The Human Security concept, developed originally by the UN, puts poor people at the centre of perceptions and analysis and focuses on the issues they cite as important. ActionAid’s experience in emergencies and conflict has grown considerably over the last 10 years, and we have responded quickly and effectively to numerous recent large-scale humanitarian disasters. Accordingly, we have adopted human security in emergencies and conflict as one of our six core areas of work, with three main strands: disaster risk reduction, emergency response and conflict. This comprises: national and global policy work to address the root causes of natural and human-made disasters (including conflict); pre-disaster preparedness work to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities; and post-emergency relief, rehabilitation and recovery programmes.