Human Security
What is human security?
The Commission on Human Security (CHS) defines human security as the protection of "the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and fulfillment". Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms. It means protecting people from critical and pervasive threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people's strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that, when combined, give people the building blocks for survival, livelihood and dignity.
Human security is far more than the absence of violent conflict. It encompasses human rights, good governance and access to economic opportunity, education and health care. It is a concept that comprehensively addresses both "freedom from fear" and "freedom from want" and is based on a framework that emphasizes both "protection" and "empowerment".
The United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS)
The United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security was established in March 1999 with the express aim of promoting human security. It does so primarily by financing efforts by UN agencies and their partners to mitigate threats to vulnerable people and communities around the world. 
The Trust Fund has undergone several changes, as its operations have matured and as the concept of human security has gained greater clarity. Along the way it has benefited from the guidance of the Commission on Human Security and later the Advisory Board on Human Security.
Under its current guidelines, the UNTFHS places priority on promoting multi-sectoral and inter-agency integration based on the comparative advantage of the applying organizations and through their collaboration. Projects are distributed globally, with priority given to countries and regions where the insecurities of people are most critical and pervasive, such as the least developed countries (LDC's) and countries in conflict.
The Advisory Board on Human Security and the Human Security Unit
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called upon the world community to advance the twin goals of "freedom from want" and "freedom from fear". As a contribution to this effort, an independent Commission on Human Security (CHS) was established. After two years of deliberation, the Commission submitted its final report, entitled Human Security Now, to the UN Secretary-General in May 2003.
Based on the recommendations of the CHS, the Advisory Board on Human Security (ABHS) was created to among others promote human security and advise the Secretary-General on the management of the UNTFHS.
The Human Security Unit (HSU) was then established in May 2004 in the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), based on the recommendations of the Board. The overall objective of the HSU is to integrate human security in all UN activities. By combining the management of the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS) with the dissemination and promotion of human security, the HSU plays a pivotal role in translating the concept of human security into concrete activities and highlighting the added value of the human security approach as proposed by the Advisory Board on Human Security.