Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
05 February 2020
Post No. 129
The Weeks’s Contents
• African Children’s Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (Generation Global Goals Project): Reduction of Data Poverty
• Sustainable Development Goal 4 and Target 9: Substantially Expand the Number of Scholarships Available to African Countries
• 2020 Poverty Reduction Tools Box: Extended Community Services Support (Tool 6) and Transition Leads (Tool 4)
… and much more!
Key Messages
~ African Children’s Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (Generation Global Goals Project): Reduction of Data Poverty
Sustainable Development Month with the Reduction of Data Poverty
February is our Sustainable Development month, according CENFACS development calendar or planner. It is the month during which we revisit our works related to sustainable development. In particular, we try to look at again the United Nations’ Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their related 169 targets. We normally select one of the topics within the set of SGDs and targets; and try to work on it.
To tackle the month of sustainability, we have selected four targets from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and 2030 Agenda; targets that were initially meant to be reached by the end of 2020. We will be dealing with each of the selected targets every week throughout this month. Under the Main Development section of this post, you will find these selected areas of work.
Normally, the project that carries this month of Sustainable Development is African Children’s Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (ACSDGs). It is also known as Generation Global Goals (3G) project.
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. This is regardless whether these children are in spaces and times of peace or lack of peace (like conditions of wars, areas stricken by virus or epidemics and time of natural disasters).
For this year, our 3G project will focus on the Reduction of Data Poverty. Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided more details about this focus.
~ Week beginning 03/02/2020: Substantially Expand the Number of Scholarships Available to African Countries (Sustainable Development Goal 4 and Target 9)
Substantially expand the number of scholarships available to African countries, is one of the four selected SDG targets we are working on this week.
In order to build capacities and develop sustainably, African countries need well trained and educated human resources. There is a relationship between educational development for any country (here African ones) and sustainable development.
Yet, it has been noticed that the generations of Africans of the 20th Century benefited from scholarships and grants whereas the generations of the 21st Century of Africans have been forced to take loans with high interests and pay high educational fees in order to educationally develop themselves. In some fields, grants and scholarships do no longer exist for Africans. There are even in the scholarships market, organisations that claim to be scholarship- or grant-giving organisations, but they simply do not give any scholarships or grants, or give it to a very tiny number of students. Yet, there is a high number of well qualified Africans who are searching for scholarships and grants.
In order to tackle this type of poverty in scholarships given, there is a need to get all the facts and data right regarding the substantial expansion of the number scholarships to Africans. So, this week we are starting our Sustainable Development month by looking at the number of scholarships to African countries.
~ Poverty Reduction Tools Box: Extended Community Services Support (Tool 6) and Transition Leads (Tool 4)
We have already opened our box of 2020 Poverty Reduction Tools. This week, we are extending our community services support, and continuing to provide leads to deal with economic transition.
As previously said, CENFACS provides basic community support which is a package of services to help those in need. From 2020, we are including circular economic solutions to work with those who want to reduce hardships and improve their lives through a circular economic model. They can choose to reuse, recycle and save natural and household resources. This will enable them to use their little money to cope or meet with other life-sustaining needs.
As the UK’s intention of exiting the European economic integration model has become clear, we are in the process of re-assessing the needs of the community in this transitional phase. A transitional needs re-assessment will be conducted to find out the changing and emerging needs of the community as well as new and improved tools to meet both changing and existing needs in a new setting of a transitional economy. For those who want to volunteer by telling us how the transitional economy has affected their circumstances and will change their needs, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS and or to reply to our needs re-assessment request.
Extra Messages
~ Poverty Reduction Mission in a Sustainable Development Month
Our poverty reduction Mission continues in the month of Sustainable Development. Indeed, in trying to meet needs to reduce poverty, humans often use natural resources. If that use does not deplete natural resources that future generations may need, it is fine. If the use does compromise future generations to meet their needs, then there is a problem.
In our Mission, we need to make sure that people do not overexploit or exhaust or waste resources. In this respect, there is a link between sustainability and poverty reduction. As some of you are aware, CENFACS works with local people to develop sustainable initiatives to help reduce poverty. As such, we need to ensure that the link between sustainability and poverty reduction is a healthy one.
Since we are in a year of Poverty Reduction Mission and in a month of Sustainable Development, we need to preserve this healthy relationship between sustainability and poverty reduction. Therefore, all we are demanding from our users and supporters is anything they do to reduce or help to reduce poverty should be bound with the underlying principles of sustainable development.
To support CENFACS’ Year of Poverty Reduction Mission in a month of Sustainable Development, please contact CENFACS.
~ Triple Value Initiatives, All Year Round Projects: Extra Support
Last week, we announced the kick off for our Triple Value Initiatives, initially known as All Year Round Projects. For those who are interested in engaging with these initiatives, we would like to highlight the following three points.
=> Triple-Value-Initiatives Start up
It is better to start up early, although people can always join at any time. The earlier you start the better. This is because everybody is busy with their lives and has other things to do. Also, the earlier you start, the earlier CENFACS can help if one encounters any problems. Briefly, the message is start up early.
=> Triple-Value-Initiatives Fundamentals
You need to get the fundamentals about All Year Round Projects right from the beginning. You need to clearly sort out the principles and bases of these projects so that you move to the right direction early without being forced to change course as you progress or repeat from scratch. Briefly, the message is get the fundamentals right.
=> Triple-Value-Initiatives Goals
Whether you play or run or vote for poverty reduction and sustainable development, the all exercise is for you to reach your goal of delivering the objectives you set up from the onset. It means you need to be clear in your mindset about what you want to achieve. Again, if you have any problems in setting up clear goals and objectives, CENFACS can be of help. Briefly, the message is be clear about what you want to achieve.
