Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
24 February 2021
Post No. 184
The Week’s Contents
• Wealth and Wellbeing Transfer Project
• Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Essential Medicines and Vaccines for All
• Making Zero Hunger Africa Campaign with a Focus on African Agriculturalists and Pastoralists
… And much more!
Key Messages
• Wealth and Wellbeing Transfer Project
The Wealth and Wellbeing Transfer Project (WWTP) is the continuation of some of points raised and discussed in the 70th Issue of FACS newsletter. The 70th Issue was on Generational Economics and Reduction of Intergenerational Poverty, specifically on how to avoid and reduce the transmission of poverty to future generations.
WWTP is indeed a practical response in the form of project regarding the points raised in this Issue. The project takes the generational agenda forward and further by leading the way in planning to work together with intergenerational poor families so that they can navigate their way to avoid the intergenerational poverty trap for their children and grandchildren.
Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided they key elements of this project.
• In Focus for Week Beginning 22/02/2021 of the Month of Sustainable Development:
Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Essential Medicines and Vaccines for All
This last week of February 2021, we are continuing to follow up, review, advance solutions and take actions to help achieve good health and wellbeing for all, particularly but not specifically for the poor. We are doing it by re-examining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.8 relating to Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Essential Medicines and Vaccines for All.
This re-examination is at the COVID-19 time; a time of test for access to essential medicines and vaccines for all. The coronavirus time is a testing moment for Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Essential Medicines and Vaccines for All.
For example, one can ask whether or not essential medicines and vaccines against COVID-19 are accessible for all, especially for the poor. One thing is to argue that they are accessible for all; another thing is to make sure that accessibility to medicines and vaccines is materialised in their all aspects of safety, effectiveness, quality, affordability and essentialness.
What these words mean: safety, effectiveness, quality, affordability and essentialness for medicines and vaccines.
• • Meaning of Access to Safe, Effective, Quality, Affordable and Essential Medicines and Vaccines
To accompany our readers, let us shortly explain the following terms.
# Access is “having medicines continuously available and affordable at public or private health facilities or medicine outlets that are within one hour’s walk from the homes of the population” (1)
# Safe is “free from danger or injury” (2)
# Effectiveness is “a measure of a drug’s beneficial effect on a disease or condition as demonstrated by substantial evidence from adequate and well-controlled studies and clinical trials” (3)
# Quality is “the suitability of either a drug substance or drug product for its intended use. The term includes such attributes as the identity, strength and purity” (4)
# Affordable is “how easy or feasible an individual finds it to pay for a drug” (5)
# Essential medicines are “those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population. They are selected with due regard to public health relevance, evidence on efficacy and safety, and comparative cost-effectiveness. Essential medicines are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and adequate information, and at a price the individual and the community can afford” (6)
The above definitions can really tell whether or not everybody has access to essential medicines and vaccines. If not, what can be done to make it happen? A typical example to check or test this is with COVID-19 medicines and vaccine pledges.
• • COVID-19 Vaccine Pledges
To respond to this test of access, poor countries including those of Africa are already appealing for help to get the supply of COVID-19 vaccines; just as they did secure the supply of personal protection equipment against the coronavirus from international development donors.
There are encouraging signs that many wealthy nations have already made some pledges to supply poor ones with quantities of coronavirus vaccines. Both the G7 and G20 leaders have made pledges to donate quantities of coronavirus vaccines to the world’s poorer countries (including those of Africa). One can hope these pledges will materialise so that no one is left behind and vaccine inequality does not happen.
However, in relation to these promises and on the fringe of supplies of medicines and vaccines, Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Essential Medicines and Vaccines for All needs to be guaranteed at any time whether during the coronavirus crisis or after. This access has always been challenging for the poor.
• • Meeting Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Essential Medicines and Vaccines for the Poor
There are many players who are trying to help the poor meet the above access. In the context of these notes, we are going to focus on what our colleges in Africa, particularly Africa-based Sister Organisations, are doing and can do in order to help those in need to meet this access.
To do that, let us recall what we argued at the beginning of 2021. We argued that there were challenges and opportunities for Africa-based Sister Organisations in 2021. We also pointed out that 2021 could be a year of uncovered opportunities for Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs); opportunities from the challenges they face from the coronavirus pandemic, financial uncertainty, economic impact of lockdowns and global economic downturn.
Amid of the challenges they face in 2021, ASOs can still have a window of opportunities and play a significant role in the spheres of poverty reduction and sustainable development. There are opportunities or market niches they need to seize. Health and wellbeing of the poor people are one of them. They can stand out for poverty reduction and sustainable development in the areas of essential medicines and vaccines by undertaking the following:
√ Intervene in any efforts to reduce or end the disruption of supply chains (of for example medicines) as the legacies of COVID-19 and related lockdowns
√ Campaign for an increase or upgrade of logistics and infrastructures for coronavirus vaccines
√ Help in some of the tasks relating to the administration and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines
√ Conduct sensitization campaigns about the COVID-19 vaccines
Etc.
The above are just the few opportunities that ASOs can seize in order to continue to work with local people to reduce poverty, especially health and economic hardships that have been brought by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. This hardship is also found in the area of Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Essential Medicines and Vaccines for the Poor.
So, making sure that any essential medicines and vaccines reach everybody, especially the poor, will be the evidence that these medicines and vaccines are for all, not for the few or those who can only afford them.
The above health and wellbeing notes conclude our re-examination the Goal Target 3.8, but not our work on sustainable development.
