Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 12

"f there is no one in
I
uniform around, or if
you don’t trust them,
you can only count
on your own self..."

A PeopleCentred
Lens on
Protection

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Yana, university student in Kyiv, Ukraine

A people-centred approach to analysis encourages us to listen to the stories of
individuals and take their experiences as the starting point for genuine discussion
about what human security means. The diverse experiences from Afghanistan,
Ukraine and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, provide accounts of people’s
sense of protection – or the lack thereof – and the means they resort to for coping
with the threats they face in their daily lives. Their reflections on the state as a
security provider and what they consider as threats to security are diverse. They
show that people in a given context identify threats as multifaceted and complex,
understanding the effects they have on their personal, communal or physical wellbeing. They underscore the need for comprehensive responses and strategies.

Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Occupied Palestinian Territory

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