Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
01 August 2018
Post No. 50
The Week’s Contents
• Track, Trip and Trending Month
• Seven Days of Development Feedback
• FACS, Issue no. 60 is out now
… And much more!
Key Messages of the Week’s Contents
Stakeholders’ and Users’ Experiences Reporting
Our Analytics month of bringing light to what worked, what did not work and of measuring what we achieved in our last financial year has come to an end. For those who have not yet responded to our request, they can still submit their feedback by the 15th of August 2018 while we are studying the information and feedback we have received so far.
Seven Days of Development in July Festival (7DDJF) 2018
Our Summer 2018 Festival of Thoughts and Actions is now closed. We would like to thank all of you for your contribution. Seven days were many days to think but if we want to do something about poverty and sustainability we need to time and days on our work.
Although the Festival is closed, we would like to ask you again to provide a feedback about the experience you have had with it. You could also say, if you can, something about the previous Festivals so that we can improve the ways these days of poverty relief and sustainable development thoughts and actions are prepared and run.
Our feedback formula remains the same as for the Analytics month. It consists of you using your own words to tell and share what you think of the Festivals. We would you to keep your freedom to tell us what you think.
The 60th Issue of FACS
The 60th Issue of CENFACS’ bilingual newsletter, FACS, is now out under the title of Odyssey of Climate Finance and Insurance for African Children. The Issue deals with the question of financial and insurance responsibilities we need to take towards the children victims of the adverse effects and impacts of climate change.
We have provided, under the Main Developments Section of this post, the keys highlights of the main contents making this Summer Issue. However, for those who get further information to can request a full version of this Issue by contacting CENFACS.
Main Developments for the Week’s Contents
•• Track, Trip and Trending
Before saying what is on during the month of August 2018, CENFACS would like to thank you again for your likes, comments and shares about our heated 7DDJF (7 Days of Development in July Festival) of Thoughts and Actions on EFFECTS OF TRADE TARIFFS ON POVERTY RELIEF AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Festival held from 22 to 28 July 2018.
We would like also to thank those who responded to our All-in-one Impact Feedback, which is now closed. We shall look at and analyse all the responses received and appropriately reflect on some of the points raised by all feedback respondents in our analytics. Again thank you so much for your support.
August is CENFACS’ Track, Trip and Trending month. We do Track at CENFACS as we believe that every one of us can undertake basic physical activity of running or racing to help reduce poverty. Our project known as Run to Reduce Poverty is designed to meet that end.
August is also the month we carry out some Trips to our projects. We visit our projects all over the year, but August is the time we highlight this. It is the month of the year we walk again to the need, to the people, communities, organisations and livelihoods in need.
We thirdly deal with Trending in August as we spend time looking at what we can call Trendy Development. Trending in Poverty Reduction helps us to follow the direction of poverty reduction work. This August we are going to follow this direction by looking at TOURISM in reducing poverty and enhancing sustainable development.
Track to reduce poverty
This is delivered through the project Run to Reduce Poverty and Vote your African Manager of Poverty Reduction. These are all-year round projects. However, because of the weather conditions (sunshine) and nature of August (holidays time for many of our supporters) we put a particular emphasis on the Run aspects of these all-year round projects, over this month. We expect those who sign up to the Run element to take actions and run it by themselves. After summer, they can report back to us or at any convenient time before the end of the year.
Trip to the local need
This is the second aspect or part of work over the month of August at CENFACS. We expect and advise our supporters to visit some of our projects and initiatives whether in the UK or in Africa during and around the month of August. Because we are in CENFACS’ Year of Locals or the Local Campaign Year, our Trip this year will be to the local needs.
Trip to the need and project includes some of the experiences undertaken by CENFACS All in Development Volunteers through field work involvements and project visits, to reach out to unreached, underserved and unserved people and communities particularly those living in remote areas of Africa. It is the kind of experiences that we recommend to future volunteers to have and report back in September or after. These trips also help us to check if we are on the right track at helping to reduce poverty and at tracking our records for the work on the ground.
