Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 102

advocacy, awareness raising, multi-stakeholder
dialogues and direct actions. These are done in
partnership with grassroots communities, civil
society organisations and networks, non-state
actors, and multilateral and state bodies. Within
and across these contexts, core issues such as armed
conflict, impunity, culture, ethnicity and identitybased marginalisation, culture of peace, citizens’
participation, peace process, and people-centred
security are addressed.

Ukraine

A total of 71 people were interviewed in two
culturally and geographically distinct localities:
Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, with a population
that together with the commuters and incoming
labour migrants is an estimated 4 million, and
Simferopol, the administrative centre of Ukraine’s
southernmost region of the Crimea with a
population of slightly below 400,000. Fifty-five
people were interviewed in Kyiv and sixteen in
Simferopol. The interview samples are based on
the best local demographic estimates available
for both research sites, and, at least in the case
of Kyiv, were also deemed to be proportionally
representative. Interviews included three
questions:

1. What are the situations that could happen in Kyiv/

Simferopol that you would call insecure?
2.  id any such situation ever happen to you, your
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friends, people you know?
3.  hom can you turn to for help in such situations?
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102 stories of Human Security | A Methodology for Human Security

regarding human security were identified. The
concept of human security was understood as a
broad issue and not limited to violence or politics
or food security only. With this background in
mind, interviewees were encouraged to explain
what they consider human insecurity factors, be
it at home, at their workplaces, or in the wider
community, both collectively and indi vidually.

The analysis of this information involved grouping
the responses into the main categories of issues
that people raised, and may be read as a collective
statement on what people fear, how they cope
and the adequacy of the state. On issues related to
poverty, the authors point out that both Kyiv and
Simferopol have better employment and income
opportunities than other areas of the country.
To assess the relevance of freedom from want
as a human security factor in Ukraine in general,
specific research would need to be conducted
in other geographic areas with higher levels of
poverty such as Ternopil, Rivne, Sumy regions, and
Northern Crimea.

Challenges faced by the interviewers
Practical challenges were often related to
people’s sense of insecurity, and in some cases,
a direct result of them. Specific issues that
were sensitive in some contexts were ethnicity,
political parties, and historical references to
conflict dynamics, which could not be mentioned
in some of the country chapters as such. It is
important to be aware of the need to be especially
careful when working with local organisations in
this regard. From this point of view, the studies
and recommendations are primarily aimed at
supporting the participating organisations to
use human security as an entry point for ‘insider
strategies’ for constructive dialogue, to help
them change things from within their respective
contexts.

Zimbabwe

The Ecumenical Church Leaders Forum (ECLF)
team collected the data through in-depth
interviews with community individuals. The
interviewees were selected on the basis of their
positions of leadership and influence in the
community, to provide insights on the views
of community members. A total of 153 people
were interviewed. To guarantee a variety of
responses and to capture the different experiences,
the respondents were selected amongst both
employed and unemployed people (with
different employment sectors represented). Both
consideration of gender and age were taken on
board. Interviewees included ordinary members of
the community, community leaders, chairpersons
of residence associations, as well as traditional
leaders, village heads, church leaders, political
leaders, chaplains, peacebuilders, and government
workers amongst others. To avoid sensitivities
and ensure that participants felt free to share
their views, the ECLF team chose to conduct
direct interviews – instead of having focus group
discussions – starting by building confidence and
trust with the participants. Due to sensitivities, the
research team met some challenges in accessing
the interviewees, some refusing to have their
picture taken, or to sign the consent forms,
while others wanted their testimonies to remain
anonymous. It was therefore decided that the
identity of the interviewees will be protected in
this report.

The degree to which people were comfortable to
talk about security varied, also influencing the
methods and processes to gather the results.
The process revealed the negative connotations
with the word ‘security’ and misunderstandings
about the purpose of the study. Evidently, the term
‘human security’ needs more explanation and has
not yet ‘landed’ at the local level. This is relevant
because the idea of thinking beyond traditional
security paradigms can encourage people to tackle
their problems differently, and deal with security
issues through more collective and empowered
responses. Furthermore, the issue of translations
of the term into local languages and the possible
change in meaning is often not considered. For
instance, in Latin America, the term citizens’
security is a more widely used concept which is
in line with, but not strictly the same, as human
security.

Before starting the field interview research, it
was critical that the ECLF team had a common
understanding of human security before delving
into an in-depth discussion on the subject. A
number of areas which needed investigation

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Specific issues
that were sensitive
in some contexts
were ethnicity,
political parties, and
historical references
to conflict dynamics.

To enable these discussions, it was important to
create an environment where people felt they could
safely express themselves, which civil society
organisations that are rooted in local communities
are often well-placed to do, as trust is key. This
process can be seen as also indirectly contributing
to awareness-raising on human security. This
suggests that safe spaces are needed to debate
human security issues, while ensuring the
relevance of the concept in the specific context.
These challenges highlight the need for further
investment into human security methodologies.

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