Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
20 November 2019
Post No. 118
The Week’s Contents
• The 3-Frontier Area Appeal to Support the Victims of Insecurity and Displaced Persons in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign – In Focus between 20/11/2019 and 26/11/2019: Natural Land Use, Sustainable Food System and Changing Climate Needs (Note 7)
• Skills Development Month with Skills Focus for Week Starting 18/11/2019: Skills to Survive Economic Transition
…. and much more!
Key Messages
~ The 3-Frontier Area Appeal to Support the Victims of Insecurity and Displaced Persons in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
After carrying out reviews of our humanitarian appeals this November, it has been resolved to launch an appeal under the umbrella of 3-Frontier Area to deal with the worrying developments regarding the insecurity situation in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. In some parts of these three countries, civilians have been killed and displaced and there is no sign of peace.
This November appeal, which is a variation of Light Projects, will introduce us to the Season of Lights, which is due to start in Mid-December. More explanation about this year’s Light Projects will be provided in due course. However, for further information about the 3-Frontier Area Appeal, please read under the Main Developments section of this post.
~ “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign – In Focus between 20/11/2019 and 26/11/2019: Natural Land Use, Sustainable Food System and Changing Climate Needs (Note 7)
The 7th Note of “A la une” Campaign will deal with three pitches as follows: Natural Land Use, Sustainable Food System and Changing Climate Needs. The three of them are linked although we have treated them separately.
Under the Main Developments section of this post, you will find more information about these pitches.
~ Skills Development Month with Skills Focus for Week Starting 18/11/2019: Skills to Survive Economic Transition
A transition economy or transitional economy is an economy which is changing from an integrated economy within a regional economic bloc to an economy that is exiting (exited) from the bloc. Any economic transitions bring along with them new types of needs or same needs but to be met by same or new skills and capacities as economies in transition face new realities. The economies in transition we are talking about are those exiting from a regional economic bloc and those remaining in that bloc (like the EU).
This situation of matching skills with new realties happened in the history when eastern European economies delinked from the Soviet bloc in the 1990s. They were faced with new and changing demands or the same demands but that could not be met with the same skills.
There are many skills one can think of in this kind of situation. To make the matter easier for our Skills development this week, we are focussing on two types of skills: adaptation and defensive skills to survive economic transition. Adaptation skills are those developed to better suit to the changing and new environment, while defensive skills are those built to protect from the negative impacts of changing and new environment of economic transition.
For further details about this week’s skills focus, please contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
~ Inequalities Reducer
The aim of this project is to reduce the differences in the level of poverty reduction within and between poor people, through a variety of means such as income generation activities, digital literacy training and education, advocacy (on institutional change, behavioural change or change of attitudes, tackling discrimination, etc.), mobile money transfer, creation opportunities for all, inclusiveness, fairness, etc. This is done to further reduce intergenerational poverty while enhancing equality for all.
For the further details or the full proposals of this project, please contact CENFACS.
~ Skills Development Month: Update of CENFACS’ Skills Data Bank
The month of Economics of Education and Skill Formation continues with CENFACS Data Bank of Skills, a repository of information containing skills of the CENFACS Community.
We are continuing to update our Database or Data Bank of Skills for the CENFACS’ Community. Those who would like to register their skills to CENFACS’ Skills Data Bank; they are free to do so.
Registering your skills to the CENFACS Community’s Skills Data Bank provides mutual benefits for CENFACS’ registrar and the registered person.
The registration enables us to know who possesses what as skills, abilities and competences. For the registered person, it gives them the possibility to tap into opportunities when they arise.
You can upload or email your skills to CENFACS to make the Skills Database or Data Bank at facs@cenfacs.org.uk
~ Integrating “A la une” campaign to other environmental campaigns
Although the seven notes or themed areas of work for this year’s “A la une” campaign have been covered as planned, our environmental season will continue until the official end of Autumn around mid-December 2019.
We still have next week the Climate Protection and Stake for African Children (Phase 3) to campaign for prior to our intense follow-up of the climate change talks, which will take place from 2 to 13 December 2019 in Madrid in Spain.
To continue “A la une” campaign, we are looking at similar campaigns on nature and the environment held by different organisations in the UK, Africa and elsewhere. This is because to achieve a good upkeep of the nature, it needs a collective endeavour
Amongst these organisations, we have our Africa-based Sister Organisations. Besides them, we are this week trying to look at different environmental actions taken by local people to make the upkeep of the nature a local affair rather than only a global matter.
So, this week is an inclusive and integrative one. It is the week of the integration of the notes or themed areas of work of the Autumn environmental action (i.e. A la une), of the local environmental campaign and of some Africa-based organisations’ environmental works. This integration will lead to a monitoring and evaluation of “A la une” campaign at the end of this month.
To find out more about the integration between “A la une” Campaign and similar environmental campaigns, please contact CENFACS.
