ABSTRACT
The defining characteristic of human security is its individual-centred approach: its focus on critical and pervasive threats to the preservation of human lives. 1 In an increasingly globalised world, the proliferation of non-traditional security threats such as widespread poverty, hunger, disease and environmental degradation have exceeded the capacity of conventional state-centred approaches to protect individuals and their communities. Additionally, the interests of government do not always correspond with those of the people; far more people have died at the hands of their own governments, either through mass murder or genocide, than from civil wars or wars with other countries. 2 By using people as the referent, human security is better able to address threats which cross national borders and contradict state interests.