You can select a theme to run, create your play station game and watch people to vote. This is what Triple Value Initiatives or All Year Round Projects are all about.
~ Halving Poverty for and with the Educationally Needy Congolese Children
Our Halving Poverty campaign continues as well. It is often argued that education is one of the most powerful and proven vehicles for sustainable development. In this month of Sustainable Development at CENFACS, supporting the Halving Poverty campaign means backing progress in achieving the target of universal primary education, especially for ordinary children in educational need (like those the Democratic Republic of Congo); children who are from poor households and in vulnerable situations.
For those who want to support this campaign, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS with your support. This project is open to any levels of support as there is no limit as to what people can give. Supporting the ordinary Congolese Children through this campaign means that you value the place of education in children’s lives regardless of their backgrounds and origins. It also means that you enhance CENFACS’ Mission Year of Poverty Reduction in a month of Sustainable Development.
For those who would like to enquire about this campaign, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS. To support, please go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/ and contact CENFACS.
Main Development
• African Children’s Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (Generation Global Goals Project): Reduction of Data Poverty
Before working on the focus of this year’s African Children’s Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (ACCSDGs), let us recap what happened last year about this project.
• • Last Year February’s work on SDGs: 2019 ACCSDGs (3G) Advocacy: In Search for New Forms of Data
In 2019, our 3G project was still at the impact level. Our advocacy work about the impacts of global goals (here climate and sustainable development goals) on the welfare and well-being of children, particularly but not exclusively on African children; focused on the new types of information to capture this impact. This information could be quantitative (numbers) or qualitative (words) or both to test these impacts. It was about capturing New Forms of Data regarding the application of Sustainable Development Goals.
Capturing data regarding the coping and survival strategies as well as spatial and temporal activities of people and communities for their use of SDGs was the main 3G focus. Spaces and times are important factors in data collection and analysis. These users’ datasets about SDGs and their dynamics were used for our further advocacy work on this matter.
Particularly, we searched new forms of data regarding for example the victims of wars and armed conflicts as well as for the sufferers of climate change in terms of their uses of SDGs. Among them were children. Data were about displaced children (displaced because of wars and natural disasters), street children, orphan children, children soldiers, children living in safety camps for humanitarian reasons etc. Our new data work consisted of finding out whether these children were meeting SDGs or SDGs were failing them. In some places, they were meeting them while in other they were not (like health data in places where Ebola virus struck).
• • This February’s work on SDGs
This February’s work on SDGs will be mainly about the Reduction of Data Poverty. Through this, we will try again to find out answers to the following.
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 will feed our Better Impact advocacy in the context of 3G project, advocacy which is to demand not only an impact but a better impact from CSDGs on children
Besides that we have selected four Sustainable Development Goal Targets amongst others scheduled to be reached by 2020. We shall as well bring about the problem of data for children in places of democratic transitions.
=> 2020 ACCSDGs (3G) Advocacy: Reduction of Data Poverty
This year, we are interested in the reduction of data poverty which should not be confused with poverty data. The reduction of data poverty is in itself the continuation of our work on search for new forms of data. The only difference is that it includes all types of data, old and new ones. In this sense, there is a problem in getting data about poverty. It is possible to produce primary data, but secondary data is still a problem as many data services and institutions in developing countries of Africa are still ill-equipped to produce reliable and robust datasets. Many development organisations also raise the issue of data related to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The lack of quality and reliable data about poverty or people living in poverty, we call it data poverty, continues our work on new forms of data for children living in places of wars and environmental disasters. There is a need to reduce data poverty in order to better reduce poverty itself. In both cases (of data poverty and new forms of data), we are relating them to children. In this sense, we need new forms of data about poverty regarding people living in difficult places like of wars and natural disasters to measure how they are meeting SDGs. Likewise, we need to reduce the lack of data (or data poverty) in order to capture the effects of SDGs.
=> Selected Sustainable Development Goal Targets to be reached by 2020
We will be working over this month on the following SDG Targets initially planned to be reached by the end of 2020.
Week beginning 03/02/2020
Substantially expand the number of scholarships available to African countries (Goal 4; Target 9)
Week beginning 10/02/2020
Substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training (Goal 8; Target 6)
Week beginning 17/02/2020
Minimizing the adverse impacts of chemicals and all waste throughout the cycle, on human health and environment (Goal 12; Target 4)
Week beginning 24/02/2020
Integration of ecosystems and biodiversity values to poverty reduction strategies and accounts (Goal 15; Target 9)
Our work will be about what data say about these issues and in the relations with poverty.
~ Data for children in places of democratic transitions
Last week, when we made the case of ordinary Congolese children, we told you we had some problems in getting the full picture of their educational needs since there has been a lack of robust and wide data. As we are discussing data poverty, let’s take this opportunity to include in our working model of the reduction of data poverty, the problem of data for children living places of democratic transitions (like in the Democratic Republic of Congo).
This lack of data provides us another compelling evidence of the need to reduce data poverty. So, there is a problem to find data for children in places of democratic transitions. We hope the work we are doing on this matter with organisations on the grounds will help to resolve data poverty in the future so that needs are properly assessed and met.
To raise the issue of data poverty in places of democratic transitions and to support us with data about children in need in those places, please contact CENFACS.
To support and or enquire about CENFACS’ Sustainable Development Month, contact CENFACS.
Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going in 2020.
We do our work on a very small budget and on a voluntary basis. Making a donation will show us you value our work and support CENFACS’ work, which is currently offered as a free service.
One could consider a recurring donation to CENFACS as a New Year’s resolution.
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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 in the New Year and New Decade as well.
With many thanks.
