People queue to take nucleic acid tests in Seoul, South Korea, February 9, 2022. /CFP
People feel insecure in almost every country, with six in seven worldwide experiencing feelings of insecurity, according to new figures and analysis released by the UN Development Program (UNDP) on Tuesday.
Even citizens in countries with some of the best health, wealth and education outcomes are reporting greater anxiety than a decade ago.
"Despite global wealth being higher than ever before, a majority of people are feeling apprehensive about the future and these feelings have likely been exacerbated by the pandemic," said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.
"In our quest for unbridled economic growth, we continue to destroy our natural world while inequalities are widening, both within and between countries. It is time to recognize the signs of societies that are under immense stress and redefine what progress actually means."
The report, "New Threats to Human Security in the Anthropocene," calls for greater solidarity across borders to tackle the disconnect between development and perceived security.
UNDP also advocates a new approach to development that it hopes will help people to live free from want, fear, anxiety and indignity.
"We need a fit-for-purpose development model that is built around the protection and restoration of our planet with new sustainable opportunities for all," said Steiner.
Syrians flee their homes in the Ghwayran neighborhood in Hasakeh City, Syria, January 22, 2022. /CFP
UNDP first introduced the concept of human security in its landmark Human Development Report, issued in 1994.
This study signaled a radical departure from the idea that people's security should be assessed based only on territorial security, but instead take into account their basic needs, dignity and safety, so they can live a secure life.
UNDP believes the imperative to act now has never been clearer. For a second consecutive year, the pandemic has driven down global life expectancy at birth, as well as other measures of overall human development.
The authors argued that addressing these threats will require policy makers to consider protection, empowerment and solidarity alongside one another so that human security, planetary considerations and human development all work together and not despite each other.
The report further pointed to the strong association between declining levels of trust and feelings of insecurity. Trust is three times less likely to be found among those with higher levels of perceived human insecurity.
The report also revealed that healthcare systems between countries are widening. A new index in the report showed that healthcare performance inequality between countries with low and very high human development grew between 1995 and 2017.