Human Security: Indicators for Measurement
Human security is a complex issue to measure and evaluate, and different priorities and values are assigned by different localities. For each of the indicators listed below, it will be necessary to understand its local relevance, its relation human security itself, the variables that need to be measured, and the condition that these indicators potray. The resulting information matrix is a critical starting point for policy-making that is focussed on Human Security.
- Economic security
- Income
- Level of Income
- Access to social safety nets
- Reliability of incomes
- Sufficiency of incomes
- Standard of living
- Employment
- Share of employed/unemployed
- Risk of joblessness
- Protection against unemployment
- Level of Income
- Food Security
- Availabiltiy and supply of food
- Access to basic food
- Quality of nutrition
- Share of household budget for food
- Access to food during NAtural/man-made disasters
- Environmental security
- Assessment on pollution of water, air
- Prevention of deforestation
- Land conservation and desertification
- Concern on environmental problems
- Ability to solve environmental problems
- Protection from toxic and hazardous wastes
- Prevention of traffic accidents and related impacts
- Natural hazard mitigation (droughts, floods, cyclones or earthquakes)
- Health Security
- Assessment of the health status
- Access to safe water
- Living in a safe environment
- Exposure to illegal drugs
- Access to housing: helter from natural elements
- Accessibility to healthcare systems (physical and economic)
- Accessibility to safe and affordable family planning
- Quality of medical care
- prevention of HIV/AIDS and other diseases
- Health trends
- Basic awareness and knowledge on healthy lifestyles
- Personal security
- Fear of voilence (physical torture, war, ethnic tension, suicide etc.)
- Prevention of accidents
- Level of crime
- Security from illegal drugs
- Efficiency of institutions
- Prevention of harassent and gender voilence
- Prevention of domestic voilence and child abuse
- Access to public information
- Community security
- Fear of multinational/multiregional conflicts
- Fear of internal conflicts
- Conservation of traditional/ethnic cultures, languages and values
- Abolishment of ethnic discrimination
- Protection of indegenous people
- Political security
- Level of democratization
- Protection against state repression (freedom of press, speech, voting etc.)
- Respect of basic human rights and freedom
- Democratic expectations
- Abolishment of political detention, imprisonment, systematic torture, ill treatment, disapparence etc.
Source: Collated from different sources and reports.
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Contact: Hari Srinivas - hsrinivas@gdrc.org - Income