The Fifth Meeting of the Advisory Board on Human Security (ABHS) was convened on 18 October 2006 in New York. The meeting was chaired by Mrs. Sadako Ogata and attended by the following Board members: Mr. Adebayo Adedeji, Ms. Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, Ms. Sonia Picado, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Mr. Iqbal Riza, Ambassador Takahiro Shinyo and Mr. Bradford Smith. Also present were Mr. Rashid Khalikov (Director, OCHA New York Office); Ambassador Yukio Takasu (Ambassador for Human Security, Government of Japan); Mr. François Fouinat (Advisor to the ABHS); and representatives from the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Human Security Unit and the Evaluation and Studies Section-PDSB, OCHA, as well as Dalberg Global Development Advisors.

1. Introductory remarks

• Mrs. Ogata welcomed the participants to the fifth meeting of the Advisory Board and opened the meeting by informing them of the general impressions she had gained through her visits to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other parts of Africa. Mrs. Ogata acknowledged the increasing recognition of human security as an important framework in addressing peacebuilding operations and she thanked the Board and OCHA in their commitment and support to the advancement of the concept.

2. Report to the Board on the activities of the HSU for the period January to December 2006

• Mr. Khalikov updated the ABHS on the progress made by OCHA since the last meeting of the Board in October 2005. He reported on the continued improvement in the efficiency of the management of the UNTFHS, noting that the new revised Guidelines introduced by OCHA in January 2006 had helped in significantly shortening the review period and in clearing the remaining backlog of projects.
  
  
• Furthermore, Mr. Khalikov highlighted that during this reporting period, the balance of the Fund had diminished significantly. In this regard, he noted the donor’s intention to replenish the Fund for fiscal year 2006 and 2007 and thanked the Government of Japan for renewing its commitment and contributions to the UNTFHS. Notwithstanding, Mr. Khalikov underlined the need to open and diversify the resource base of the Trust Fund so as to put the Fund on a more viable and sustainable level.
  
  
• In addition to the continued improvements in the management of the UNTFHS, Mr. Khalikov also underlined OCHA’s ongoing role in further disseminating the human security concept, which has steadily gained in currency and legitimacy among UN Member States, UN organizations, international organizations, academics and civil society.
  
  
• The Board welcomed HSU’s efforts in improving the management of the UNTFHS and in increasing its advocacy role as the UN’s focal point on human security. The Board congratulated the Unit for its organization of the Human Security Photographic Exhibition and the publication of a related Booklet and looked forward to its continued progress in these and other initiatives.

3. Review of projects approved between January and September 2006

• Following briefing on the projects funded during this period, Board Members discussed and observed that the UNTFHS should refrain from funding research-oriented projects and underlined that the implementation of the African Millennium Village (AMV) initiative should be closely followed to ensure that the project benefited people and communities on the ground.

4. Strengthening application of the Guidelines and further improving projects under the UNTFHS

• Members of the Board welcomed the increase in cross-sectoral projects and multi-agency programming. However, the Board agreed that projects should not be excessively ambitious in their simultaneous coverage of multi-sectoral and/or multi-agency activities. Accordingly, Professor Adedeji underlined the need to avoid spreading resources too thinly across sectors. In this regard, the Board asked OCHA to continue to focus on operational projects that emphasize well-defined outputs, target a wide array of beneficiaries, include a strong local government buy-in and promote long-term sustainability. The Board also emphasized the need to ensure that key funding criteria are appropriately followed when considering joint projects between UN and non-UN entities.
  
  
• In reviewing the Guidelines, the Board therefore concluded that while there was no need for revisions at this time, more attention should be paid to the effectiveness and outcomes of the projects funded under the UNTFHS.

5. Expansion of the resource base of the UNTFHS

• Members underlined the ongoing challenge of expanding the resource base of the UNTFHS. In this context, Board members further explored several possibilities to ensure the sustainability of the current level of funding for the UNTFHS. The Board noted and welcomed the Government of Japan’s continuing efforts in leading discussions on co-funding of projects, notably with the Government of Canada. Meanwhile, Ambassador Takasu noted that a common understanding of human security needed to be reached prior to bringing donors together. Subsequently, the Government of Japan announced it would continue its consultations with interested UN Member States, while both the Board and OCHA agreed to use their comparative advantages in initiating or continuing discussions with further potential donors.
  
  
• In view of expanding the resource base of the UNTFHS, the Board noted the necessity of ensuring the Fund’s financial sustainability but also underlined the need to attain a certain degree of universality in terms of donor representation. Mr. Riza noted that the UNTFHS should seek to gather the support of a wide array of UN Member States, even through minimal contributions, rather than seek to attract large contributions from a select group of countries.
  
