We live in a world that is impacted by terrible human issues and calamities, which cannot be denied. On the other hand, human-caused and natural disasters like floods and drought that, if they do not destroy the physical infrastructure of their immediate surroundings, significantly impair people’s ability to provide for themselves. However, there is still a portion of the world’s population that suffers as a result of conflicts between nations and armed conflicts. Such conflicts can appear to fail to make a distinction between civilians and combatants. We have seen and continue to see plenty of innocent people suffer, from Darfur in Sudan through Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq. The world either did nothing when the issues first arose, responded too late or too little, or never offered any support. We also live in a society where the most fundamental human rights that would allow the average person to live life to the fullest are still denied to them. The core idea espoused in Kofi Annan’s report, “Larger Freedom,” which claimed that human rights, peace, and development are inextricably linked, is still not universally understood by people worldwide. Even worse, it seems more difficult to realize some of the observations made in the Human Commission Report. The Commission on Human Security made a simple observation that human security is concerned with safeguarding and expanding people’s vital freedoms and as such it requires both shielding people from acute threats and empowering people to take charge of their own lives.
The UNDP correctly highlighted that there could not be world peace without people feeling secure in their daily lives. Instead of concentrating exclusively on the war between states, its human development reports had the vision to bring attention to conflicts that occur within states. It also acknowledged how persistent inequality and poverty jeopardize human security. However, it is a challenging effort to divert resources away from the military-industrial complex in order to provide security for common citizens. Many countries throughout the world have not been able to uphold its tenets two decades after this idea of human security was first proposed. The Commission on Human Security’s report has been available for almost three years. Therefore, it is critical to assess how well mankind has done in achieving the goals of human security. It’s crucial to assess the decisions made by world leaders that either slowed down or prevented the realization of human security. Additionally, it would be crucial for lawmakers to voice concerns about the degree to which their own nations have been able to integrate human security into their legal systems. Reviewing how far human security has been included in national, regional, and international security organizations’ objectives is necessary at the global level, as advised by the Commission.
Before Pakistan could formulate a national security strategy that formally recognized the need to focus on human security, it took more than 27 years. The PTI government’s NSP, which was introduced earlier this year, emphasized the necessity of defending Pakistan from conventional threats while also broadening the definition of security. The NSP noted the necessity to protect individuals’ constitutional rights in addition to utilizing the nation’s geostrategic location to unleash its economic potential. Protecting Pakistani residents from all facets of extremism, criminality, terrorism, and violence was emphasized. It emphasized the importance of gender security and shielding Pakistani women from structural kinds of violence, such as harassment, gender-based assault, and even employment inequity.
It was recognized as a turning point when the NSP realized how important it was to give common citizens access to human security. In the previous seven decades, Pakistan has mostly concentrated on the traditional definition of security, which aimed to defend the country’s borders and counter threats from both the inside and the outside.
While the eventual acceptance of a concept like human security is significant, it won’t mean much if the institutional framework and political will to put it into practice are not in place. The Pakistani state cannot continue operating as it has in the past if it wants to guarantee human security.
Even if it means diverting resources from sustaining conventional military capabilities, Pakistan will need to devote greater resources to ensuring human security. A more efficient and responsive judicial and policing system will need to be established using these newly discovered resources. Our bureaucrats will need to focus more on resolving persistent socioeconomic and health issues. Threats from climate change will require more significant action from our policymakers. It seems improbable that the human-centric ideas proposed in the NSP would receive the attention they merit anytime in the near future given the fragile economic state of the nation and the continuous political squabbles.
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