The second meeting of the “Friends of Human Security” (FHS) was held on 20 April 2007 at UN Headquarters and was co-chaired by Ambassador Yukio Takasu (Japan) and Ambassador Claude Heller, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations.

The meeting was attended by representatives from 34 Member States and 12 international organizations. Intended as an informal forum, the meeting was an opportunity for participants to gather and discuss the concept of human security and explore possible collaborative efforts to mainstream human security and formulate joint initiatives. 

In opening the meeting, Ambassadors Takasu and Heller both underlined that human security had gained increasing currency in the international community, noting as well that the call contained in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document to discuss and define the notion of human security is a unique opportunity to further advance the concept. Ambassador Heller also stressed that human security lies at the core of preventive efforts by the UN, while the concept is also central in advancing notions of civil, economic, cultural and social rights in national development strategies.

Thereafter, participants turned to a discussion on the concept and reviewed ongoing initiatives and current international priorities in the field of human security. Member States of the Friends of Human Security agreed that the FHS should not necessarily seek to develop a legal definition of human security but rather work towards a broader and deeper common understanding of the concept. In this regard, participants agreed that the concept should be promoted and further disseminated in an action-oriented manner, highlighting the many contributions of human security in the areas of prevention of armed conflict and violence against children, the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons, the prevention of human trafficking, the empowerment of communities to reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters, the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, and the promotion of seamless transitions between emergency relief, peacebuilding and development. 

Participants finally reviewed upcoming events aimed to further discuss and promote the human security concept.  Slovenia, the current Chair of the Human Security Network, announced the forthcoming 9th Ministerial Meeting of the Human Security Network to be held in Ljubljana in May.  In addition, Spain informed the participants of the organization of the upcoming seminar on Human Security also to be held in May in Vienna and convened under the Spanish Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). 

The meeting was closed by Ambassador Takasu who announced that the FHS would prepare a compendium on current and future activities on the topic of human security for distribution to all UN Member States. 

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