From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

FROM POVERTY TO POWERcomprehensive human version, taking the insecure and anxietyriddenexperience of living in poverty as its starting point.Guaranteeing security in this way strengthens poor people’s ability towithstand shocks and increases their chances of emerging frompoverty, and not falling back.The human security approach, first put forward in the UN’s 1994Human Development Report, 8 unites emergency response and developmentin a single framework, based on three propositions:• People vulnerable to shocks are agents of their own destiny,with a series of rights that need to be fulfilled.• Governments and international bodies are bound to addressthe full range of risks and vulnerabilities that affect peopleliving in poverty.• Social, political, and economic stability, generally ignored ordownplayed in debates on poverty reduction, equity, andgrowth, is fundamental for reducing risk.Like ‘sustainable development’, many governments have devalued theidea of human security by paying lip service to the concept whileignoring its profound implications. The approach challenges governmentsand international bodies to build from the bottom up,supportingand complementing citizens’ own efforts to reduce their vulnerabilityand protect themselves from risk, and to provide protection inaccordance with international humanitarian and human rights law.Vulnerable people are far from passive and are constantly seekingways to prepare for and cope with the daily risks that surround them,including by building assertive organisations that can manage riskdirectly and press for public policies that reduce risk. Governmentscan support such empowerment, importantly by ensuring access tohealth, education, livelihoods, and information, so that more poorwomen and men have the skills and knowledge required to addressrisk as active citizens. This theme is explored in more detail in Part 2.Governments and international bodies must also protect poor andvulnerable people by guaranteeing their rights both in normal timesand in times of crisis, for example by ensuring that they are not prey toviolence, deprivation, or coercion. They should also act to reduce thelikelihood of shocks and to mitigate their impact. Human security204