The Third International Academic Conference on Human Security 2016 was held in Belgrade, and it gathered more than 130 eminent experts and lecturers from 19 world countries. The conference was organised by the Human Security Research Centre of the Faculty of Security Studies of the University of Belgrade, in cooperation with the Citizen’s Network for Peace, Reconciliation and Human Security, supported by European Commission.
“Human security is a field of complex interactions of at least seven factors, which are discussed in the Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme from 1994. Human security cannot be studied without taking various specificities into account, such as the nature of the political system, economic conditions, health care system functionality, state of the environment, workplace and living conditions, etc.”, said Želimir Kešetović, Faculty of Security Studies Associate Dean, at the Conference opening ceremony. Irena Vojačkova Solorano, the permanent UN coordinator in Serbia, highlighted the importance of academic debates on human security. “It is necessary to examine human security from all angles. These debates are more needed than ever, in order for them to foster ideas which will inspire citizens and governments to move forward”, said Vojačkova Solorano.
Keynote speakers at the Conference were eminent experts from the field of human security: Mary Martin (LSE), Edward Newman (University of Leeds), J. Peter Burgess (Professor Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris), Dragana Avramov (Population and Social Policy Consultants (PSPC) Brussels), Selim Jahan, chair of the UNDP New York office, who authored the most recent report on human development for 2015.
The Conference consisted of four separate panels: Human security, migrations, and development 1; Natural disasters, health, and human security; Legislation and ethical questions on human security; Human security, migrations, and development 2. At a separate panel, Citizen’s Network for Peace, Reconciliation and Human Security members presented a regional report on human security in the context of migration, economic questions, the youth, trust in the judicial system and the police. Within the Conference, Nasir Hussain (Department of Health) and Dejana Jovanović Popović held a methodological workshop on the techniques which could be employed against complex, uncertain, and interconnected issues.
A large number of theoretical and empirical papers on human security in various contexts, from a global level to the everyday life of individuals, were presented at the Conference. The importance of interdisciplinary approaches to the issues of human security was highlighted, and the existing tension between objective indicators of human security and its subjective perception was pointed to.
