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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
A grand design to address the problem of economic security a key alternatives to the functions of a culture of war - is spelled out in the 1994 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme. This is considered in the form of four new challenges: sustainable human development, new dimensions of human security, capturing the peace dividend and a new design for development co operation.

Sustainable human development addresses economic and social security by putting people at the centre of development. This differs from previous measures which tended to measure national income regardless of how it was invested. A society which spends its income on armaments or over exploits the productive capacity of the environment cannot produce a sustainable development. Instead, income should be used to enhance the living conditions of the poor and provide services which they can use. By investing in human capital, especially through education, it can enhance productivity both now and in the future. The essence of sustainable human development is that everyone should have equal access to development opportunities.

New dimensions of human security include economic and social security as well as military security - the conventional security of national territory from external aggression and global security from the threat of a nuclear holocaust. These dimensions emphasize people's security and sustainable human development. They include: an assured basic income; access to basic food; good personal health; a healthy physical environment; freedom from the threat of violence; cultural identity and the support of the community; respect for basic human rights. To provide human security the international community must find ways to address new threats, including unchecked population


Oscar Arias Sanchez' Global Demilitarization Fund

Oscar Arias Sanchez, former Costa Rican President and 1987 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has proposed a Global Demilitarization Fund which would 'add dynamism' to the current demilitarization trend by rewarding disarmament efforts.

In practice, the Fund would have three distinct components: a 'restitution account' which would provide financial support for such undertakings as demining, armed forces demobilization and reintegration, refugee repatriation and post-conflict reconstruction; a 'transformation account', predicated on the adoption of international accords that would mandate sharp reductions in weapons; and a 'peace building account' which would assist in the establishment of new international institutions and mechanisms for such activities as disarmament verification, peacekeeping, conflict mediation, election monitoring, and other purposes.

Arias' plan proposes that developed countries earmark one-fifth, and developing countries one-tenth of their 'peace dividend', although, as Arias says, 'the actual numbers are not important. What is important is the principle of committing a portion of the peace dividend to promote global demilitarization.'

growth, disparities in economic opportunities, excessive international migration, environmental degradation, drug production and trafficking, and international terrorism.

In its section on Capturing the peace dividend the Human Development Report addresses economic conversion from military to civilian production, providing an alternative to the profits which support a

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Sustainable development requires investment in human capital through education rather than spending on armaments or over-exploitation of the environment.

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