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8Understanding Urban Safety and SecurityThe human securityapproach buildsupon earlierdiscussions by theUnited Nations ofbasic needs, asdiscussed in theCopenhagenDeclaration• It recognizes that people-centred solutions must beidentified and supported to address the range ofmenaces and risks that they encounter.• Human security, therefore, goes beyond the security ofborders to the lives of people and communities insideand across those borders. 4With these concerns in mind, the commission adopted thefollowing somewhat more formal definition of humansecurity:… to protect the vital core of all human lives inways that enhance human freedoms and humanfulfilment. Human security means protectingfundamental freedoms – freedoms that are theessence of life. It means protecting people fromcritical (severe) and pervasive (widespread)threats and situations. It means using processesthat build on people’s strengths and aspirations.It means creating political, social, environmental,economic, military, and cultural systemsthat together give people the building blocks ofsurvival, livelihood and dignity. 5This definition combines descriptive, analytic and normativedimensions in asserting what is ‘the vital core’, what are‘fundamental freedoms’ and what is ‘the essence of life’. As abroad and fundamental statement, the concept of humansecurity provides a strong foundation for the conceptualbasis of this report.The human security approach builds upon earlierdiscussions by the United Nations of basic needs, asdiscussed in the Copenhagen Declaration, adopted at the2005 World Summit on Social Development, which notedthat:… efforts should include the elimination ofhunger and malnutrition; the provision of foodsecurity, education, employment and livelihood,primary health-care services, including reproductivehealth care, safe drinking water andsanitation, and adequate shelter; and participationin social and cultural life (Commitment2.b).Another international legal framework is the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),which states the need to:… recognize the right of everyone to anadequate standard of living for himself and hisfamily, including adequate food, clothing andhousing, and to the continuous improvement ofliving conditions (Article 11.2).In the last part of ICESCR, Article 11.2 deals with theprogressive realization of these rights, and states thatgovernments are legally obliged, under international law, totake steps to improve living conditions.Building on these prior statements (and when appliedto the world of action and when focused on the security ofpersons and not states), the human security approach specificallyaddresses three issues:• protection of individual security through adherence todeclared and legitimate rights, such as those on securityof tenure introduced in this chapter and examined ingreater detail in Chapter 5;• freedom of individuals to invoke specific rights in theirpursuit of the components of human security, as elaboratedabove, such as secure tenure or freedom fromarbitrary arrest or detention, as elaborated upon in theInternational Bill of Human Rights;• freedom of individuals to organize in groups to obtainsatisfaction with regard to those components of humansecurity.While the first of these – protection of individual humansecurity based on international human rights laws – representsa major improvement in the juridical and legalenvironment at the international level, there remain manydifficulties of interpretation and jurisdiction at national andurban levels in using these internationally recognized rightsas sufficient protection for individual claims. For example,the great majority of laws governing the administration ofjustice in cases of daily crime and violence at the nationaland urban levels depend, first, upon the establishment oflaw by states or local authorities, as in the cases of localpolicing or penalties for breaking the law, and then upontheir enforcement, which frequently relies upon the jurisdictionin which they are being applied.The second feature of this framework – that individualsactually have the freedom and capabilities to invoke theirrights – depends upon many things, including the politicaland institutional environments in which they live, but alsotheir wider economic and social contexts. This perspective isderived from the framework developed by Amartya Sen, whoemphasizes the importance of ensuring the capabilities andfreedoms of people to obtain what they need and to satisfytheir material requirements. 6The third dimension of the framework – that individualscan organize collectively to obtain their rights andthereby reduce the insecurities that they face – is wellexemplified by the 2001 Fukuoka Declaration, whichfocuses on securing land tenure. 7 The Fukuoka Declaration –adopted by human settlements experts at an internationalseminar on ‘Securing Land for the Urban Poor’ – placessecure tenure within the broader framework of alleviatingpoverty and assisting people in the informal sector. Itpresents a full list of actions that should be taken by governmentsto ensure that security of tenure is more available togrowing urban populations. The declaration, examined inChapter 11 of this Global Report, is noteworthy because italso seems to assert that security of tenure is both an individualright and a public good worthy of collective public action.It therefore explicitly calls on governments to undertakespecific actions to protect both individual rights and thewider public interest while achieving these positive results.