground's Initiative in Nepal. Enjoy

On Peacebuilding and Women

2010-04-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Relief for Samoa

2009-10-08T13:19:00.001-07:00

Both Samoa and American Samoa have been battered by earthquake and Tsunami. Below more details.

Care to help? Here's how:
http://www.samoareliefwave.org/info.html

Santa Cops

2008-12-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

No, they are not elves, (elves always wear green anyways).They are members of the Philippine National Police during the launch of the "Santa Cop 2008" initiative outside a mall in Manila. In order to increase the visibility of their patrols and aid the crime prevention efforts during the Christmas season, around 200 policemen wearing Santa Claus hats will be deployed from Tuesday in malls and other crowded areas. I thought you would like this peculiar example of Human Security initiative.

Piracy in the XXI Century

2008-11-25T14:41:00.000-08:00

It seems that we are getting used to see more and more reports of hijacked commercial vessels in the Somali maritime vicinities. This is a typical case in which failed states and a poor representation of marginalized sectors of the population can become a threat to the security of others around the world.

Given the growing intensity of these attacks and piracy incidents, it is necessary, even imperative to approach this security not only by the use of military force, but to look at the causes for which these individuals incur into criminal activity. Having grown in an environment in which extreme poverty and violence as a constant companion, and the lure of obtaining big money by subversive and violent activity, it is a simply comparable to the many criminal elements that exist around the world as a byproduct of poverty.

Without taking away the place of protection of civilians, as well as law and justice, it is necessary to offer this irregular sector of the horn of Africa an exit to poverty and human insecurity that would make the violent path of more resistible, unattractive, and simply non viable. Otherwise, it will be other irregular actors, namely global terrorist networks that might seize the opportunity to grow, disseminate and contaminate more areas of the globe. Somehow we need to present an healthy economic alternative to A Pirate's Life.

Blog Action Day: Poverty as a Threat to Human Security

2008-10-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

Jacques Necker, a Swiss royal adviser to the French crown in the XVIII century proposed the idea of assisting the poor as a political imperative to preserve stability of the state. To what extent is poverty a catalyst for insecurity? Can poverty worth being perceived as a threat to Human Security? Let's see two instances in which the link between poverty and security is evident.

According to the 2007 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report Thailand is "a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor". Like in many of its neighbors, the generational poverty and despair among Thailand's poorest have spawned social symptoms that can be described euphemistically as perverted and wholly demeaning. Debt bondage, labor trafficking, sexual exploitation, and the selling of young progeny to slavery are among the dangers that mainly poor women and children are exposed to under the pressures of day to day survival. This damning trait has taken place mainly in the Northeast area of the country, but it is among the poorest sectors of the whole nation where these social diseases prevail. The good news is that Thailand is starting to enforce their anti-slavery laws, which will surely translate in a more secure future for the coming generations.

Our next example takes us to my birth country, Venezuela. In 1999 the population of Vargas State located in the northern coast, suffered one of the most devastating floods mudslides our country ever had. After a group of torrential clouds stationed for weeks on the northern areas of the nation, the ground in the "cerros" (shanty town hills), as well as many other areas gave in bringing down the devastating combination of mud, trees and rocks, ravaging the entire state and taking a toll of 30,000 + of missing persons. Not for naught we Venezuelans refer to this horrid event as "La Tragedia de Vargas". Whereas the disaster affected and decimated the middle-class populations considerably, the brunt of the damage and loss of life was received by the poor inhabiting the "barrios" in Vargas, who under the economic pressures of life opt to live in an increase state of vulnerability by building their houses in grounds that unsuitable for construction, making them even more prone to erosion.

Poverty is an underlying variable that touches the safety of every country on the earth. It represents a direct and imminent threat to the security of human beings around the globe and represents a complex and challenging issue to tackle. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (or MDG's) include halving the world population who live under $1 per day by 2015. Do you think it's possible? Can one do something about this scourge? What if it was possible to reduce it? What if it was possible to eradicate it? What if you could do something about it? What if I tell you that there are thousands of people who are working on this goal, waiting for a way to bring together the power of good into actions that will improve the lives of people around the globe?

