126
Although the relationship between environmental degradation and conflict is not as linear as
envisioned in the neo-Malthusian formulation, the worsening of environmental conditions
undoubtedly harms the livelihood and well-being of individuals. Environmental security is then
included in a broader (or maximalist)
view of human security, which assumes that the safety of the
individual is the key to global security (Hampson, 2008). According to Alkire, “the objective of human
security is to safeguard the vital core of all human lives from critical pervasive threats, in a way that
is consistent with long-term human fulfillment” (2003). The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) introduced the concept with the publication of the 1994 Human Development
Report. The Report acknowledges environmental security (“protecting people from the short- and
long-term ravages of nature, man-made threats in nature, and deterioration of the natural
environment”) as one of the seven defining areas of human security. Along with this, food security
(“ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to basic food”) is also
comprised as a critical dimension (UNDP, 1994).
These two areas (environmental and food security) are inextricably linked since ecological damage
may affect the agro-food supply chain and consequently trigger economic shocks, particularly in
countries where development is at early stage and agriculture is the largest sector of economic
activity. To a certain extent the stable availability of and access to food is dependent on safe water,
adequate sanitation and proper hygiene education – a key interrelated public health issue that is
generally referred to as WASH in international development and humanitarian interventions.
Therefore, water-stressed countries are more vulnerable to chronic or transitory food insecurity.
Such a circumstance suggests that water and food security should be seen together in their interplay
with climate change on one side, and political stability on the other side. For instance, Barnett and
Adger (2007) put forward that climate driven outcomes - be they long term and chronic (such as
declining productivity of agricultural land) or episodic (such as floods and droughts) - “may
undermine human security by reducing access to, and the quality of, natural resources that are
important to sustain livelihoods”. In this regard, the impacts on livelihoods will be more pronounced
“in sectors of the population with high resource-dependency, and in more environmentally and
socially marginalized areas”.
Academic research on climate-induced deterioration in water and food security and their
interactions with political conflict eventually looks at the adaptive capacity of the targeted
countries. The lower the institutional, economic, and technological capabilities to cope with
external and internal threats, the higher the exposure to instability and the likelihood of violence.
Since “the link between environmentally induced migration and conflict remains speculative”
(Bernauer et al. 2012a) and this is mainly due to the lack of long-term data on the linkages between
environmental degradation and migration flows on one side and the effect of environmentally
induced migration on the other side (Laczko & Aghazarm, 2009; Bilsborrow & Henry, 2012), the
implementation of further research is needed. PRIMA builds on this direction one of its research
lines taking advantages from the active interaction between EU member states and several
countries affected by migration flows in the Mediterranean area. Dealing with countries interested
both from incoming and outgoing flows would be an asset in order to conduct research activities
and to measure relative impacts. Moreover, the multidisciplinary approach ranging from the social
sciences, to the life sciences seems to be the methodology largely recognised to cope with a similar
topic.
127
Fundamental rights:
Gender equality, equality treatment and
opportunities, non–discrimination, and rights of
persons with disabilities
Promoting a culture of acceptance and inclusion of any form of diversity is a milestone of the
European Union, supported by the “European Convention on Human Rights” (including Protocol 12)
and the European Union’s Gender Equality Directives, Racial Equality Directive and Employment
Equality Directive” and shall be endorsed by the PRIMA initiative and systematically/practically
carried out during its implementation. Further documents issued by the European Commission have
dealt with issues of gender equality and among others: Report on Progress on Equality between
Women and Men – The gender balance in business leadership (2010), She Figures – Gender in
research and innovation (from 2003 to 2015), the Gender equality strategy mid-term review 2010-
2015 (2013), Gendered Innovations – How gender analysis contributes to research (2013), and also
A Women's Charter - Declaration by the European Commission on the occasion of the 2010
International Women's Day Strengthened Commitment to Equality between Women and Men
(2010).
The EU objectives on gender equality are to ensure equal opportunities and equal treatment for
men and women and to tackle any form of discrimination on the grounds of gender. Within the
PRIMA Initiative, participants will act according to the European policy of equal opportunities to
ensure gender equality.
In addition, PRIMA looks at fulfilling these same principles in carrying out the programme as set by
the European Charter for Researchers, which among its Principles and Requirements specifies the
terms of the relationship between researchers and employers or funders, expected to be conducive
to successful performance at all stages of the process of knowledge and technological development.
On gender equality as a field of investigation in today’s research
Looking at these documents we see how we are rather far from achieving gender equality in
research. This is overall regrettable for society/the humanity not to say overall for women, being
these in any culture and at any stage of their career, since they feel that they cannot give their
contribution and be fully valorised. However, this is also regrettable for any minority, including
ethnical ones, or for all individuals that feel to be emarginated in consideration of any form of
disability. Specifically on figures showing the extent of gender inequality, these documents above
show how women are still under-represented in both the public and private research sectors: for
instance, only one third of European researchers are women, and this proportion falls to less than
one fifth in the business sector. In the higher education sector, where initially women graduates
outnumber their male colleagues, women represent only ten per cent of the rectors of universities.
Furthermore, we still have an unbalanced representation of women and men in decision making
bodies with on average only one woman for every two men on scientific and management boards
across the EU.
As a result of the figures described above, in today’s research there has been close attention to
issues of gender equality/inequality in most recent years, these including gender typing or