Osaka University Global Collaboration Center

JICA Seminar on
Sustainable Human Security and Capacity Development

In the age of rapid globalization, our spt is exposed to serious downside risks such as ethnic conflicts, infectious diseases, economic crises, natural disasters and the destruction of the environment. Human security is a policy framework aimed at freeing people from the fear and want engendered by those border-crossing risks, safeguarding their physical security and peace of mind. In this approach, it is considered important that the people who directly face those threats are steadily empowered from below, as well as firmly protected by public institutions against the calamities.

The concept of human security has been propounded by various U.N. institutions. In 2003, the Japanese government has adopted this concept as one of the major supporting pillars of its ODA policy. The principal aim of this seminar is to put the human security approach into practice in Asian local contexts, in combination with the capacity development approach. To surmount downside risks, it is imperative to increase the problem-solving abilities of grassroots people, community-based organizations, NGOs, as well as multi-layered government institutions.

This seminar aims to enhance the problem-solving capabilities of local governments and NGOs, who engage in activities for achievement of Human Security. In this seminar, Osaka University Global Collaboration Center (GLOCOL) provides the unique program in order to reconstitute the concepts of Human Security and Capacity development in the local context, and create the practical knowledge.