They just want you to do something. Here are some suggestions of the many I could give you.

For a palliative approach:

Promote the work towards fulfilling MDG's by joining organizations like The Interface Foundation, or Millenium Promise
Donate to organizations that go to the poorest and most devastated places in the world like the World Food Program, International Federation of the Red Cross, and Stop Hunger Now among others
Help in your local food bank, or homeless shelter (Hey, there's poverty also in your neighborhood, open your eyes to reality and you will find it)

For more long-term solutions:

Become a lender to entrepreneurs overseas by joining Kiva
Sponsor local Microfranchising ventures around the globe
Support Fair Trade initiatives
Offer your expertise in your field of experience to someone who can use it to survive (yeah, the teach a man how to fish thing)

It's time we all do something. Don't have much money? That's OK, since many times money is not the solution, but dedicating one's time, talents, influences, networks, and heart to a noble cause.

Something to reflect upon

2008-10-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

Don't need to say much. The kids deliver the message better .

To my refugee friends

2008-09-24T12:19:00.001-07:00

The desert roars in my ears...

the wind has torn the sand from one a hill to another...

it has dispersed it...

it has pulled it from the earth...

...it has eroded it...

will the sand mix in with this new soil, this new earth?...

will another wind blow?

where will these grain of salt and sand land next?

the wind has brought them to my face,

its sensation is so different, that I just want to remove them,

to scratch, to get them out of my skin, even if I excoriate it...

then I try to ignore it, to pretend it's not there,

but it is there...

and then I remember,
I realize that I'm one more grain of sand in the desert, hoping to blend in new ground

I realize how the sand got where it is, and the wind that scraped off its old home.

And then I receive it, I welcome it, I embrace it...

Philanthrocapitalism

2008-09-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

In my professional life I have gravitated between the private sector and the non-profit sector. My last gig was managing two Emerging Markets indexes for Standard & Poor's . In my position, I had the displeasure to witness the Pakistani market take a nosedive after Benazir Bhutto's death, but nothing compared to last week. If there has been a tough week for the Capitalist system, this was it. The Wall Street credit crisis has managed to do something that neither the Great Depression, nor two World Wars managed to do, which was taking down Lehman Brothers , shaking the basis of the Capitalist system to its very core.

Well, while Capitalism's hub and raison d'être is self-interest, there is the parallel to this idea, which is 'Philanthropy'. It derives from the greek vocables that mean "love towards men", in other words, love for others. Can these two notions co-exist? Furthermore, can these two practices interact effectively? Can Capitalism be applied in a way destined to the benefit of mankind? From this very questions emerge a whole discussion that is taking place in The Global Philanthropy Forum. Some of the participants are Michael Edwards, which is vocal in his skepticism about the subject, Matthew Bishop, who coined the new term in the work: Philanthrocapitalism: how the rich can save the world remains hopeful.

What's your opinion? is Philanthropy doomed by Capitalism, can it actually help it?

Well, here's my two cents, a very predictable one given my professional background. Along with the many considerations and changes that both the current philanthropic and markets need to experiment, and with the risk of looking foolish and simplistic, I am a believer, I think that Philanthrocapitalism is more beneficial, rather than deleterious to humankind. Hopefully this will ignite another discussion.

You can find this entry also at : nicedeed.blogspot.com

After the Hiatus, I'll Just Train for Humanity

2008-09-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

¡Hola Mi Gente!

