In the 15th century, Renaissance mathematician and astronomer Nikolaus Copernicus formulated a model of the universe that put the sun, rather than the earth, at the centre of the solar system. That was a paradigm shift that led to a transformation in the way we view the universe. In a similar way, the ‘human security’ approach puts the individual, the citizen, the civilian, at the centre of understanding security, rather than the state and its borders.

The Commission on Human Security was established in January 2001, in response to the UN Secretary-General's call at the 2000 Millennium Summit for a world ‘free of want’ and ‘free of fear’. On 1 May 2003, co-chairs of the Commission on Human Security, Sadako Ogata and Amartya Sen, presented the Commission's Final Report, ‘Human Security Now’, to the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan (Commission on Human Security, 2003).

According to the United Nations Commission on Human Security (CHS), human security is

Overall, the definition proposed by the CHS reconceptualizes security by:

• • moving away from traditional, state-centric conceptions of security that focused primarily on the safety of states from military aggression, to one that concentrates on the security of the individuals, their protection and empowerment;

• • drawing attention to a multitude of threats that cut across different aspects of human life and thus highlighting the interface between security, development and human rights; and

• • promoting a new integrated, coordinated and people-centred approach to advancing peace, security and development within and across nations.