Because the theme of trending for this Summer is Tourism to the need, we are going to link Trip to the need with Tourism. Call it Trip or Tourism to the need. If you are one of our tourists to the need, please do forget to feedback your Summer 2018 tourist experience.
Trendy sustainable development
Sustainable development does not need to be trendy, but we can follow the trends in sustainable development and poverty reduction. During this August we are dealing with Trending in poverty reduction through tourism and its capacity of lifting people out poverty. We mean by that we are following the direction of poverty reduction by using tourism.
We are going to use the definition of tourism as provided by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), quoted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on page 11. UNCTAD (1) say that the UNWTO defines tourism as
“the activities of persons identified as visitors. A visitor is someone who is making a visit to a main destination outside his/her usual environment for less than a year for any main purpose [including] holidays, leisure and recreation, business, health, education or other purposes […] This scope is much wider than the traditional perception of tourists, which included only those travelling for leisure” (United Nations and UNWTO, 2010). Visitors can be either same-day visitors or overnight visitors.
So, tourism and its respective impacts on poverty reduction are what will be trending at CENFACS as follows:
• From 01/08/2018: Tourism as a job creator and pro-poor growth supporter
• From 08/08/2018: Tourism as a creator of trade and income-generating opportunities for poor people
• From 15/08/2018: Tourism as outreach to the poor
• From 22/08/2018: Tourism as connector and generator of demand for agricultural products
If you are interested in this trend, please share with us your experience or comments about it.
Further explanation about this August month’s activities can be obtained from CENFACS.
(1) UNCTAD, Economic Development in Africa Report 2017: Tourism for Transformative and Inclusive Growth, 2017
•• FACS, Issue no. 60, Summer 2018
Key Highlights –
The Key Highlights making the contents of the 60th issue of FACS are given below.
The rights-based approach in the climate finance claims (Page 1 & 2 of FACS)
To protect the economic and environmental rights of poor people, children in particular, a rights-based approach can be used. This could mean that resources, assets and wealth are allocated in such a way to meet the climate needs of the poor, poor children.
The Financial Odyssey can make it to happen as it helps to convince not only the experts of climate change and child rights but also the general public the relevancy of supporting with finance and insurance the children victims of climate change.
Prioritising Climate Finance for African Children (Page 3 of FACS)
In one of its publications, UNICEF (2) suggested ways of ensuring that children are prioritised in the climate and build a climate resilient future for the world’s children. Amongst these priorities were: child rights as guiding principles, ensuring children’s rights and vulnerabilities, ensuring children’s voices are considered, ensuring equity for children.
If we have to monitor and evaluate these priorities since UNICEF spoke about one can wonder where we are now. Prioritising the needs of the world’s children and amongst them, African children, is still a long and tortuous journey in order to meet the insurance expectations and needs of the world’s and African children.
(2) UNICEF, Climate proof children: Putting the child first in climate finance, Sept. 2011
Affordability of climate insurance policy for children (Page 4 of FACS)
To improve the affordability of insurance for poor and vulnerable children, there should be human rights-oriented considerations that need to be taken into account. The reduction of insurance premiums needs to be considered as well.
Children victims of climate change from poor countries cannot afford to cover themselves, neither their parents and or carers are able to meet the cost of the effects and impacts of climate change. Likewise, neither of them can buy insurance policies related to new technologies to protect against the often huge effect and impact of climate change.
Peut-on financer et assurer les enfants contre les aléas climatiques en Afrique? (Page 5 et 6 de FACS)
Les victimes climatiques ont besoin plus que de l’aide financière
Quand il y a une catastrophe naturelle (telle que les pluies torrentielles, une sécheresse aiguë etc.), il peut évidemment y avoir des victimes. Parmi ces victimes, il peut y avoir des enfants tel que l’on a vu dans certains pays africains tels que la République Centrafricaine, la République Démocratique du Congo, le Tchad etc.