It has been quite a long time since my last post. Coincidentally, I have not participated in any sort of race for years either. In fact, after participating in a Triathlon in Bountiful, Utah in 2004. I realized that this type of race became one of the most gruesome and excruciating experiences that I never subjected myself to in a voluntary manner. I had prepared myself with great discipline and tenacity; I swam, I biked, and I ran with constancy, so much constancy that it made me believe that I was ready to compete in the long leg of the race, just like any other athlete, after all, that's what I had trained for. Yes, my naivete was unmeasurable, but soon after it would be dispelled, for the moment the race started I realized how this amount overconfidence could be, ironically, humiliating.

I had signed up for the full length of the triathlon and BY GOLLY I WAS GOING TO FINISH THAT LENGTH!. Yes, I can be a determined fellow. Well, I did finish, after everyone else in the race, with the dubious consolation price of obtaining the 2nd place in my category. What was my category? the Clysdale Division. For those of you who don't know the Triathlon lingo, that's the division created for guys like me which are over 200 lbs., so I could not even brag about my level of fitness with that type of prize. Humbling, definitively humbling.

After finishing, however a very relevant question came about in my mind: "OK, Why did I just do this?". I thought that the satisfaction of THE FINISH would have been total and absolutely fulfilling...it wasn't, at that moment. Hey, it's not like accomplishing the last place of the race provokes the most exciting and rewarding feeling, so I decided to place that moment in the back of my mind. Nonetheless, the feeling of accomplishment came three years later during a public speaking engagement, when I realized that indeed I did swim, I did bike, and I did run, and most importantly...I finished the race! It was rewarding to see the positive reaction of my audience when I shared that experience: it gave them joy, it gave them as we say in Spanish "ÁNIMO", it gave them "GANAS", and most importantly, it motivated them to have confidence in thier own experiences (now go and look up those two new words).

I think that one the greatest quality of human beings is its ability to restore and renew good things in themselves, even if they were forgotten, hidden, or simply in remission. Who would have thought that such a success could have come from what seemed an evident failure?. I did not think that a Triathlon in which I was not first would become quite a highlight in my life, still it took a while to recognize it.

While sailing the blogosphere not too long ago, I found an original way to help the Darfur Crisis , which is a Human Security Crisis slipping through our minds, making us less and less aware of it. Train for Humanity is a Non Profit with the mission of combining fitness with social media and help empower people for social good while creating a humanitarian movement. I think that this is a good example of how common interests can channel into a noble purpose, thus creating synergistic action. Furthermore, it has the capacity to motivate individuals to better themselves by not only improving their own lives, but the lives of those living in insecure conditions around the globe. It took me four years to find a reason an enough motivation to do another Triathlon. I think I just found one.

Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

2007-06-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

During his last briefing to the Security Council on June 22nd the United Nations' Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs made crucial statements in regards the protection of civilians. During his remarks he touched on many crucial points relate to Human Security. Below an excerpt from his briefing:

"...protection of civilians in armed conflict also has a particular significance in the work of humanitarian organizations and in the context of this Council’s responsibilities. For the Council, it represents a series of primary objectives outlined in your Aide Memoire, prepared at the request of and adopted by this Council, which aim to transform the security, political, legal and moral environment in which all concerned operate. These objectives include: security for displaced persons and host communities; ensuring access to those in need and a secure environment for humanitarian workers; strengthening the rule of law, in particular police and justice systems; protection of women and girls in particular from gender-based violence; involvement of women in decision-making and incorporating gender perspectives at every level and in all areas; ensuring the rights of children by preventing their recruitment, ending abduction, supporting family reunification and fulfillment of basic needs; action on disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration of soldiers: and finally, arms control, mine action, reconciliation and reconstruction programmes..."

iCare: A good idea for Humanitarian Coordination

2007-06-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

After doing research about humanitarian coordination in Indonesia right after the 2004 Tsunami I learned how valuable it is to connect the needs of the people affected by disaster to the resources that are being offered. In that time I had what I thought would be a good idea: Why not creating an interactive system in which disaster donors and the people on the ground could connect? The idea is that the goods that are being delivered during the relief efforts would actually satisfy the needs of the individuals without what they call call in the humanitarian field duplication, or the ineffective delivery of relief supplies and services.

