Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
23 September 2020
Post No. 162
The Week’s Contents
• Autumn Help to Build Back Better
• Build Back Better Fauna and Flora
• Back to the Upkeep of the Nature, In Focus for Week Beginning 21/09/2020: The Place of the “Blue Spaces” in Sustainable Development in Africa
… and much more!
Key Messages
• Autumn Fresh Start Help and Resources
Autumn Fresh Start Help normally strikes or kicks off our Autumn programme. It is our Autumn project striker. Autumn Fresh Start Help and Resources are made of fresh start skills, tips, hints, tweaks, hacks, etc. These are help and resources designed to overcome poverty and hardships.
However, we explained last week that this year’s Autumn within CENFACS may not be about Freshness or Fresh Start due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Instead, it would be about Acceptance and Integration to Build Back Better.
Despite that the title of our Autumn ICDP (Individual Capacity Development Programme) resource known as Fresh Autumn Start will remain unchanged. But, the focus for this year’s Issue of this resource will be on Building Back Better. For this year, our Autumn project striker is Autumn Help to Build Back Better.
• • Fresh Autumn Start (FAS) resources
Autumn Help to Build Back Better comes with Fresh Autumn Start (FAS) resources. The highlights of the 2020 Edition of FAS is within the context of the Pandemic Year.
Our keywords for this Autumn are acceptance and integration to build back better. The context in which we will be using these key words is of the dominance of the coronavirus pandemic over 2020.
Further details about these key words and contextual framework are given below under the Main Development section of this post.
• • Advice-giving as part of Autumn Fresh Start Help and Resources
Our advice-giving month of September continues as planned and will end next month. Advice-giving is also part of our Autumn Fresh Start Help and Resources. Although we put particular emphasis on advice-giving activity in our September engagement, other aspects of Autumn Fresh Start or striker are also important and will continue beyond September.
To ask for Help to Build Back Better and or access Fresh Start Resources, just contact CENFACS.
• Build Back Better Flora and Fauna (BBBFF)
In the process of Building Back Better from the Covid-19 disaster, one should make sure that the other living beings are not left behind. This attention to other beings (like plants and animals) should be done; although during lockdowns some positive data have been recorded showing, for example the reduction of pollution in some cities, the decrease in noise and human traffic (including motor traffic, aircraft, etc.).
BBBFF is one of our Starting XI Projects. Through this Starting Project, we are continuing to advocate for the protection of animals in Africa and elsewhere in developing world whereby animals get killed, traded and extinct to such extent that some species are at the brink of disappearing.
Our fauna advocacy aims at dealing with ways of tackling the threats to survival in the wild facing by the world’s big cats (such as lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cheetah, snow leopard, puma, clouded leopard, etc.), the world’s majestic animals and symbols of power and courage.
Animals such as jaguars, tigers, elephants, snakes, alligators, rhinoceroses, etc. are under threat. There are several reasons about it which include: hunting, illicit and illegal trade, over-harvesting, habitat loss, climate change, poaching, etc.
CENFACS’ Build Back Better Animals or Fauna advocacy is to advocate for the enhancement of protection of endangered, threatened and vulnerable species.
In this process, we are as well interested in efforts made to protect animals from diseases including the coronavirus. For example, people can still remember how tuberculosis killed elephants in South Africa, a few years ago.
We are as well extending our advocacy to other species in danger like trees, plans and flowers (flora). It is a two scopes campaign of Building Back Better Fauna and Flora. This year’s advocacy for flora and fauna will include two actions:
(1) Action to integrate Covid-19 restrictions into the flora and fauna advocacy
This action is about following and applying to letter the health advice and restrictions with regard to plants and animals as far as Covid-19 is concerned.
(2) Actions to recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction
This action is about making sure that, plants and animals regain, restore and rebuild their lives.
Building Back Better Fauna and Flora is only an iceberg of the wide natural creature protection campaign.
CENFACS’ Build Back Better Fauna and Flora is run this week until the last week of September 2020 and will be soon after followed by our Autumn environmental umbrella campaign, “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence) project.
“A la une”will take Build Back Better Fauna and Flora advocacy to the other level of environmental communications. It will focus on the Restoration of Ecological Infrastructures in Africa.
To advocate and raise your voice to build back better endangered species, contact CENFACS.
• Back to the Upkeep of the Nature, In Focus for Week Beginning 21/09/2020: The Place of the “Blue Spaces” in Sustainable Development in Africa
This is the last note of our “Blue Spaces” theme. In this last note, we are dealing with the Place of the “Blue Spaces” in Sustainable Development in Africa.
The “Blue Spaces” have a role to play and a place to occupy in sustainable development. Indeed, many people and communities depend for their livelihoods on the biodiversity from the “Blue Spaces” and their surrounding environment. Also, the “Blue Spaces” can absorb carbon dioxide.
