Conclusion
The above two stories do not explain the whole
aspect of human security, but they do start to
demonstrate the importance of the elements of
human security outlined above in building physical
and emotional resilience in the face of natural
disasters.
The critical importance of one often overlooked
element—being people-centered—is illustrated
by activities to build resilience in Haiti
and Japan . In human security discourse ‘peoplecentered’
usually refers to ‘the more vulnerable’
people. In Haiti, a local NGO that had been
so vulnerable in its early years that it could not
even name the disease it was fighting against—
HIV/AIDS—had gained the power and the confidence
of the government and the community
through its efforts to deal with HIV/AIDS, and
this experience allowed them to fight against a
new threat when disaster struck. In Japan, seemingly
helpless school children under 10 years old
mobilized to encourage people living in a shelter
with almost no cost. They are the people who are
aware of the value of human security, though
they may not know much about three freedoms:
freedom from fear and want and to live in dignity.
The existence of such people with high level of
conscientization (or critical consciousness), as
advocated by Paulo Freire, drove them to motivate
people around them to create resilient communities.
We do not know if such people can be
trained or if it is a gift people are born with. However,
where it exists, empowerment starts, and
once it starts, it must be protected by the government
and global society. As a previous study
recommends,6 integration of empowerment and
protection is a key pathway to achieving human
security. To know more about the dynamics of the
empowerment-protection synergy, we need to
undertake more case studies in different settings.