Monday, July 18, 2016

Human Security at the heart of Caux as Just Governance 2016 closes

By Ashley Muller

After a week full of reflections, exchanges of personal stories, plenary sessions, practical workshops and evening programs, Just Governance for Human Security 2016 has come to a close.

 

With over 40 countries represented at this year’s conference, including delegations from Senegal, the United States, Sahel region, India, Turkey, Armenia, and Ukraine, and over two hundred participants, a vibrant and diverse atmosphere was inevitable.

The main theme of this year’s conference was ‘the human factor’ in the context of good governance, human security, and migration. With an in depth look at the challenge of migration, addressing the root causes of extremism, looking at the struggle for good governance in business and community, as well as discussing practical skills of trustbuilding, participants brought their own individual experiences, sufferings, struggles, questions and concerns to the table. With dynamic workshops, question and answer periods and space for networking, the conference acted as a global platform where government officials, humanitarian and NGO workers, students, journalists, chiefs, and UN representatives connected and dialogued.

 

The programme also included the chance for participants to interact in practical workshops, including the skills of negotiation (with over 150 people in attendance), UN mediation, combating corruption for sustainable development, healing history, environmental migration and much more. These sessions equipped participants with hands on strategies, encouraging and inspiring them to bring their learning's back to their own environments and apply them to their local communities.

The UN definition on human security was also discussed, giving permission for participants to explore several questions throughout the week based on the following definition:

“To protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfillment. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms – freedoms that are the essence of life. It means protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people’s strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic and cultural systems that together give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood, and dignity.”

United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, 2009.

 

Questions were asked to the participants for further, in depth discussion and dialogue outside of the plenary, in a smaller community group. These included:

  • What would you see/experience in a world where human security is fully valued?
  • What challenges to human security you see in your community?
  • What will you do to address one or more of these challenges in the coming three months?

These types of questions provide opportunity for monitoring and evaluation of the new created ideas to be implemented and next steps towards action.

The continual discussion of these questions flowed into the final day of Just Governance for Human Security 2016, which was centered on vision, commitments and strategies. Participants arrived at the final session with a wealth of knowledge, ready to discuss and encourage one another. The morning session took participants on a journey, weaving in elements encouraging the process of personal to global change. A time of corporate individual reflection sparked off the morning. The majority of conversation took place between individuals and groups to share key learnings and new inspirations, as well as action points.