The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) today released a new publication that shows how a "human security" approach to health and development can increase the resilience of marginalized communities and contribute to greater individual and collective well-being.
Health, Resilience and Human Security: Moving toward Health for All presents a development approach that seeks to protect and empower marginalized communities
Washington, D.C., 5 May 2016 (PAHO/WHO)—The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) today released a new publication that shows how a "human security" approach to health and development can increase the resilience of marginalized communities and contribute to greater individual and collective well-being.
Health, Resilience and Human Security: Moving toward Health for All was developed jointly by PAHO and JCIE as a technical reference document to enable planners, policymakers and program managers to better understand and apply the human security approach to advance health and development goals.
"Most public health and development practitioners are aware of—and likely using—one or more aspects of this approach," said PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne. "But they generally are unfamiliar with the full picture, so they may not be taking full advantage of the benefits of adopting the approach in a comprehensive manner."
The overarching objective of the human security approach is to protect and empower people and communities so they are able to respond with resilience to a wide range of threats, including to health. To achieve this, the approach identifies and addresses the linkages among different threats to health and security and develops integrated interventions that can build and sustain the resilience of individuals and communities.
Specifically, the approach:
- Addresses the linkages among freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom to live in dignity
- Analyzes the ways in which people experience vulnerability in their everyday lives and recognizes that different threats exacerbate one another and must therefore be addressed holistically
- Encourages the participation of socially vulnerable groups in programs, from design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation
- Involves all relevant sectors and actors in these processes
- Emphasizes prevention
- Creates synergy between protection and empowerment actions.
The approach urges an active role by governments in establishing protection mechanisms and in sponsoring programs to empower communities and make them more resilient.
The report released today presents case studies of countries that have used the human security approach successfully.
Demonstration project in Central America
In launching the new report, PAHO Director Etienne also announced that PAHO, together with the UN Trust Fund for Human Security, is launching a demonstration project to help mainstream the human security approach in country health plans in Central America and the Dominican Republic.
"I am convinced that integrating the human security approach into our countries' health plans will greatly accelerate progress in reducing health inequities, especially in our most marginalized communities," said Etienne. "This new publication and new demonstration project are just some of the steps we are taking to promote this very valuable approach as a way to intervene decisively and sustainably in the vicious cycle of vulnerability and inequity that persists in many communities of our region."
Also participating in today's report launch were Keizo Takemi, member of the House of Councilors of the National Diet of Japan and senior fellow at JCIE; Susan Hubbard, senior associate at JCIE; Secretary of Health of Honduras Edna Yolani Batres; and Taylor Seybolt, director of the Ford Institute for Human Security at the University of Pittsburgh.
Links
— Health, Resilience and Human Security: Moving toward Health for All (full text)
