Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
07 February 2018
Post No. 25
Sustainable Development Month –
⇒ Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals
February is our sustainable development month according CENFACS development calendar/planner. The concept of sustainable development used by CENFACS is the one given by the World Commission on Environment and Development as “a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (1)
(1) Brundtland et al, Our Common Future, World Commission on Envirnment and Development, The Brundtland Report, Oxford University Press, London, 1987
Since the Global Goals for Sustainable Development were declared and agreed in 2015 by the United Nations, we tend to focus in February on these goals.
Last February, we tried to contextualise Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by placing them in children settings and programmes. As we are in CENFACS’ Year of the Locals this year, we are working on the best way of making SDGs local goals as well.
Localisation, which is the inverse process of globalisation, is a shift in the focus to the sub-national level. It is a process of making SDGs more suitable for local areas and people.
Localisation is needed because the process of globalisation of sustainable development does not always address the needs and concerns of people and communities at the local level.
Speaking about the connection between the local and contentious politics regarding global environmental governance, Kate O’ Neill (2) argues that “Global environmental change … has unequal impacts around the world”. (p. 208). She gives the case of Inuit Peoples of the Arctic Circle who need to take their own action to change global politics around environmental issues.
( 2 ) Kate O’ Neill, The Environment and International Relations, Cambridge University Press, 2009.
From Kate’s say, there is a need to localise SDGs to make them local people’s goals. Localisation of SDGs is just one of the many examples of localisation.
If any global goals for sustainable development and poverty relief touch local life and local people, then there would be a need to make them local; that is honed by local people.
This could be done for global goals (like SDGs and climate change goals). This is the same for regional, bilateral, multilateral, national and international goals.
To support and or enquiry about localisation of SDGs, please contact CENFACS
This February is also about the other two projects in our development calendar, which are: ACCSGDs (3G project) and project 16 in 4.
⇒ ACCSDGs
Continuing our advocacy from where we left it…
Our Work about ACCSDGs in 2017
Last year, we upgraded our work on the African Children’s Climate and Sustainable Development Goals with Contextualization of these global goals in any work we do for and with children.
Contextualizing sustainable development goals (SDGs) is a process of assigning meaning of sustainability in whatever we do and try to achieve as outcomes for and with children. We also contextualise climate goals.
As a result of this initiative, we contextualised and placed CSDGs in children settings and programmes, and measured their effects on the welfare and well-being of the same children.
This helped to widen the scope of the well-known three dimensional aspects of sustainability: economic, social and environmental. In doing so, we managed to improve our understanding of contextualising practice of CSDGs for children.
As part of this contextualising process, we dealt with the following two questions during the first act of 3G project:
1/ Are (or will) Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (CSDGs) working (work) for children?
2/ Are (will) CSDGs positively impacting (or impact) children’s welfare and well-being?
If the answers to these questions were no or little, then we needed to clearly advocate for strong impact from CSDGs for children in multi-dimensional aspects of their life: education, protection, housing, health, environment, economic well-being, social etc. Which we did.
The main purpose of this first act was to reduce and nullify adverse impacts of global goals on children while maximising benefits and good impacts deriving from the application of these goals. All this is done for the sake of children’s welfare and well-being.
So, 3G project is the impact level in CENFACS’ process of advocating that global goals work for children and not way around. It is indeed the testing of the gains that global goals claim to achieve and of their impact on the welfare and well-being of children.
To handle this process we may need to make and answer the same questions. Are global goals (here CSDGs) working for children? Are they positively impacting (strongly, weakly and averagely) child poverty or on children? The answers to these two questions provide the basis to formulate our advocacy in the context of 3G project, advocacy which is to demand not only an impact but a better impact from CSDGs.
This year’s work about ACCSDGs
One year on, we can argue that there are mixed opinions regarding the impacts of CSDGs. Some think there is an impact while others argue there is no difference.
However, it is too earlier to get the real impacts since SDGs have been around only for 2 years. It is also premature to speak about the impacts of global climate goals as there is still some discussion regarding the climate finance and insurance without talking about other related issues.
But, this does not stop us to start thinking to formulate an advocacy strategy to demand a better impact from CSDGs. Especially as we are still at the impact level with this project.
It emerges from the above that the next step about ACCSDGs (3G) is advocacy strategy for a better impact. This advocacy will be conducted under the banner of Generation Global Goals (3G), highlighting the different global goals and what they claim to achieve for local children.
Advocacy on Better Impact is also part of our 2020-2030-2063 Follow-up Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Climate Change Reduction, of Halving Poverty, of Sustainable Development Goals and of Africa Agenda (XX236.3 FP).
