Cadmus (Mar 2023)
Human Security: Concepts and Measurement
Abstract
The notion of Human Security has regained traction in the public domain, mostly following the disruptive impact of the global pandemic and the geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe. The concept, however, was molded during the second half of the twentieth century, as scholars, policy makers and the public became ever more disillusioned with the focus on national security that dominated the public domain. The pressing issues of climate change, health challenges and human rights violations in the 21st century have resulted in elevated policy attention and resources for these issues in the form of targeted reports, concepts, metrics, empirical and theoretical research. Having said that, the introduction, monitoring and implementation of the SDGs within the UN 2030 Agenda are inherently related to the concept of Human Security and its components. This paper attempts to briefly present the various metrics and reports germane to Human Security. We undertake a general-to-specific approach to identify the measures, variables, and indicators, which are relevant to the concept of Human Security and its sub-categories. These variables and indicators derive from selected Indicators and Trends from UNHDR, Fragile States Index (FFP), Corruption Perception Index (Transparency International), Biodiversity Habitat Index and CO2 exposure (Environmental Performance Index), Ecological Threat Index (Institute for Economics and Peace) and Healthy Life Expectancy (WHO). Then, we conceptually map the indicators to the measurement and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using data available from the UN SDSN Sustainable Development Report.
