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In Myanmar, Only Ex-Poppy Farmers Get UN Human Security Trust Funds, Concept Still Ill-Defined

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, June 18 -- Four weeks after a strangely contentious UN General Assembly debate on the concept of "human security," on Wednesday a new guidelines for the UN Trust Fund for Human Security were unveiled. Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar, who serves on the Trust Fund's advisory board, led the discussion, explaining that while initially Japan was the only funder, now Slovenia and Thailand have joined, and non-state donors are being sought. But what does the UN mean by human security? The introduction to the 36-page guidelines leads in another direction, "for a more detailed definition of of human security, please refer to page 4 of the Human Security Now report." There, the concept is to "complement state security" in that its concern is with "the individual... rather than the state."

   Picking up on seeming code-word, and remembering the Cuban delegation's May 22 denunciation of human security as an "ambiguous concept.. to justify any action and attempt against the sacred principles of sovereignty," Inner City Press asked Mr. Nambiar if the Trust Fund has any projects in, to use a timely example, Myanmar. Nambiar flipped through some papers and said yes, there is a project with ex-poppy farmers in border areas, that began in 2007 and runs through next year. The first part of the answer was later confirmed on the Trust Fund's web site, which does not however provide the years nor amount of funding of the projects, click here to view.

Messrs. Holmes, Ban and Nambiar and Myanmar map, human security not shown

   The other questions asked during the session were from prospective recipients of funds, that is, UN offices, agencies and affiliates. UNESCO spoke, as did Disarmament Affairs and the International Organization on Migration, which has been added to the list of possible fundees.  It was said that since 1999, $364 million have been given out. It would definitely seem, then, that a list of projects and funding amounts should be more readily available. Also on the advisory board, which meets once a year, are Sadako Ogata, Sonia Picardo, Japan's Ambassador and Lakhdar Brahimi, whose report on the December bombing of the UN in Algiers it still under wraps, being vetted by Nicolas Michel's Office of Legal Affairs according to the spokesperson. Human security was clearly needed in Algiers. The purpose or thrust of the concept, or how it is distinguished from development, or humanitarian aid, remains amorphous.  As Wednesday 's session ended, Inner City Press asked a staffer about Cuba's denunciation. "They are confusing it with Responsibility to Protect," the staffer said. Perhaps.

   While one is tempted, then, to conclude that Cuba was right, that "human security" as a goal is ambiguous and even dangerous, Mr. Nambiar in his response said that the funding should not be politicized. This is the approach to Myanmar of the UN and of its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which oversees the Trust Fund. OCHA's John Holmes, who has veered from calling Than Shwe's government a "regime" to praising it, has been even more diplomatic (due to his British nationality, it's said) when it comes to Zimbabwe, another country in which the Trust Fund has made donations, amount and even year unknown. Uzbekistan, too, through the UN Development Program, which for the Karimov government helps with software and tax collection, for a regime, in Holmes' word, which blocks the Internet and tortures political opponents.

    The staffer of the Trust Fund, Kazuo Tase, said in answer to the Myanmar question that the Fund does not distinguish between development and humanitarian aid or human rights, but looks for an "inter-linked" approach.  We will continue to seek out information about this concept, and the Trust Fund. Watch this site.

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These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

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