I thought that eventually my contribution to humanity would be implementing this idea in several years, but...Alas, this idea (like most ideas) was by no means exclusive, so it went also to the right brains. In this case right the brains were those of Anand Kulkarni and Ephrat Bitton. These two PhD students in the department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at UC Berkeley (USA) are developing this type of program which they have named iCare (http://icare.ieor.berkeley.edu/). For more details on this initiative see:

http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/0607/icare.html

http://media.coe.berkeley.edu/CET_Community/index.php?title=Tech_07:_iCare:_Direct_Person-to-Person_Charity_for_Efficient_Disaster_Relief

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6756641.stm

Well, despite the fact that I wanted to run with this idea and develop it, in all honesty I am really happy that people with the resources and the talent would have come up with this type of initiative. I wish them the greatest success, and hopefully I will be able to contribute to iCare in the future.

Lebanon

2007-06-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

The resurgence of violence in Lebanon at the moment becomes one of the most vivid examples of the need to look at security at the human level. During the last few years the world has witnessed how the civilian population inside Lebanon has been caught between the fight of different political groups as well as states. for a better understanding of the conflict you can go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6173322.stm

The most recent example of civilians caught in between two warring factions is the current crisis at the Palestinian refugee camps. The clashes between radical groups and government troops have caused civilian population to be displaced to nearby cities, however many remain inside the camps exposed to the heavy fire despite the efforts of the rescue teams from the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the Lebanese Red Cross, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (See: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/lebanon-news-060607).

Sadly, two Lebanese Red Cross emergency medical volunteers were killed yesterday near Nahr el Bared refugee camp when a mortar shell (apparently fired from inside the camp) struck a their vehicle yesterday (see http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=36643&sc=89 ).

Until last week the ICRC in coordination with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and other United Nations agencies has transported 144 wounded and 70 sick persons, as well as escorting 495 civilians from their respective camp. It has also organized 29 humanitarian convoys and assisted more in 250 families, who were driven by the fighting from their homes in Taamir, near Ain el-Hilweh, to Sidon.

Human Security

2007-05-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

When dealing with International Security, people used to think in terms of threats of states vs. states. To put it simply, as if states were in a football league. When a crisis occurred, the incident could be monitored and studied like a game. For example, WWII could be studied as a match between two teams ("The Axis" vs. "The Allies"), or for instance the Cold War as a typical blue vs. red match between rivals.
Others have preferred to look at International Security from a broader perspective, (and if we were to apply the same sports analogy) the focus would not be so much in the teams, but actually studying the nature of the sport, which would symbolize the system or general conditions in which the states dwell. By applying this analogy we could pose questions like: Is a terrorist attack on the US delegation in Syria a single event sport like 100 meters or part of a combined discipline like decathlon that involves many other fields? OK, this last example is bit of a stretch and a bit overbearing, but my point is that there are different ways to look at international security, and each way will provide different insights on global threats.

Having said this, there are some of us who like to look at these issues not at the state or systemic level, but at a more Human Level. From this perspective, the one that counts the most is the individual; so if we were to follow the same sports theme, the main focus of this level would be not in the sport, nor in the teams, but in the athletes, even if they are engaged in a match or not. A Human Security approach would look at the threats that each member of the team face and try to find ways to eradicate them. In other words, the human lens on security would help us see how threats affect individuals within states and across the world directly. This emphasis allows us to see more clearly what we can do to help other humans build a wholesome life full of dignity and freedom, and hopefully help us become one great team instead of just simple spectators.

The purpose of this blog is to show the world how looking at security from the individual level can actually make a meaningful impact in the lives of others. To those of you that find this type of focus in security interesting or fascinating, I simply say...

Welcome!

I humbly invite you to share your comments and experience in Human Security initiatives around the world, and to also adopt this type of initiative on your own.

Sincerely,

Gonzalo