In the above circumstances, it is pointless to argue that the “Blue Spaces” play a vital role and have an important place in sustainable development in Africa and elsewhere. It is not a surprise that the United Nations made life below water as its sustainable development goal no. 14 as part of the Agenda 2030.
To maintain the place and role of the “Blue Spaces” in sustainable development in Africa and elsewhere, there is a need to protect them from land-based pollution and unsustainable use of resources from them. This protection should be in times of peace and war.
It is possible to aim at a model of poverty reduction and development that is non-polluting and not reliant on unsustainable use of natural resources from the “Blue Spaces”. It is as well possible to work together to make sure that Blue Sustainable Development is preserved in our fight against the coronavirus pandemic; a sustainable development model that is “Blue Spaces” friendly.
To support this note and/or the all “Blue Spaces” theme or to get information about it, please contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
• Capacity Development in Building Back Better
Some people can easily restart life after a shock like the coronavirus pandemic. Others can manage their working life and take new initiatives at the start of a new season and after returning from the Covid-19 lockdown. Other more may struggle or find it difficult to resume their activity or simply may take such a long time to restart since they had a long period of economic inactivity during the lockdown.
• • Capacity is needed to build back better from the Covid-19 disaster
As part of back-to-relief programme, we are looking forward to working with people in need to redevelop their capacity to build back better. To build back better, it requires a certain level of capacity, especially as we are in a situation whereby certain capacities have been destroyed and some people are coming from economic inactivity due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns. Likewise, more people can go back to economic inactivity if the coronavirus spikes increase.
To enable them to have a smooth return or transition as the economies are starting the work of rehabilitation, restoration and reconstruction, it makes sense to have their capacity maintained and redeveloped.
• • What is capacity development to build back better?
This is a set of Autumn support made of fresh start essentials. It is a process through which their capacity (that is their ability to perform functions of fresh start life is re-established or redeveloped) is recreated. This process includes fresh start skills, knowledge and resources. This redevelopment of capacity will go beyond their specific area of work to include capacity in some areas of health protection since the world is still battling against Covid-19.
To enquire about Capacity Development to Build Back Better, please contact CENFACS.
• African Poverty Reduction Movements in the Era of Covid-19
How African Poverty Reduction Movements can identify themselves in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic
Under CENFACS’ be.africa Forum, we are discussing the future development of poverty reduction movements (like the protest movements in Algeria). Our discussion is about the link between poverty reduction movements, poor people and African organisations in Africa. During this week’s discussions, we shall revisit the current and previous poverty reduction movements while having an outlook in terms of their prospects in terms of their contribution to poverty reduction and sustainable development in Africa.
This week, we are working on the interaction between the three entities, particularly on how the link between them can reshape outcomes about poverty reduction and sustainable development for poor people, where these movements take place in Africa in the era of the coronavirus pandemic. Our discussion will indeed be about how these movements identify them in the battle against Covid-19 while keeping the integrity of their agendas about poverty reduction and sustainable development working according plans.
To join and or add your input to this Autumn discussion, please contact CENFACS.
• Mission Year and Advice-giving Month
CENFACS’ 2020 Mission Year is a coordinated plan by CENFACS to provide what is needed and necessary to support any efforts of poverty reduction. In the context of Advice-giving Month, it is about linking this mission with the need to work together with vulnerable people and communities so that they can access life-protecting and –saving advice during this Autumn and beyond.
Working with local people to have appropriate choice of activities to reduce poverty and hardships will be the kinds of Mission we are having this month. It is about working with them to find advice service and activities that are relevant to their needs of poverty reduction and sustainable development. This is because not all types of advice can gear towards poverty reduction and sustainable development.
The link between the Mission Year and Advice-giving Month is finally expressed in our efforts to help people and communities to help themselves to reduce poverty while working with them to access relevant advisory recipes to build back better from the adverse impacts caused by the Covid-19.
To enquire about how CENFACS will implement its mission and advice service at the same time, please contact CENFACS.
Main Development
• Autumn Help to Build Back Better
• • What is Fresh Autumn Start (FAS)
FAS is a continuation of our Summer Support projects into the Autumn season. It is a building block or additional back up of useful survival tips and hints to embrace Autumn as smoothly and trouble-freely as possible.
It includes real life situations that users may face when and as they return from their Summer Break or season on one hand, and possible leads to proffer solutions to their arising Autumn needs on the other hand.
This FAS resource is not exhaustive or an end itself. It has to be completed with other resources. It is a good basic insight into a Fresh Start as it provides helpful advisory tools for a Fresh Start and confidence building for the rest of the Autumn season. It could also be used as a reference for users to engineer their own idea of Fresh Start and the sustained management of autumn needs.
