REDEFINING HUMAN SECURITY CONCERNS: NEW MEDIA AND SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY

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REDEFINING HUMAN SECURITY CONCERNS NEW MEDIA
AND SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY

• Engaging the next generation of leaders

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The Emerging Power of Social Media

• Social networking tools serve as an equalizer and
  have a multiplier effect with the opportunity to
  give a voice to anyone with a cell phone or
  internet connection
• Access- this is the key word for the impact of
  new tools although access doesnt necessitate
  participation such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr
• Important to remember that these are tools that
  require mobilization in order to be effective

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Web 2.0 Impact of Social Media Tools

• Iranian election protests 2009- US State
  Department urges Twitter to delay maintenance
• Arab Spring- Channels of facilitation or
  Causal relationship?
• Egyptian Army on Facebook
• Wael Ghonim of Google
• Myanmars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
  demands access to social media
• 1500 bloggers, 500 blog regularly
• New record 3000 tweets per second
• Osama bin Laden

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Ushahidi Testimony

• Began as a program developed to record acts of
  violence in Kenya during the post-election 2008
  fallout
• Allows individuals to send reports via SMS
  message and website
• Implementation cases
• India
• DRC
• Zambia
• Philippines
• Haiti

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The Importance of Linkages

• Human security as a cohesive and porous concept
  disarmament, protection of civilians, and womens
  participation
• Synergistic relationship
• Small arms as an instigator of and instrument for
  perpetration of mass atrocities
• Dearth of gender-focused DDR programs in
  post-conflict societies
• Identifying womens participation as crucial to
  all peace processes
• Utilizing social networking tools to provide the
  platform and facilitate discussion of such
  linkages

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Disarmament DialoguesA Case Study

• Engaging youth to discuss and re-define human
  security concerns, with a focus on disarmament,
  in light of the shift in security concerns and
  architecture
• Opportunities for linkages and interaction
• Seeking to secure a place for disarmament on the
  international agenda that is relevant,
  contemporary, and effective
• Provide insider information in the hopes of
  educating, but also seeking to engage using tools
  that are, in large part, already mainstream

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Diversity of Audience

• New York UN missions
• Government officials/MPs
• Human rights activists
• UN agencies
• NGOs
• Students
• Private sector practitioners

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Tweeting and Engaging on Wide-ranging Issues

• _at_DisarmDialogues Finally - some common sense from
  
• a gov! RT _at_TIME Japan has decided to stop
  building
• new nuclear plants ti.me/kzHQq6
• _at_DisarmDialogues penalties and sanctions? Do they
  
• mention how the proceeds from those are used?
• One possible way - victimassistance.
• RT _at_DisarmDialogues Challenges of making marking
  of smallarms
• a uniform process discussion _at_UN meeting - what
  about using
• the armstreaty?
• _at_DisarmDialogues Discutiendo en la ONU cómo los
  países marcan las armas ligeras desde
  importación hasta exportación y esfuerzos de
  desarme
• _at_DisarmDialogues Can anyone argue a positive
  impact of the Conference of Disarmament in the
  last 15 years? Which future for the CD? Reform?

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Critical Questions

• How can social media and technologies be used to
  engage youth in addressing pressing human
  security concerns?
• What are some of the challenges and dangers
  facing users of these tools?
• In addition to early-warning mechanisms, how do
  you think these tools can be used as conversation
  starters among the next generation of policy
  stakeholders?
• How can social media tools help to not just pass
  on this work to young practitioners, but also
  appropriately re-define it for their generation?

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Join the Conversation!

• Twitter _at_DisarmDialogues
• Facebook Page
• Disarmament Dialogues
• Contact Katherine Prizeman
• katherine_at_globalactionpw.org