The HDRO-hosted Colloquium “Human Security at 30: New security and development horizons in the Artificial Intelligence Age” will be held on 21 November at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The human security doctrine shifts attention from the security of borders, land and territories, to the security and wellbeing of individuals. The centrality of human security in conversations about today’s challenges is evident all around us. Violent conflicts are on the rise, all while large-scale transformations—from human driven planetary change to rapidly advancing AI technology—are reshaping the development and security landscape. In a world shaken by conflict, environmental hazards, polarization, pandemics, economic shockwaves, and the digital revolution, feelings of insecurity and alienation threaten to jeopardize our ability to cooperate and formulate solutions that put human wellbeing at the core.
“Thirty years have passed since the 1994 Human Development Report introduced for the first time the concept of human security,” said HDRO Director Pedro Conceição. “Now more than ever, it has become central in the way we address crises and create solutions to global challenges.” The colloquium will also explore how individuals’ perceptions of human security have evolved since 1994 and how they are being influenced by artificial intelligence today.
The speakers of the Colloquium will include:
- Laura Chinchilla, Former President of Costa Rica (2010-2014)
- Luis Felipe López Calva, Global Director Poverty and Equity, World Bank
- Ilana Ron Levey, Managing Director, Gallup
- Shen Xiaomeng, UNU Vice-Rector in Europe (UNU-VIE) and Director, UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
- Daniella Darlington, ITU Youth Advisory Board member, Co-founder of Copianto AI, and Affiliate at All Tech Is Human
- Rita Singh, Research Faculty, Language Technologies Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
- Rahul Bhargava, Principal at Connection Lab and Lead, Data Culture Group, Northeastern University
- Toby Ord, Senior Researcher, Oxford University
- Benjamin Prud'homme, Executive Director, AI for Humanity, Mila - Quebec AI Institute
The event will feature an interactive public-facing morning session geared towards the policymaking community, permanent missions to the UN, academia, and practitioners, followed by a closed-door technical roundtable in the afternoon focused on metrics for a new age.
These sessions will inform the research and writing of the 2025 Human Development Report. The preparation of the flagship UNDP Human Development Reports brings together multiple stakeholders in deliberation, knowledge-sharing, and innovation.
