By Don Edwarles MKM | Gateway News
KAMPALA, UGANDA — Security and development can no longer be treated as completely separate national priorities, according to a new research initiative being developed by Prince Mawanda Edward Charles Don Edwarles, Founder, CEO and Principal Development Consultant of DET Development Consult Services Inc.
The proposed study, titled “Integrating Security and Development: Towards a Human-Centred, Peaceful and Resilient Development Framework for Uganda,” seeks to examine how security conditions affect development and how development conditions can influence people’s resilience and security.
The initiative comes at a time when governments and development organisations increasingly recognise that economic progress, peace, good governance, justice and human wellbeing are closely connected.
Security is more than policing
According to the research concept, security should not be understood only in terms of crime, policing, defence or protection of territory.
The United Nations Development Programme’s 1994 Human Development Report helped broaden the international understanding of security by placing people and their wellbeing at the centre of the discussion. It identified dimensions including economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political security.
For ordinary citizens, the argument is straightforward.
A farmer needs security to protect his or her land and livelihood. A student needs a safe environment in which to learn. A businessperson needs a predictable environment in which to invest. A family needs access to healthcare, food, employment and justice.
These are development issues—but they also have important security dimensions.
When insecurity destroys development
Insecurity can reverse years of development progress.
Conflict, violence, crime and institutional instability can disrupt businesses, destroy property, interrupt education, undermine healthcare delivery, displace communities and discourage investment.
The World Bank’s World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development highlighted the relationship between conflict, weak institutions and development, emphasizing the importance of institutions that can provide security, justice and opportunities.
This raises an important question for Uganda: Can development programmes achieve sustainable results if the security, governance and resilience of the communities they serve are ignored?
The proposed research intends to investigate that question rather than assume an answer.
Poverty is not insecurity — but vulnerability matters
The study will also examine the relationship between poverty, unemployment, inequality and insecurity carefully.
The research does not propose that poor people are inherently a security threat.
Instead, it seeks to understand how economic vulnerability, lack of opportunities, exclusion and weak access to services may affect people’s ability to withstand shocks and participate fully in development.
This distinction is important because development research must avoid stereotyping communities while still examining genuine vulnerabilities.
Youth at the centre
Youth employment and skills development will be another important area of the proposed study.
For Uganda’s young population, education is only one part of the development equation.
The transition from education to employment, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods can determine whether young people are able to build secure futures.
The research will therefore examine the relationship between:
Education → Skills → Employment and Enterprise → Income → Resilience → Community Development.
The study will investigate these relationships empirically rather than assuming that unemployment automatically produces insecurity.
Good governance as the bridge
The proposed research places considerable attention on governance.
Strong institutions can help citizens access services, resolve disputes, obtain justice and participate in public affairs.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 similarly links peace and inclusive societies with justice and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions.
This means that development planning cannot focus only on physical infrastructure and economic indicators.
Questions of accountability, service delivery, public trust, participation and access to justice also matter.
Climate and environmental pressures
Environmental challenges will form another component of the proposed research.
Climate-related shocks, land degradation, water pressures and other environmental problems can affect livelihoods, particularly in communities that depend heavily on agriculture and natural resources.
The research will investigate how environmental vulnerability intersects with development, livelihoods and community resilience.
UNDP’s human-security work has similarly highlighted environmental change among interconnected threats to human wellbeing.
A six-pillar approach
The proposed DET Development Consult Services framework identifies six broad areas for investigation:
1. Human Security — protecting people, livelihoods and dignity.
2. Inclusive Development — expanding education, health, employment, infrastructure and economic opportunity.
3. Good Governance — strengthening accountability, justice and effective institutions.
4. Peace and Social Cohesion — promoting dialogue, cooperation and peaceful conflict resolution.
5. Sustainable Livelihoods — strengthening agriculture, entrepreneurship, employment and skills.
6. Resilience — enabling households, communities and institutions to withstand and recover from shocks.
The framework is proposed as a basis for research and validation, rather than as a conclusion already established by the study.
Research will go to the communities
The proposed study is expected to use a combination of quantitative and qualitative research.
Researchers may engage communities, local government officials, development practitioners, civil-society organisations, academics, youth representatives, private-sector actors and other relevant stakeholders.
Questionnaires, interviews, focus-group discussions, case studies and document reviews are expected to form part of the methodology.
The objective is to combine statistics with people’s lived experiences.
From research to policy
According to Don Edwarles, the ultimate value of the initiative will be its practical application.
The research is expected to produce an integrated security-development framework, policy recommendations, a policy brief, assessment tools and guidance that could potentially support development planning at national, local-government and community levels.
It could also contribute to academic debate on the relationship between development management, human security, governance, peacebuilding and resilience.
A changing understanding of development
The proposed research reflects a broader international shift in development thinking.
Development is increasingly viewed not simply as economic growth, but as a process involving human wellbeing, opportunity, institutions, participation, dignity and resilience.
Likewise, security is increasingly discussed in terms that include people’s economic, social, environmental and personal vulnerabilities.
The challenge is finding the appropriate balance between these dimensions without confusing institutional mandates.
The big question
For Uganda, the proposed study ultimately comes down to one fundamental question:
How can the country strengthen development while also strengthening the ability of individuals, communities and institutions to withstand insecurity and other shocks?
There is no single answer.
But, according to the research concept, finding evidence-based answers requires development experts, researchers, government institutions, communities, civil society and other stakeholders to examine the security-development relationship together.
As Uganda continues to pursue economic transformation and improved human development, the proposed research by Prince Mawanda Edward Charles Don Edwarles and DET Development Consult Services Inc. seeks to add another dimension to the national conversation:
Development should improve people’s opportunities and wellbeing, while secure and resilient communities should help make those development gains sustainable.
That, ultimately, is the idea behind integrating security and development.
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References
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Evolution of Thinking and Research on Human and Personal Security 1994–2013.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2022 Special Report on Human Security: New Threats to Human Security in the Anthropocene.
World Bank. World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development.
United Nations. Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
