Integrating health and human security into foreign policy: Cuba's surprising success
<p class="first" id="d132186e75">Human security has been thoroughly debated as a concept and discourse that is more sensitive to the needs of disadvantaged populations; however it has been only marginally implemented in the foreign and domestic polic...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pluto Journals
2008-05-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Cuban Studies |
| Online Access: | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.2307/41945989 |
| Summary: | <p class="first" id="d132186e75">Human security has been thoroughly debated as a concept and discourse that is more
sensitive to the needs of disadvantaged populations; however it has been only marginally
implemented in the foreign and domestic policies of the countries where its application
has been most actively discussed. We feel that it is unfortunate that energy has primarily
focused on theorization of the term rather than examination of empirical examples
where human security is or could be put into practice. To provide a stark contrast
to the much talk but little action on human security, we offer a case study of Cuba's
foreign policy initiatives in primary health-care provision. Cuba sends thousands
of health-care professionals to under-serviced regions of the world, and trains physicians
from modest and humble backgrounds. The Cuban experience demonstrates how a policy
committed to combating structural violence in the developing South leads to a practice
that provides basic needs and enhances capabilities for the marginalized - at root
a central concern of human security! Cuba has done a great deal to develop such policy,
but this has come with internal challenges, political turmoil, and at times questionable
outcomes, amid limited recognition. Nevertheless, Cuba's 48-year foreign policy of
providing assistance and security at the individual level is a fitting example of
human security beyond rhetoric for the twenty-first century.
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| ISSN: | 1756-3461 1756-347X |