The National Human Security Forum held a virtual meeting via Zoom in collaboration with the "Konrad Adenauer Foundation" titled "What are the priorities of human security for Lebanon in 2021 and why?"
The National News Agency reported that this discussion falls within the framework of the National Human Security Forum project, which began in November 2020 with a series of meetings involving various stakeholders focused on civil-military cooperation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as an effective defensive strategy for human security. The project aims to enhance partnerships among stakeholders in Lebanon, promote exchange and build trust, develop engagement capabilities, and create a framework for ongoing discussions on maintaining coordination efforts for rapid disaster response and addressing threats to human security.
During the meeting, the director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Lebanon, Dr. Malt Gayer, stated that this forum serves as a fundamental step towards improving civil-military coordination in responding to the crisis. He added that it provides a unique platform for ensuring effective communication and achieving synergy between security and the NGO sector, while preventing resource duplication. Gayer expressed confidence in the project's potential to grow into an institutional dialogue where representatives from each key sector coordinate their efforts, highlighting the strong ongoing interest expressed by the key stakeholders involved in this project.
Regarding the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Gayer clarified that enhancing security is a priority in its projects worldwide, aimed at addressing issues beyond traditional security policies by adopting approaches such as human security and disaster prevention.
On his part, Dr. Imad Salama, the project’s regulatory director, explained that the National Human Security Forum comprises numerous activities and comes at a time when the country is experiencing difficult circumstances, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe economic and political crisis. Salama added that the challenges and crises facing Lebanon compel us, as individuals and institutions from civil society, the international community, and Lebanese state institutions—including military and security sectors—to exert maximum efforts to confront these challenges. He noted that the forum aims to contribute to Lebanon’s protection and empower it to overcome crises by gathering recommendations from active entities to formulate a comprehensive human security strategy.
The agency indicated that the recommendations emerging from the forum focus on future meetings centering on economic security and ways to enhance community resilience, including civil-military cooperation in facing challenges. It noted that these meetings will feature prominent economic experts to present the current challenges and prospects for enhancing local resilience.
It is worth mentioning that the discussion included representatives from the military sector, security sector, civil society organizations, health organizations, the media sector, as well as international communities, the private sector, and local governments that show significant interest in the issue of human security and well-being in Lebanon.
