Human Security in Pakistan • Leveraging our diversity and vast potential while countering negative perceptions about Pakistan and proactively engaging Pakistani diaspora on national issues. Human Security Pakistan’s youth is the future of our country. Equipping them with the necessary tools and environment for their productive contribution towards to the nation will help leapfrog Pakistan into the future. • Ensuring population stabilization and management, urban planning, reenergizing the rural economy, and the equitable development of smaller cities and towns to decrease urban migration. • Pursuing youth-focused policies to promote skills development and entrepreneurship. • Guaranteeing food security by increasing cultivatable land, adopting climate-resilient agriculture, and legislating against illegal market practices. • Improving preventive healthcare, strengthening disease surveillance and prevention, and instituting pandemic and epidemic response mechanisms. • Mainstreaming climate adaptation and strengthening robust disaster preparedness, management, and response mechanisms. • Developing a cohesive response to looming water scarcity through improved storage capacity, sustainable water management, and protecting transboundary water rights. • Enabling participation of women and transgender persons in all avenues of public life and maximizing their inclusion in public institutions and decision-making forums. 3.2 Comments The new National Security Policy for 2022-2026, which is described above, represents a major step forward from the traditional notion of security as defense, military preparedness, and sovereignty. The focus now in the policy is to take a holistic approach and include human security and the well-being of citizens. Underlining this paradigmatic shift is the emphasis on economic security by reducing external financial vulnerability, promoting equitable economic development, and removing regional disparities. However, this citizen­centric policy is still to be presented to the Parliament. It is significant that the term‘human’ has not been included in the title of the policy. This testifies to the continued orientation towards the traditional notion of security. Human security has been included as only one of the six components. Two of the components of defense and territorial integrity and internal security continue to have the same inclination to the traditional notion of security. Clearly, more progressive steps will need to be taken to focus on the broader concept of human security in the country. 20