While we are formulating our Better Impact Advocacy, we are also looking at or measuring intermediate outcomes and outputs that CSDGs are having so far. As we all know, project impact does sometimes take time to materialise. At this stage, we can only speak about some changes.
This is what this February 2018 activity will be about regarding ACCSDGs. It is will be about whether or not there are outputs and intermediate outcomes achieved so far
However, as we are in CENFACS’ Local Year or the Local People’s Year, we are also searching this February on ways of localising CSDGs. We are working on a process of making CSDGs more suitable for local children and local areas.
As you know local people include local children as well. Because we are at the Impact level of CSDGs, we will be making an effort through our Better Impact Advocacy to capture local impact for local children as far as CSDGs are concerned.
Following from what precedes, our work on African Children during this February will have a three-dimensional aspect as follows:
• Identification of outputs and intermediate outcomes (or changes) achieved so far from CSDGs while localising them
• Continuing building on our advocacy strategy for a better local impact
• Exploring steps and activities to making 2018 as the Year of Local Children
To support and or get further details about ACCSDGs, please contact CENFACS
⇒ 2018: Dedicated as a Local Year or Local People’s Year
This year, it will be 16 years since CENFACS was registered as a charity in 2002. During these 16 years, we have been working with local people as it is specified in our charity objects. .
It is not by chance if CENFACS’ motto says: “Working in partnership with local people to develop sustainable initiatives”
To acknowledge our 16 years of work with local people, we have decided to dedicate 2018 as the Locals’ Year.
Sixteen Years of CENFACS in Four Days
Sixteen years in the life of a person (physical or moral) is the age of maturity. To acknowledge that CENFACS is now a mature organisation and has been working with local people, we will be running two sub-projects which are two parts of the same coin. They are:
1/ 2018 as a Local Year, this will carry us throughout 2018
2/ A project called 16.4 highlighting CENFACS as a mature organisation (i.e. 16 years of working with the locals to be acknowledged in 4 days).
The details of the project Sixteen Years in Four days (16.4) will be released in due course. In meantime, let’s talk a bite about our Local People’s Year or the the Local Year Campaign, which already started since January 2018.
2018 as a Local Year or the Local People’s Year
Before going further, let’s first define the local people of CENFACS.
Who are our local people?
As some of you know, development is about people made by people for people. The local people who have been working with us to develop sustainable initiatives are as follows:
♣Project and programme initiators who initiate them and work with CENFACS in the planning and implementation process, initially these people were based in Africa
♣ Project and programme beneficiaries who get their need of poverty and hardships sorted through the development of sustainable initiatives
♣ The representatives and members of staff of grass root Africa-based organisations with whom they have working relationships in last the 16 years
♣ The representatives of community organisations in the UK (Croydon) dealing with community development with whom we networked on different issues
♣ Representatives of African Diaspora organisations in the UK with who we shared various platforms on different issues concerning Africa
♣ Representatives and members of staff of Non-governmental organisations based in the UK and engaged in international development with who we networked on different occasions
♣ Local authorities and community leaders that facilitated our work on the grounds
♣ Individuals working on the grounds in contact with the people living in poverty and hardships, the ones our projects and programmes benefited
♣ Volunteers and supporters from where our projects and programmes were implemented or delivered
♣ Field workers involved in the areas of operation of CENFACS in the UK and Africa
♣ Inhabitants where our projects and programmes were based in the UK and Africa etc
In brief, these local people are CENFACS’ personas in digital marketing and the raisons d’être of CENFACS. All the types of persons mentioned above had and have some involvement and participation in their responsibility in the local issues to make local needs to be met. This is why they are our local people.
Now you know who are CENFACS’ local people, let’s see what our 2018 of the Locals will likely to be.
Contents for 2018 as Year of the Locals
It will be first about remembering some of the key works we did together with our local people in the last 16 years.
We will then take some actions to feature 2018 with some local people’s themes to highlight the dedication we have made to it.
Moreover, it will be about localisation economies in the voluntary sector (when poor local people with specialised skills are located locally and taking advantage of better opportunities).
The year is as well of local indicators and outcomes to measure what we do with the locals.
Briefly, our actions will include:
♦ Localisation of global goals by making them local and honed by local people
♦ Local approach on poverty and vulnerability issues
♦ Linking local and national and global
♦ Linking local in the UK and local in Africa
♦ Local projects bringing local benefits
♦Local People or local champions or even local heroes making local impacts
As the year moves on, we will inject local features bit by bit into out projects and programmes to reflect our Local People’s Year.
For further details about CENFACS’ Local Year, please contact CENFACS.
Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support in 2018.
With many thanks!
