Human security and the responsibility to protect

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between the development of the concept of <em>human security</em> and the emerging norm of responsibility to protect, based on the most emblematic cases of international intervention in events of massive violations of rights within a state. The term <em>human security</em> emerged in 1994 in a report of the United Nations Development Program. It is a broader concept of security than the one traditionally assumed, which demonstrates that this concept, in the eye of the United Nations, is no longer valid only for states, but also, and increasingly, for people. While it has to do with fighting against poverty and the capacity of communities for development, it also implies a transition towards peace and sustainable development in fragile and conflict-affected communities.