The focus for this year’s FAS is on Building Back Better. This focus was carefully chosen after considering what happened during this Summer with the coronavirus and subsequent lockdowns. It has been agreed to focus on supporting beneficiaries to build back better after the effects of Covid-19 and lockdown rather than just expecting them to come back from the lockdown to freshly start as if no major crisis happened during Summer 2020.
At the end of this resource, there are some websites addresses or directories for help and support. These sources of help and support are not exhaustive. We have mainly considered third sector organisations and service providers as well as social enterprises.
For further or extended list of service providers for your Autumn needs, one can contact their local authorities and service directories (both online and print).
• • The Focus of Fresh Autumn Start 2020 Edition
This Autumn, we are approaching Fresh Start Help from the perspective of building back better. We know that Covid-19 is not over and the battle against it continues. There is a probability for coronavirus spikes. This is why we argued a case about a Sinusoidal Autumn, whereby there could be rises followed by decreases (and vice versa) of the epidemiological curves (epi-curves) of the coronavirus during this Autumn.
However, since the economies are doing the work of rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction; we too are trying to find our way to help those in need in starting to build back better while prudently shadowing the stages of coronavirus outbreak or the evolution of the epi-curves of the coronavirus pandemic.
Throughout this Autumn, we will try to work with beneficiaries in helping them to meet their basic life-sustaining needs of building back better in the context of the sinusoidal Autumn due to the persisting effects of the coronavirus pandemic. We will as well work with them on the model of change they may embrace in terms of acceptance and integration of the effects of the coronavirus shock. This will mostly be at individual level to meet individual needs after the first shock of Covid-19 while keeping an eye on any erupting effects of any probable shock waves of the Covid-19 during this Autumn.
So, Fresh Autumn Start will deal with the needs to build back better from the first Covid-19 shock, subsequent lockdown and any potential shock waves from Covid-19 this Autumn and beyond.
• • Key summaries of the contents of FAS 2020 Edition
The contents for 2020 Edition of Fresh Autumn Start (FAS) include:
• Autumn scenarios and actions to take
• Examples of Summer Break Expenses Track Record and Autumn Build-Back-Better Budget
• People needs and Autumn leads
• Integration of threats
• What you can get from CENFACS
• Autumn online and digital resources
• • • Possible Autumn Scenarios and Possible Actions
When returning from Summer Break and/or season or coronavirus-induced lockdown, people can find themselves in a variety of situations depending on their own individual circumstances and life experiences. This variety of situations may require or be expected to be matched with a diversity of responses in order to meet people’s Autumn needs. These variable circumstances and diverse responses or a course of actions can take the different shapes as well as can be framed in order to take into account the adverse impacts of climate change.
• • • Examples of Summer Break Expenses Track Record and Autumn Build-Back-Better Budget
Tracking down and reassessing summer break/season expenses is a positive step to put one through a positive start for the Autumn season. As part of this positive step, FAS is packed with an example of Summer Break Expenses Track Record.
Budgeting Autumn items and needs is also good for a Fresh Start and for overall control over the start and rest of autumn season expenses. Since our focus is on build back better, one can write a build back better budget. Such a budget will help in costing the activities planned in the process of building back better.
To support this financial control, FAS contains two examples of budgets: Autumn build back better budget and fresh start budget.
• • • People’s Needs and Autumn Leads
Variable circumstances can obviously result in multiple needs. One of these circumstances is the exceptional conditions of Covid-19 and lockdowns. To meet those needs, we may have to gather resources, tools and institutions to guide us. The 2020 Edition of FAS provides a table that gives an idea of the likely leads to satisfy people’s needs or just to guide them.
• • • Integrating the threats from the adverse impacts of various factors into FAS
The particularity of FAS 2020 edition is that it integrates the life-threatening impacts of the coronavirus and the probable adverse impacts of climate change. This integration is at the levels of possible Autumn scenarios, Autumn budget and arising needs. It is the integration of both life-sustaining needs and life-threatening impacts of the coronavirus and climate change.
• • • What You Can Get from CENFACS in Autumn under Autumn Help to Build Back Better
The set of help provided in the FAS 2020 to Build Back Better is part of CENFACS’ UK arm of services and additional services we set up to overcome the negative effects of the coronavirus and lockdown. Besides that it further takes into account specific needs of people that may require specialist organisations and or institutions to deal with them. In which case CENFACS can signpost or refer the applicants to those third parties.
We hope that the basic tips and hints making the contents of FAS 2020 Edition will help you in some aspects of your Autumn needs.
Wishing you a Safe and Healthy Autumn season, and good work of Building Back Better!
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With many thanks.
