In partnership with UNDP Costa Rica and the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights (IAIHR), the Human Security Unit-OCHA (HSU-OCHA) conducted its fifth Regional Human Security Workshop entitled “Applying the Human Security Concept in Project and Programme Development, Implementation and Monitoring” in San José, Costa Rica, from 12 to 15 October 2010.

Representing UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, IOM, PAHO and various Resident Coordinator Offices, 26 participants from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago attended the workshop. Representatives from the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights which is implementing a UNTFHS funded project in the region entitled “Promoting and developing human security concept in Latin America,” also attended the workshop.

The workshop, co-facilitated by Ms. Hitomi Kubo, Sciences Po, Paris and the Human Security Unit-OCHA, provided an opportunity for UN Country Teams and other representatives from the region to develop their project ideas for submission to the UNTFHS. With their projects in mind, participants were taken through a vigorous four-day training on the human security concept, its relation to other people-centered approaches, and the relevant tools for its systematic application into concrete activities. Potential projects included the human security situation of Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian decent in the Dominican Republic; the human insecurities faced by indigenous populations in the border between Panama and Costa Rica; and human insecurities as a result of environmental degradation and poverty in remote areas of Guatemala. Finally, participants were given a detailed review of the funding modalities of the UNTFHS as well as the criteria for developing successful human security projects.

To view the complete manual prepared by Ms. Hitomi Kubo, in collaboration with Ms. Mehrnaz Mostafavi and Mr. Huw Beynon of HSU-OCHA, and the participants of the San José workshop, please click here.

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