United Nations A/62/695 General Assembly Distr.: General 15 February 2008 Original: English Sixty-second session Agenda item 116 Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit Letter dated 13 February 2008 from the Permanent Representatives of Japan and Mexico to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly We have the honour to transmit to you a compendium of human security- related initiatives and activities by members of the Friends of Human Security and United Nations agencies, funds and programmes (see annex). It would be highly appreciated if the present letter and its annex could be circulated as a document of the General Assembly under agenda item 116. (Signed) Claude Heller Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations (Signed) Yukio Takasu Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations 08-24140 (E) 270308 *0824140* A/62/695 Annex to the letter dated 13 February 2008 from the Permanent Representatives of Japan and Mexico to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly Human security-related initiatives and activities by members of the Friends of Human Security The Permanent Missions of Japan and Mexico to the United Nations proposed at the second meeting of the Friends of Human Security on 20 April 2007 to create a compilation of information on past, present and future human security-related initiatives and activities. Reports are included from Chile, Japan, Mexico, Slovenia, Switzerland and Thailand. 2 08-24140 A/62/695 Chile’s initiatives in the area of human security 1 October 2007 I. Chile is an active proponent of the principle of human security in international relations and has therefore incorporated it into the principles underlying the formulation and implementation of its foreign policy, in conjunction with respect for and promotion of human rights, democracy as a system of government, compliance with humanitarian law, and human development, on the understanding that these principles are complementary and form a harmonious whole. II. In this connection, Chile views the paradigm of human security as a complements to and not as a substitute for the traditional concept of security, which stresses frontier security, and therefore as a humanizing element of the global international agenda and of coexistence within States. III. Although Chile is sympathetic to the broad interpretation of human security, it believes that priority emphasis must be placed on topic that are directly related to respect for the integrity and dignity of persons—in other words, to violence that may affect individuals. IV. Among the main activities undertaken by Chile in this area, mention may be made of the following: (a) Chile has since 1999 been part of the Human Security Network, within which it is mainly engaged in activities to promote and consolidate the concept of human security. Since that date, it has participated actively and proactively in the various meetings and initiatives of the Network, including the Ministerial Meetings, as well as in the organization of various seminars, workshops and publications. As far as publications are concerned, in 2004 Chile arranged for the translation into Spanish of the Manual on Human Rights Education published by the Austrian chairmanship of the Human Security Network. (b) Chile chaired the Human Security Network between May 2001 and July 2002. It organized the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Network in July 2002 in Santiago. The main topics for discussion were: a human security perspective in public security policies; human rights and international humanitarian law education focused on human security; and measurement of human security using a human security index. (c) During the negotiations on the Outcome of the 2005 United Nations Summit, Chile played a leading role in the efforts to include in that document a specific reference to human security, which was finally incorporated in paragraph 143 of the text. (d) Chile is actively participating in the informal Friends of Human Security group, created in 2006 at the initiative of the Governments of Mexico and Japan. 08-24140 3 A/62/695 Japan’s initiatives in the area of human security September 2007 Japan has taken the lead in promoting human security, under close collaboration with the United Nations and its agencies, in various ways: by supporting the activities of the Commission on Human Security; by supporting the implementation of pilot projects in the field through United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security and bilateral grants; by enhancing dialogue with other countries to gain their support to the human security concept; and by enhancing cooperation with other initiatives to mainstream human security in the international cooperation. １． Promoting and disseminating the human security concept （１） Follow-up of paragraph 143 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome document In the process of negotiating 2005 World Summit Outcome document, Japan played a leading role in including a paragraph on human security in the Outcome document. 2005 World Summit Outcome is the first major UN document agreed by the Member States at the summit level that refers to human security: In order to follow up on this Outcome document, Japan established an unofficial, open-ended forum, “Friends of Human Security” (FHS) in October 2006, inviting other UN Member States and relevant international organizations The purpose of the FHS meeting is to provide an informal forum for Member States as well as relevant international organizations to discuss the concept of human security from various angles in order to seek a common understanding of human security and explore collaborative efforts for mainstreaming it in United Nations activities. The FHS met for the first time in October 2006 in New York under Japan’s chairmanship. Representatives of 24 Member States and 7 UN agencies were in attendance. The second FHS meeting was held under the co-chairmanship with Japan and Mexico in April 2007. Representatives of 37 Member States and regional institutions and 10 international organizations had constructive discussions. The third FHS meeting will be held in autumn 2007 to review the progress. （２） Seminars and symposia Japan has held various seminars and symposia on human security both in Japan and overseas. In March 2007, Japan held a Senior Official-Level Meeting on Human Security (SOM-HS) in Tokyo. The meeting was attended by representatives from 11 counties and 7 international organizations. SOM-HS took up onsite experiences of each country and international organization in humanitarian assistance in areas of armed conflict and natural disaster, and various tasks in the transitional stages from humanitarian assistance to development. The participants shared the recognition that seamless assistance was required from a viewpoint of human security. Japan has also held open-public symposia on human security every year since 2000. The last symposium was held in December 2006, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Japan’s admission 4 08-24140 A/62/695 to the UN, with the participation of distinguished speakers including Mr. Antonio Guterres, UNHCR, Mr. Kemal Dervis, Administrator of UNDP and Mrs. Sadako Ogata, President of JICA, as panelists. At the symposium, participants discussed how to realize human security in post-conflict peace- building. Summary and notes on the symposium can be found on our website (http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human_secu/index). Furthermore, Japan contributed to several seminars on human security held by the World Bank in April 2005 and April 2007. （３） Cooperation with other countries and organizations Apart from Japan’s initiatives, other initiatives on human security have also been taken in various fora with different focuses. In order to strengthen partnership and combine efforts with others for mainstreaming human security, Japan actively participates in multilateral discussion on human security. One example of this is Japan’s participation as a guest country in annual Human Security Network (HSN) ministerial meetings since 2004. Japan has actively contributed to the discussion, seeking ways to collaborate with HSN member states through sharing information and good practices. Japan also holds a number of seminars, workshops and round tables on human security, in collaboration with other interested countries and entities such as EU, EC, APEC and OSCE. At the same time, Japan actively engages other countries in bilateral dialogues on human security, as shown in the references to human security in bilateral documents. As of August 2007, a number of official bilateral documents refer to the importance of human security and the need to strengthen cooperation to realize it. Some examples are as follows: ¾ The 16th Japan-EU Joint Press Statement (June 2007） (para 12) Summit leaders underlined the importance for the EU and Japan to strengthen cooperation on poverty reduction through sustainable development and the promoting of human security. ¾ Joint Statement on the Roadmap for New Dimensions to the Strategic and Global Partnership between Japan and India （August 2007） (para 38) The two leaders stressed the need to cooperate in developing a common understanding of human security, with due respect to the evolving, multidimensional and comprehensive nature of the concept, with a view to tackling global challenges including the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. 2． Realizing human security on the ground （１） ODA Charter and the Medium-term Policy on ODA Human security is one of the main pillars of Japan’s foreign policy. Furthermore, Japan’s ODA Charter states that human security is one of Japan’s basic principles in providing ODA. As described 08-24140 5 A/62/695 in its Medium-term Policy on ODA, Japan adopts the perspective of human security in development assistance. For more detailed information, go to the website at www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/index. （２） United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security In 1999, the Government of Japan took the initiative to establish United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security.