Page 98 - Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security

Our approach and process
To better understand how people experience human security, and perceptions of empowerment and protection, we asked six GPPAC member civil society organisations in different countries to conduct a small-scale study in each of their contexts. Together with several authors we formed an editorial board to guide peer review and support the editors with input on content.
A ‘terms of reference’ was developed in collaboration with the editorial board, to guide the overall process, including methods, objectives and style for each study. It included guidelines from the 2009 UN Human Security Unit’s Handbook on Human Security, which addresses issues of planning and design as related to the human security approach. In addition to the terms
Observations regarding the process of interviews and methodology were insightful in their own right about the level of fear associated with discussing ‘security’ or human security issues.
of reference, participating members were also provided with a template for consent forms for participants. The purpose of the consent forms was to ensure that any name attribution or use of photographic material in this publication was done only with explicit permission of the participant. Participants could also choose to only show their name and not their picture. Those who preferred to remain anonymous have been featured without any associations. Therefore, all the persons that are featured by name or picture in this publication have given their consent. Finally, the terms of reference also included a template – to be adapted and translated by participating organisations as appropriate – describing the concept of human
98 stories of Human security | A Methodology for huMAn Security
security and explaining the purpose of the project to interviewees and focus group participants.
Variations in method and data collection
For each country study, authors and their organisations followed the guidelines as set out
in the terms of reference to ensure a level of consistency. These guidelines allowed flexibility for them to choose the specific methods of interviewing and gathering information as suitable to the local contexts and to the type of expertise and approach of the respective organisations. It is important to allow human security concepts to be locally defined and realised.
The data collection methods used were mainly face-to-face interviews and focus groups, supported by survey-style questions in writing or by phone. Sample selection was done in different ways, including group discussions and workshops, with snowball sampling and street interviews. For the composition of the sample, the aim was to have
a diverse demographic in terms of age, gender,
and employment status, and including minority groups. It was an attempt to capture how different sources of insecurity interact, how it is experienced by different segments of society and what the implications are for communities.
While guidance was provided on open-ended interview questions, the actual questions posed were adapted to the context and circumstance
of the interviews. To understand how elements
of protection and empowerment are manifested, people were asked not only about their perception of safety and threats to their security, but also about their security providers and their coping strategies to deal with insecurities. The prioritisation of issues as presented in the chapters is based on outcome
of the interviews, not by a predetermined set of indicators or issues. Most of the interviews were conducted in different periods for each country, between December 2013 and June 2014.
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