Dissertation Proposal Defense: Nilofar Sakhi - Manifestation Of Human Security Through Community Empowerment: In Kabul & Herat of Afghanistan
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MANIFESTATION OF HUMAN SECURITY THROUGH COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
In Kabul & Herat of Afghanistan
By Nilofar Sakhi
May 4, 2016
2:30pm- 4:30pm
Metropolitan Building Room 5145
COMMITTEE
Chair: Dr. Karina Korostelina
Dr. Richard Rubenstein
Dr. Connie L. McNeely
ABSTRACT
Human security is a widely defined term with expanded explanation across the literature. The term is often used interchangeably with development programs and humanitarian assistance. Human security multiple approaches and comprehensiveness of social, economic, and political theories made its implementation difficult in several contexts. From theoretical perspectives, human security captures almost everything about reconstruction and development but in terms of implementation it shortfalls the approaches to produce concrete outcomes.
This study is about the concept of human security and how it can be implemented at the level of local community through community empowerment processes.
The study will be conducted in Afghanistan, with a goal to develop a context-based implementation of human security programs through a specific approach of community empowerment. To understand human agency of both the implementers and the service providers of human security programs, the study will examine the social and structural factors that could empower the communities. The research will employ interviews and thematic analysis methods to interpret interviewees’ views about the concept of empowerment and its relationships with human security programs. For the purpose of this study, I have selected Afghanistan National Solidarity Program (NSP), which has a goal to increase human security through community programs. Through an investigation of how communities based on their experiences with NSP define empowerment and how they develop relationship with implementation of human security programs, this study intends to focus on indigenous approaches to human security implementation that could have both practice and policy implications.