  
• The Board also noted that efforts to expand the resource base of the UNTFHS should not compromise the multi-dimensional approach of the Fund or undermine the added value of the human security concept. In this regard, Mr. Smith cautioned the Board that opening the UNTFHS to earmarked contributions would contradict the core values and general purposes of the Trust Fund.
  
  
• In addition to expanding the donor base of the UNTFHS, the Board considered several possibilities to strengthen the Fund’s cooperation with new and existing funding mechanisms within the United Nations. Ms. Bárcena reminded the Board of the recent establishment of the Peacebuilding Fund, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Democracy Fund. The Board welcomed and highlighted these new mechanisms as an opportunity for cooperation and an avenue for the expansion of activities around key issues pertaining to human security.

6. Eligibility of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to apply to the UNTFHS

• In response to a request from IOM, the Government of Japan announced its willingness to support IOM’s eligibility for direct funding from the UNTFHS. The Board acknowledged IOM’s request, however, members cautioned that the decision on IOM’s eligibility would establish a precedent regarding the Fund’s management and its access to non-UN entities. In this regard, the Board agreed to postpone its decision on IOM’s eligibility for direct funding from the UNTFHS until its next meeting and asked the HSU to support an evaluation mission by Dr. Pitsuwan to the IOM project sites in Thailand, in order to properly assess ground level implementation by IOM.

7. Evaluation of the UNTFHS

• The Board welcomed the team of evaluators from Dalberg Global Development Advisors to the meeting. In reviewing preliminary findings presented by Dalberg, the Board noted that valuable recommendations had been put forward but raised a number of concerns on the methodology and the scope of the evaluation. Members of the ABHS notably felt that the suggested sample of five projects selected for evaluation out of the 154 projects in the UNTFHS portfolio may not be sufficiently representative. The Board further underlined that out of four projects evaluated in the field, three were located in the same region. Members noted as well that the selection and suggested desk-review of the African Millennium Villages initiative might not be representative of standard UNTFHS projects. Subsequently, the Board emphasized the need for the evaluators to more closely follow the Terms of Reference established for the evaluation of the UNTFHS and noted their interest in  receiving the final report.

8. Outreach for human security

• The Board noted that one of the core objectives of the UNTFHS is to disseminate human security and while there have been many advances in this area the ABHS highlighted the need for continued promotion of the concept. Ambassador Takasu thus announced the organization of the first meeting of the "Friends of Human Security", an informal network of UN Member States to follow up on the mandate given by the World Summit Outcome Document to seek collaborative action for promoting human security. Moreover, he noted that debates on human security could be facilitated in the General Assembly at an appropriate time, without necessarily aiming at a formal resolution.
   
• In addition to increasing dialogue with UN Member States, the Board reiterated the need to devise strategies for dissemination of human security amongst regional actors and institutions. In this regard, Ms. Picado informed the Board of the UNTFHS project that she is developing in collaboration with the HSU which aims to promote the concept of human security in the Latin American continent. In Asia, Dr. Pitsuwan announced his participation in an upcoming workshop jointly organized by UNESCO and the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on "Human Security in South-east Asia". Meanwhile, Ambassador Takasu highlighted the increasing interest of the European Union and the OSCE in the human security concept.
   
• Finally, Mr. Riza emphasized the need to ensure that dissemination activities by OCHA also lead to endorsements at the intergovernmental and policy levels, notably the mainstreaming of human security in the activities of the Peacebuilding Commission, the World Bank, and others.

9. Concluding remarks

• Mrs. Ogata concluded the meeting with the Board agreeing to the following action points and noted October 2007 as a tentative date for the next ABHS meeting:

1. OCHA will continue to provide the ABHS with regular updates on project activities, liaise with the Board on outreach for human security, and support field visits to project sites by members of the ABHS.
2. The Government of Japan will continue to consider the expansion of the donor base while OCHA and the Board will also use their comparative advantages in seeking new partnerships and potential donors.
3. In response to the request from IOM to be granted access to the UNTFHS, OCHA will circulate progress reports submitted by IOM's collaborating partners to the Board members and will also arrange a field visit by Dr. Pitsuwan to project sites under the joint WHO-IOM initiative in Thailand.
4. Based on the ToR for the evaluation of the UNTFHS, an in-depth report will be submitted to the Board by the first quarter of 2007.
5. OCHA will continue to focus on operational projects that emphasize well-defined outputs, target a wide array of beneficiaries, include a strong local government buy-in and promote long-term sustainability.

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