Page 64 - Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security

MEXICO
POPULATION
Citizen empowerment and security
The crisis of insecurity, violence and human rights violations that exists in Mexico has led to a myriad of responses from the population. As one interviewee
emergence has drawn national and international media attention and forced the government
to start a dialogue with those affected by violence. As stated by an interviewee, “These movements have expressed their weariness of the government’s ineffectiveness, yet they are not asking for ‘iron fist’ policies that could generate more violence or abuses. They are asking for integral solutions.”
=10.000.000
THe STaTe-civic PaRTneRSHiP Hugo almada
Hugo almada is the dean of the graduate program on Humanist Psychotherapy and Peace education
of the autonomous university of ciudad Juárez. He is also a social activist and one of the members of the Mesa de Seguridad initiative, which originated in ciudad Juárez, chihuahua, which was classified as the most dangerous city in the world from 2008
to 2010.10
The origins of the Mesa de Seguridad
This initiative emerged because of three different factors. The first one is the security crisis itself, which prompted the participation of different stakeholders: universities, nongovernmental organisations, and business groups. Second, several civil society efforts were already in place when the violence escalated, like the 'Citizen Observatory for Security' and the 'Juarenses for Peace Group', which
fffffPOPULATION DISTRIBUTION BY AGE
18,1% 15-24
40,4% 25-54
from Ciudad Juárez describes, “People were outraged.
fffff122.3 MILLION IN 2013 (WORLD BANK 2014)
Everyone knew what was going on and how law enforcement institutions were in part responsible
for the increase of violence. But we were also very scared.” Citizen responses range from individual strategies – avoiding going out at night, installing alarm systems in homes, armouring automobiles, hiring private security – to collective responses. Some citizens have resorted to non-functional, semi-legal responses that perpetuate the cycles of violence.9 The main non-functional response is the
self-arming of civilians, a growing phenomenon
in western Mexico. As an interviewee said, “If 27,9% 0-14 the state cannot guarantee my safety I must do it
myself, and the easiest way of doing that is getting a
gun. This logic explains the recent emergence of the
autodefensas [armed civilian groups or vigilantes] in some parts of the country.”
Others have initiated functional collective
7% 55-64responses that both complement and/or monitor
6,6% 65+ the state. Two types of collective, functional responses to insecurity stand out: multi-
(INDEX MUNDI 2014s)takeholder dialogue platforms that enable citizens and civil society to influence public policies and
legislation, and national social movements whose
“If the state cannot guarantee
my safety I must do it
myself, and the easiest way
GLOBAL PEACE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
of doing that is getting a
138 71invite civil society to participate in an initiative recent emergence of the called Todos somos Juárez (We are all Juárez) to
discuss the security situation in the town. Finally, gun. This logic explains the the third factor has to do with Calderón’s idea to
INDEX 2014 INDEX 2013
autodefensas [armed civilian
address the seven most urgent issues of the city,
162
Seguridad is the committee that was created within 187
groups or vigilantes] in some parts of the country.”
the Todos somos Juárez initiative to discuss issues regarding insecurity and violence and to identify solutions in a collaborative way.
(IEP 2014) (UNDP 2014)
64 SToRieS of HuMan SecuRiTY | MexiCo
were both groups of citizens that met regularly to
including insecurity and violence. The Mesa de