Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 114

violent political divisions within the Palestinian
community, which further undermine human
insecurity.
The convoluted, multi-layered framework of
international law, Israeli military law, and domestic
policy that governs Palestinian life creates the effect
of a lack of governance or order. The complex
situation in the Palestinian territories reveals gaps in
the system of international law, the vulnerabilities
of living under hostile occupation without a state
of one’s own, and the weakness of an incapacitated
and divided domestic authority. The international
community, Israeli military law, and Palestinian
national leadership are often in conflict and have
largely failed to ensure the dignity, economic
wellbeing, or even survival of average civilians. As
a result, many individuals report a growing sense of
futility and disempowerment.

Social movements have been
sources of profound citizen
empowerment that can
change government policy.
People’s empowerment

In their influential 2003 report Human Security
Now, Amartya Sen and Sadako Ogata introduced
the protection/empowerment framework distinct to
human security. Protection strategies are top-down
practices by the state and other external actors that
shield people from threats they cannot overcome
on their own. Citizen empowerment reflects the
agency of everyday people in ensuring their own
security. “Empowerment strategies enable people to
develop their resilience to difficult conditions,” write
Sen and Ogata. “People empowered can demand
respect for their dignity when it is violated. They
can create new opportunities for work and address
many problems locally. And they can mobilise for
the security of others.”1
Respondents across the six contexts presented
demonstrate a range of empowerment strategies –
from individual pursuit of equal rights to collective
action. Some of these depend upon protection
114 stories of Human Security | the Citizen-State Relationship

from the state or recourse to external authorities,
such as NGOs and international organisations.
Ideally, they require a degree of political freedom,
where challenging or contesting the ruling powers
is possible. As Sen and Ogata write: “Protection
and empowerment are mutually reinforcing.
People protected can exercise many choices.
And people empowered can avoid some risks
and demand improvements in the system of
protection.”2

or organisations, and involve generating social
solidarity through mediating social conflict at a
grassroots level.