Ces victimes peuvent être déplacées, perdre leurs logements et leurs possessions sans oublier des fatalités et des problèmes de santé qu’elles peuvent subir. Ces victimes ont plus besoin de compréhension que de l’aide financière. Elles ont besoin d’une compréhension des problèmes fondamentaux liés climats et leurs conséquences sur elles. Car, très souvent l’aide au climat est considérée ou assimilée au don non pas à une obligation locale ou nationale ou encore internationale.
Un avis partagé
Il y a toujours un débat parfois controversé s’agissant de droits de financement des victimes des aléas climatiques. De même que l’opinion est divisée sur la question de droit d’assurance contre les effets néfastes des hasards climatiques surtout quand il s’agit des enfants.
Il y a des thèses qui totalement rejettent l’idée d’un droit de financement et d’assurance contre les aléas climatiques, simplement parce qu’elles estiment ça coûte trop cher.
Il y a par contre des courants de pensée qui font ménagent avec l’idée d’un paiement financier et d’une couverture climatique par l’achat d’une politique d’assurance.
En ce qui concerne le CENFACS, nous pensons que les enfants victimes des effets et impactes néfastes des aléas ou hasards climatiques méritent bel et bien un paiement financier et une couverture d’assurance. On peut financer et assurer les enfants contre les aléas climatiques en Afrique comme ailleurs.
Notre position ressort d’une simple réflexion qui est celle de la responsabilité non seulement morale, mais aussi financière et d’assurance par les êtres humains envers la nature et la planète terre. Nous agissons à travers ce que nous appelons l’odyssée de finances et d’assurance climatiques pour les enfants africains, ou tout court l’odyssée financière.
Point n’est besoin de rappeler que les changements climatiques sont en majeure partie l’oeuvre des êtres humains que nous sommes. Cela étant, en qu’êtres humains nous avons tous la responsabilité non seulement morale mais aussi financière et actuarielle de faire quelque chose pour ceux qui souffrent à cause de nos actes. On peut faire quelque chose en essayant de convaincre le public sur le bien fondé de cette responsabilité financière et actuarielle.
L’odyssée financière est un long, tortueux et périlleux chemin que les enfants victimes des effets et impactes des changements climatiques doivent prendre pour convaincre non seulement les experts et preneurs de décision en matière climatique mais aussi le commun du mortel à adhérer à l’idée d’un paiement financier et d’une couverture climatiques à leurs égards. En agissant de cette manière, on peut réduire la pauvreté ou précarité liée aux changements et aléas climatiques. C’est ça l’odyssée financière.
L’odyssée de finance et d’assurance climatiques pour les enfants africains ou l’odyssée financière
L’odyssée financière est une exploration et un état d’esprit des questions en suspens et exigeant des réponses et actions appropriées demandées par les enfants victimes des effets et impactes négatifs résultant des changes climatiques, de sorte qu’une justice financière et d’assurance est faite pour eux.
L’odyssée financière se place dans la perspective de l’odyssée d’autonomisation des usagères de CENFACS (et leurs familles) du projet “Ce que les femmes veulent” ou 3W (What Women Want).
L’odyssée d’autonomisation est un compte rendu de familiarisation aux processus et expériences de plusieurs années que les usagères 3W (et leurs familles) ont eu en étant confinées chez soi et en sortant de ce confinement pour saisir les opportunités d’utiliser leurs potentialités pleinement, en passant par l’isolement vers l’intégration, pour survivre et réussir à vaincre sinon à réduire la pauvreté.
Cela étant, l’odyssée financière est une extension et partie de l’architecture de l’odyssée d’autonomisation qui permet d’habiliter les enfants victimes des effets et impactes des changements climatiques à travers une compensation financière et une couverture assurance.
