Paper short abstract:

National efforts to use human security ideas are scarce, and research about them is limited. This paper addresses this gap by documenting the experience of the Colombian government in preparing its 2022-2026 National Development Plan, which was partially based on human security ideas.

Paper long abstract:

National efforts to use human security ideas are scarce, and research about them is limited. This paper addresses this gap by documenting the experience of the Colombian government in preparing its 2022-2026 National Development Plan, which was partially based on human security ideas. The Plan consists of five transformations, one of which was “Human Security and Social Justice.” This is the section that received the larger allocation of resources. The “Human Security and Social Justice” transformation includes three sections of catalysts: (1) human security and well-being opportunities promotion enablers, (2) overcoming deprivations as the foundation of human dignity and the primary conditions of well-being, and (3) capabilities expansion. These sections encompass a wide range of goals and activities, including (but not limited to) poverty reduction, doubling access to the Internet, more access to higher education, promoting the popular economy, diminishing non-remunerated care hours, diminishing traffic accident deaths, and drastically diminishing maternal mortality.

The paper describes the conception of this part of the plan, its consolidation process, and the role of human security ideas in the outcome. Human security ideas helped the government intention of preparing a unique plan that focused on people and moved beyond sectoral silos. Human security language was instrumental in breaking with traditional views of security, usually presented as “democratic security” and focused on military means to deal with terrorism. However, the strength of the human security concept contribution dwindled as a broader set of issues was introduced in the Plan, both because it overlapped with other transformations and because of the overstretch of what human security meant in its own section. Interestingly, more emphasis was given to means for human security than threats, the most common use of human security ideas elsewhere in policy and research. Thanks to this emphasis on means, the human security concept was combined with a human development approach, offering an example of their synergies. Finally, the human security concept helped co-create the Plan at the national technocratic apex but did not reverberate with the general public or the sectors. Notably, the universal nature of human security was not enough to support the DNP Director’s intention to reduce the importance of differential considerations in development planning—i.e., prioritize the general demographic situation over attention to specific populations. It is uncertain how relevant the human security concept will remain in the Plan’s implementation.