Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
31 October 2018
Post No. 63
The Week’s Contents
• History to Skills Development
• FIDILI Skills Development project
• A la une campaign with the Reduction of Marine Pollution
… and much more!
Key Messages from the Week’s Contents
~ History to Skills Development
Our History month is ending today together with this year’s Making Memorable Difference project. We had the opportunity to re-read African Oral History. Both the Value and Legacies (Gifts) Days helped to push the boundaries of what we already know about African Oral History and to acquire further knowledge on what we were not aware of.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who help in their own way to the History month and to the Making Memorable History project.
After re-reading Africa’s Oral History, we are now going to use what we learnt about it to inspire ourselves to try to develop the skills we need for ourselves, for our community and our organisation to further help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.
This transition from history re-reading and making memorable difference to skills development will be done this week. So, the month of November will be of Skills Development. We are going to kick off the Skills Development month with the project proposals of FIDILI Skills Development.
~ FIDILI Skills Development project
Continuing to build on the theme of the 61st Issue of FACS, we have completed the planning process of FIDILI Skills Development project. The 61st Issue has been about Making the Impacts of Mobile Money and Digital Financial Inclusion on Poverty Reduction in Africa Clearer.
In the context of this theme, we proposed a project as a sustainable response to the problem of financial and digital illiteracy for mobile money account holders (and non-holders) as well as for the excluded from digital financial inclusion.
This week, we are going deeper about this project or model of integrating financial literacy skills and digital literacy skills to tackle poverty induced by the lack of these skills and banking eligibility criteria.
For the full project proposals and to support this project, please contact CENFACS.
~ A la une campaign with Reduction of Marine Pollution
Water pollution is becoming a serious challenge for the health, economy and environment of the planet Earth. Pollution of seas and oceans as well as of rivers and lakes or any other water is a problem for humans, animals and other living species.
Generally speaking, polluted water is water containing the amounts or kinds of substance in it that likely to cause harm to people, animals, plants or the environment. The Reduction of Marine Pollution under the umbrella of A la une campaign deals this problem. The Reduction of Marine Pollution is a three-fold campaign that is made of the following.
The Reduction of Marine Pollution is a joined-up global sub-campaign through which we try to work together with similar projects against water pollution, like the last call to action to Beat Plastic Pollution, the theme for World Environment Day 2018.
The Reduction of Marine Pollution is an environmental development sub-campaign linked to Africa’s voices against the pollution of lakes, rivers and water surrounding Africa.
The Reduction of Marine Pollution is a poverty-relieving sub-campaign in which we try to address poverty related to water pollution.
Briefly, the Reduction of Marine Pollution sub-campaigns make our themed area of work against environmental unfriendly process that harm water bodies.
Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have given further details about the Reduction of Marine Pollution.
Main Developments from the Week’s Contents
A la une campaign with the Reduction of Marine Pollution
As argued above, there are three sub-campaigns or facets within the themed area of Reduction of Marine Pollution:
The Reduction of Marine Pollution as a joined-up global sub-campaign against water pollution
The Reduction of Marine Pollution as an environmental development sub-campaign linked to Africa’s voices against the pollution of lakes, rivers and other waters
The Reduction of Marine Pollution as poverty-relieving sub-campaign to address poverty related to water pollution
1) The Reduction of Marine Pollution as a joined-up global sub-campaign
This week’s sub-campaign against water pollution is in line with worldwide campaigns against water pollution including Beat Plastic Pollution, the theme for World Environment Day 2018 that centre staged the issue of water pollution in recent memories.
What we share in common with other global projects against water pollution and what we are against are the following:
Farm pesticides, fertilizers and chemical waste washed into rivers, plastic bottles dumped into the seas; liquid waste from factories and farms pouring into rivers and streams; the introduction of harmful substances into the water; unfit water for human consumption; the introduction of salts and minerals in the soil to water bodies; eutrophication; industrial and household dumping of wastes into water bodies without treatment; disposal of human waste to water sources etc.
The list goes on.
All these kinds of rubbish dumped in the seas and oceans pose a serious threat and danger to wildlife, fish and humans.
2) The Reduction of Marine Pollution as a poverty-relieving sub-campaign
Water pollution can lead to or exacerbate poverty. It can make poverty worse in the following ways:
When water becomes unfit for drinking because of more soil into water bodies;
When water becomes unsafe for humans health and consumption;
When there is a loss of lives because water-related illnesses;
When poor people drink contaminated water because of lack of choice and means.
To reduce poverty in this context, there is a need to get safe and clean drinking water. In this respect, our sub-campaign is about cleanliness of water.
3) The Reduction Marine Pollution as an environmental development sub-campaign linked to Africa’s voices for clean water
This sub-campaign is against factors that contribute to the exacerbation of water pollution and jeopardize the sustainable development prospects in Africa.
These factors include: soil erosion, use of harmful fertilizers in agriculture, poorly managed process of mining minerals that contribute to water pollution, poor sanitation, deforestation (or the cutting down of forests without planting new), urbanisation or modernisation processes etc.
For example in 2017 in Africa, it was found that untreated solid and liquid wastes (from households and factories from the side of Burundi) were sent to the Lake Tanganyika. This could have posed some risks to freshwater and the over 350 species that this lake contains. Likewise, pollution was found in the Lake Victoria with raw sewage, fertilizers, chemicals, domestic and industrial waste.
From the above, our sub-campaign is to support Africa’s voices and actions to tackle the root causes of water pollution there.
For more about A la une campaign with the Reduction of Marine Pollution, please contact CENFACS.
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Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2018.
With many thanks