L’odyssée financière est donc une journée, qui vaut la peine, pour convaincre les esprits de plusieurs personnes pour accepter ou du moins accommoder l’idée que financer et assurer les victimes climatiques n’est pas seulement un don ou une oeuvre de bienfaisance, mais c’est plutôt un prix à payer par chaque être humain qui affecte négativement et excessivement le climat et la planète terre. Cet effet négatif va à son tour avoir un impacte néfaste sur la vie des enfants et le futur.
Dans cette journée ou ce combat pour une justice financière et d’assurance, les enfants africains sont un échantillon de travail représentatif des autres enfants du monde qui sont aussi négativement et excessivement affectés par les changements et aléas climatiques.
Tout comme l’odyssée d’autonomisation, l’odyssée financière est faite des relations ou rapports de force et de structure dans cette dynamique de réduction de la pauvreté parmi les bénéficiaires de l’odyssée financière. Ceux-ci sont des résistants autour des idéaux de paix, protection et durabilité à travers des projets de communion ou de camaraderie. Elle contient le pouvoir de résistance pour la mobilité sociale et le changement de même que le développement durable.
Pour plus d’informations ou pour soutenir les odyssées financière et d’autonomisation, contactez le CENFACS.
Mapping of climate finance flows for children (Page 7 of FACS)
To speak about the climate finance flows channelled to children programmes, one needs to consider risks and the building of resilience. However, are children victims of climate change received a fair and sustainable share?
To know that it is better to define climate finance. According to the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), it is climate finance as capital flows directed towards emission reductions, climate resilience, and development and implementation of enabling policies (p.18).
When considering this definition, it is worth saying that there is a need for adequate access to affordable financing suited to low-emission, climate-resilient infrastructure. This is to such an extent that in what is spent, for example to promote efforts to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) or enhance GHG sequestration), one can question how much of it benefit children.
How to make climate risk insurance work for African children (Page 8 of FACS)
To make climate risk insurance work for African children, it is important to fund climate-resilient development pathways that benefit them. It requires the development of anticipatory, absorptive and adaptive capacities. It also requires the development of some principles around and on which people can agree.
As said in the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (3) in its recommendation “climate risk insurance can support poor and vulnerable people in a concrete way in finding climate –resilient development pathways” (p.49).
The Munich Climate Insurance Initiative gives seven principles to make it happen. This is the way one can make climate risk insurance for children and particularly but not exclusively African children.
(3) Munich Climate Insurance Initiative, Making Climate Risk Insurance Work for The Most Vulnerable: Seven Guiding Principles, United Nations University-Institute for Environment and Human Society Publication Series Policy Report 2016 No.1
Mobilisation of Climate Finance for Children: Climate Finance Statistics (Page 9 of FACS)
The 2017 UK Climate Finance results show that international climate fund programmes have supported people to cope with the effects of climate change. £2.2 billion public and £500 million private finance were mobilised for climate change purpose in developing countries between 2011/12 and 2016/17. 34 million people were supported to cope with the effects of climate change (4).
However, these data do not show the allocation in terms of how much of this fund was allocated to the needs of children victims of climate change and how many of children were supported.
(4) DFID UK, 2017 UK Climate Finance Results, July 2017
Voluntary Offering (Page 10 of FACS)
You can generally support the work of CENFACS through donation. Besides donation, there are other ways of supporting which include: communication and media, public relations, volunteering and internship, training, research and development, legacies, gifts, sponsorship, premises, digital aid, events, direct marketing, recycling, web advertising, mobile technologies etc.
You can specifically support our advocacy related the Financial Odyssey.
For further details about supporting us and current initiatives that need support go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/
To further read and receive a copy of Summer 2018 issue (60th) of FACS and or previous issues of FACS – or to subscribe to our mailing list, please provide your name, e-mail address and interest/focus by completing our contact form on the home page of this site.
FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/
Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support during 2018.
With many thanks
