[To achieve human security, recognizing the inter linkages of environment and society, and acknowledging that that our perceptions of our environment and the way we interact with our environment are historically, socially, and politically constructed. In this context human security is achieved when and where individuals and communities: (1) have the options necessary to end, mitigate, or adapt to threats to their human, environmental, and social rights. (2) have the capacity and the freedom to exercise these options; and (3) actively participate in attaining these options. Human security embodies the notion that problems must always be addressed from a broader perspective that encompasses both poverty and issues of equity (social, economic, environmental, or institutional) as it is these issues that often lead to insecurity and conflict. Steve Lonnergan, Gustavson, Carter: The Index of Human Security. United Nations