Main Developments
• The 3-Frontier Area Appeal to Support the Victims of Insecurity and Displaced Persons in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
~ What is the 3-Frontier Area
It is geographical area made of parts of three West African countries (which are Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) where there is some high levels of insecurity and threats to human life.
~ What this appeal is about
It is about supporting the victims of continuing insecurity and displaced persons in some parts of the above named three countries. In these three countries, there has been a continuing armed conflicts between local armies and security forces on the one hand, and armed groups.
As a result, there has been a decline of the security situation, an increase in instability and ethnic violence. According to local sources, more than 1,500 civilians have been killed in Mali and Burkina Faso, and more than 1 million internally displaced people.
~ CENFACS’ role in making this appeal
Our appeal is not to interfere in people’s and communities’ ways and rights of running their places, affairs or countries. Our role is purely humanitarian especially where lives have been already taken and a considerable number of people have been displaced. There is a growing number of risks (such as health, sanitation, violation of human rights, humanitarian crisis, etc.) if this situation continues.
~ What CENFACS wants you to do
CENFACS wants you to create a magic by providing life-saving gift to the victims of this insecurity without giving money. How?
We are appealing to you to try to do something about what is happening in the 3-frontier area so that the poor civilians can enjoy peace and internally displaced people can safely return to their homes by the end of this year.
We often argue that there are always some little things one can do to try to change a very complex situation on the grounds without sometimes giving money, although there is a say that Money is King. These little things include the following:
√ Talking to someone who has influence on what is happening on the ground can change life
√ Networking, campaigning, responding to a petition, and so on can make a significant impact
√ A phone call or a mobile phone text message or even a tweet or a video can save millions of lives.
√ Raising your voice about the crisis in the 3-frontier area at a peace talks or gatherings
√ Spreading the news in your social networks and contacts about the issue
Etc.
These kinds of simple things that one can do matter a lot for those whose life is at risk. It is not surprising if Wangari Maathai said that “It is the little things citizens do that is what will make the difference” (Wangari Maathai, Environmental Activist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner).
CENFACS hopes you will act upon this humanitarian November appeal and create the magic of life-saving gift without giving money so that the sufferers in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger can rediscover their way to sustainable and inclusive peace.
Thank you for your readership and for considering delivering on this appeal.
• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign – In Focus between 20/11/2019 and 26/11/2019: Natural Land Use, Sustainable Food System and Changing Climate Needs (Note No. 7)
The Note no. 7 of our “A la une” campaign is made of three pitches as follows: Natural Land Use, Sustainable Food System and Changing Climate Needs. Let us deal with actions on them one by one.
~ Natural Land Use
This first pitch of the Note 7 is an action against the way in which land is occupied or managed for human purposes rather than in harmony with natural balance and habitat for living things.
“A la une” campaign on the use of natural or wild land, is against those commercial processes and human settlements that disturb or upset natural processes and interfere with living things’ habitats without care and observance of laws to protect wild lands and their habitants (like endangered species).
To discuss and or enquire about this pitch, please contact CENFACS.
~ Sustainable Food System
Before looking at this pitch of the 7th note of “A la une” campaign, let’s try to make sense about food systems.
In its conceptual and framework about food systems, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation known as FAO (1) defines food systems as
“the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involves in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded. The food system is composed of sub-systems (e.g. farming system, waste management system, input supply system, etc.) and interacts with other key systems (e.g. energy system, trade system, heath system, etc.).”
The same FAO defines a sustainable food system as
“a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised”.
(1) http: //www.fao.org/3/ca2079en/CA2079EN,pdf (accessed on 14/11/2019)
As this pitch is about sustainable food system, we are working on food security and nutrition. So, the pitch is to advocate to secure food security and nutrition for the under nourished and hungry people. The kinds of food security and nutrition we are campaigning about are the ones that respect the natural balance or care for the upkeep of the nature.
The approach used for sustainable food system in this pitch is of a broad perspective challenge; that is a holistic food systems approach which considers the food system in totality or entirety, instead of narrow approaches such as production-focussed approach, the value chain development approach or the market systems approach.
To discuss and or enquire about this pitch, please contact CENFACS.
~ Changing Climate Needs
With rising temperatures, sea levels and greenhouse gas emissions; there are new and emerging needs to meet this changing climate. For example, with a long summer season there has been a need to adapt human food, nutrition, health, housing, travel, transport, etc.
In the context of “A la une” campaign, the way in which we meet new needs to respond to changing climate should not at the expense of natural balance and nature in general. Therefore, this pitch invites the sustainable development community to respect the upkeep of the nature while we are trying to adapt and mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change.
To discuss and or enquire about this pitch, please contact CENFACS.
For further details and to support this Note 7 and or the entire “A la une” campaign, 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 2019.
With many thanks.
