Human Security in a Globalised World: Concepts and Issues for the Muslim World

Abstract

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1994 proposed an all-encompassing concept of human security, which highlighted security of individuals along seven dimensions: economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political. ‘Human security’ thus defined is likely to reinforce opportunities for human development, sustainable environment, food security and healthy societies for dealing with the sources of conflicts. Therefore, it can be argued that human security closely relates to social security, which in a broader sense refers to the elimination of conditions detrimental to the survival, functioning and progress of human beings and the creation of conditions for the enjoyment of a ‘full life’ with living conditions and amenities that are customary in the societies to which a person belongs. This work adopts this holistic definition of human security hinged on ‘freedom from want’ and concentrates on food security, shelter, health, education and work by highlighting issues related to individuals. It deals with the fundamentals of human security, its historical evolution, conceptual formation of each requirement and examines these ‘matters’ from the Muslim World perspective to highlight some pertinent issues. One such matter is the challenges of human security in the ten most populated Muslim majority countries.