I feel privileged and humbled by my day yesterday representing alldaybuffet at the Global Philanthropy Forum in Redwood City, CA. The Global Philanthropy Forum, or “GPF,” is a gathering of 500 philanthropists, social investors, and social entrepreneurs who convene to learn about current trends in global affairs and philanthropy, to exchange ideas, and to collaborate in addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges.

This year GPF focused on “Human Security, Human Rights, and the Shared Responsibility to Protect: A Conversation with Elders and Emerging Leaders.” I’m using the ADB blog forum to bring this important conversation back to the next generation of leaders, you guys, and ask you all some questions, share some ideas, and provide inspiration on how we, as a group of young individuals, can contribute to solving some of the greatest challenges we’ll face in the 21st Century.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be submitting a series of short pieces that will range from the substantive themes covered at the conference, current trends and questions about the direction of philanthropy, inspiring projects and stories of individual social entrepreneurs who participated in the gathering, and some ideas of my own. My hope is to bring you all into this conversation and solicit your feedback on how our community can get involved.

Issue #1:

It seems appropriate, for my first in this series of posts, to elaborate on the theme of this year’s conference: Human Security, Human Rights, and the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine (R2P). Let’s start with some definitions (with a little help from Wikipedia):

The Responsibility to Protect:
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a recently developed concept in international relations that represents a major turning point away from the primacy of state sovereignty over its internal affairs when there is evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, or other heinous crimes against civilians. The principles of R2P state that if a particular state is unwilling or unable to carry out its responsibility to prevent such abuses, that responsibility must be transferred to the international community, which must attempt to solve problems initially via peaceful means (such as diplomatic pressure, dialogue, even sanctions) and then, as a last resort, through the use of military force.

While the R2P doctrine is still being debated in some circles that fear international intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations, it has won growing support from both government actors and especially, civil society advocates. The Doctrine represents a clear turning point in the development of international humanitarian law and affairs.

Human Security:
Human security refers to an emerging paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities. It challenges the traditional notion of national security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be the individual rather than the state. It looks into the factors that give rise to instability and incorporates diverse approaches to understanding forces leading to instability and promotes comprehensive solutions to promote long-term peace and security. Human security holds that a people-centered view of security is necessary for national, regional and global stability.

Interestingly, the concept emerged from a post-Cold War, multi-disciplinary understanding of security involving a number of research fields, including development studies, international relations, strategic studies, and human rights. During the cold war, security studies and policy looked at interactions between states and traditional government militarism. In a changing world where security threats come from state as well as non-state actors and where internal conflicts within countries are on the rise, a new paradigm for understanding peace and security is needed.

Human Rights:

Human Rights refer to the “basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled” and a “…recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world ”. Examples of rights and freedoms which are often thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, declaration was the first international legal effort to limit the behavior of states and press upon them duties to their citizens following the model of the rights-duty duality. The UDHR is now considered to be a central component of international customary law.

That said, here are some questions for you:
• What’s our role in promoting these concepts as young adults, primarily living in the United States or other parts of the “West”?
• Why do we as a community care to promote these principles?
• How can individuals contribute to such vast global agendas?
• Do we agree that we have a responsibility to protect civilians from genocide, conflict, and war crimes?
• How can we, as individuals, or perhaps young professionals outside of the international policy and law community, still contribute to promoting the objectives of human rights, human security, and protection of civilians?

Weighty? Well we’d like you to weigh in, respond, share ideas, concerns, and questions. I’ll be elaborating on these concepts in the coming days and how people across the world are creatively promoting the ideas enshrined in R2P, UDHR, and Human Security to make the world a more peaceful, just, and safe place for us and future generations.

Be back soon!