What is the link between security and development? What is the best way to achieve both? This strategy paper by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) outlines how DFID, through its commitment to fighting poverty, can help tackle insecurity among the poor. It explains the complex connections between security and development and sets out how DFID can build security by working with poor people, their governments and international partners.
In today’s world, security is a global need and countries must work together to achieve it. Insecurity, lawlessness, crime and violent conflict are among the biggest obstacles to achieving the Millennium Development Goals; they also destroy development. Poverty, underdevelopment and fragile states create fertile conditions for conflict and the emergence of new security threats, including international crime and terrorism. 2005 provides an unprecedented opportunity to make real progress in tackling some of the most important challenges to our collective security and well-being, including poverty, disease and climate change. Poor people cite safety and security as a major concern; they say it is as important as hunger, unemployment and lack of safe drinking water. They explicitly link security to personal security.
Given its importance to the well-being of the poor, physical security is a vital part of reducing poverty.
- DFID’s role is to promote the security of the poor locally, nationally and internationally, as part of their work in reducing poverty.
- DFID contributes to post-conflict peace building and is strengthening its work in fragile states. But reducing conflict and promoting poor people’s security is not yet a regular feature of programmes or partnerships.
- This does not mean subordinating poverty reduction to short-term political interests or to work on anti-terrorism.
- Nor does it mean big shifts in the existing allocation of UK development assistance – this will continue to remain focused on the world’s poorest countries and people. It means bringing poor people’s security more squarely into DFID’s work.
- Aid alone is not enough. Development cannot progress where there is instability. The security community on its own cannot build the institutions and opportunities necessary to prevent conflict.
- There needs to be better collaboration between development, defense and diplomatic communities to achieve respective and complementary aims.
It is important that conflict reduction and the security of poor people are considered in bilateral and multilateral programmes. There are a number of ways to do this. These include:
- Paying greater attention to the regional and global dimensions of conflict and insecurity, as well as to countries that play a critical role in promoting regional stability – or instability.
- Considering security as a basic entitlement of the poor and re-focusing work on governance to include more direct support for the security of the poor.
- Integrating more elements of conflict reduction work into programmes.
- Making more use of political and conflict analysis in programme design.
- Engaging with a wider range of civil society organisations.
- Responding as far as possible to requests from new countries for support in implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