For any queries and or enquiries about these notes and the Month of Sustainable Development, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
• Making Zero Hunger Africa Campaign with a Focus on African Agriculturalists and Pastoralists
Before looking at what is in focus, let us remind our readers the aim of Making Zero Hunger Africa Campaign.
• • Aim of Making Zero Hunger Africa Campaign
The aim of MZHAC is to raise awareness on sustainable food consumption and production in order to end hunger and malnutrition amongst those who are food deprived, particularly in Africa where the number of hungry people and families is still on the rise. It is as well campaigning response to the challenge of rise in hunger that Africa will face in the foreseeable future. In this respect, the coronavirus pandemic has only made the matter worse as it has put a heavy toll on the poor.
The contents of MZHAC are: End Hunger and Malnutrition Goal, Support Small-Scale Food Producers in Africa, Actions to Support the Food Industry in Africa, Meeting Vulnerable People’s Nutritional Needs, Actions for Sustainable Food Production Systems, etc.
This year, we are focussing on African agriculturalists and pastoralists to unite and contribute to these contents to make zero hunger Africa a reality, but not to be a matter of inter-community fight.
• • Focus on African Agriculturalists and Pastoralists
This year’s Making Zero Hunger Africa Campaign (MZHAC) will focus on how African agriculturalists and pastoralists who are working or can work together to make zero hunger Africa happen. The focus is about exploring the positive of both (agriculturalists and pastoralists) and the inter-linkages between the two in the process of ending hunger in Africa. It is an appeal to African agriculturalists and pastoralists to unite and work together.
For example, one can help promote sustainable peace between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in Ituri region of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Likewise, one can help quell fighting between semi-nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in south-eastern Chad since Africa needs both cattle and crops.
The current focus or approach is about them two (farmers/hunters and pastoralists) working together to make the dream of zero hunger Africa to become a reality. They can develop joint ventures instead of fighting between them.
Traditionally, agriculture and pastoralism have always been linked. This is why one can speak about agro-pastoralist economic activity (that is the integration of crop production and livestock production). In this era of the coronavirus pandemic, Africa needs both agriculturalists and pastoralists to end food insecurity and hunger that may be caused or exacerbated by the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns.
So, the message of the MZHAC for this year is about agriculturalists and pastoralists working together in order to eliminate hunger in Africa during and in the post-coronavirus era.
To support and or enquire about MZHAC, contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
• EcoBio Days: 24 to 28 February 2021
EcoBio (Ecological and biological) Days which will be held from 24 to 28 February 2021 bring to a climax our Sustainable Development month.
What EcoBio Days are about?
EcoBio Days are the days of works about the nexus between organisms (e.g. animals, plants, etc.) and their environment.
They are as well the days of study about living organisms.
The days are about how we deal with living things and their environment in order to meet our own needs and goals without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
They are the days of humans with their environment as well as humans with things and living organisms.
To enquire and or support EcoBio Days, please contact CENFACS.
• Resetting the Phases of the COVID-19 Campaign by Building Forward Together
Initially, we thought that the coronavirus pandemic will not last longer than as it is now. Since there is uncertainty about its duration, the current response phase of the COVID-19 crisis may not be adequate. In order to move forward together, there is a need to reset these phases.
The early phases of CENFACS’ Campaign for Resilience and against the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19 Campaign) were as follows:
Phase 1: Initial response to COVID-19
Phase 2: Impact monitoring and evaluation of COVID-19 on CENFACS
Phase 3: Post-coronavirus rehabilitation strategies
The first initial response to COVID-19 and the impact monitoring and evaluation of COVID-19 on CENFACS were fairly conducted without any problems.
As to the phase 3 (that is Post-coronavirus rehabilitation strategies), we started to build back our services and activities under the Build Back Better Campaign. However, since we are still in a sinusoidal movement of the epidemiological curves of the coronavirus, it is uncertain to know when these curves will flatten for a longer period. Because of that and due to the fact that the coronavirus is already established in people’s mind as a reality (that is why we spoke about the post-coronavirus economy), we can now to think to build forward.
We are campaigning to build forward together for the following reasons:
~ Some of the services and activities will be built back to their original state or normal condition
~ Others will not be restored to their original or near conditions
~ Others more may even disappear without any chance of being restored
~ Others more will be transformed to cope with the new reality and post-coronavirus economy.
Because of these reasons, there could be a need to reset the COVID-19 Campaign, move or build forward together. However, building forward together will depend on the final result of our impact analysis of COVID-19 on CENFACS’ system of poverty reduction and sustainable development.
For further details about Moving or Building Forward Together Campaign, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
• Triple Value Initiatives: Questions and Answers for Starters
We are pursuing the planning process for Triple Value Initiatives (All-year Round Projects) by inviting those who may have some questions to raise and put them to CENFACS. CENFACS will try to respond to them.
To kick-start this invitation and clear some of the misconceptions about Triple Value Initiatives (All-year Round Projects), we are going to respond to the following questions.
• • What are Triple Value Initiatives or All-year Round Projects?
They are a set of 3 yearly projects that run from the 1st week of January to the week preceding the end of last week of December of the same year. Through these 3 initiatives/projects (i.e. Run, Play and Vote), their users have the opportunity to do something about poverty reduction and sustainable development in the forms of either undertaking a physical activity (Run) or gaming activity (Play) or research activity (Vote). The participants to these projects can chose to engage with one of these projects/activities.
For those who want to organise a run activity or play the CENFACS’ League of Poverty Reduction or vote a person who made difference in helping those in reducing poverty in Africa; they can contact CENFACS if they have any problems about how they would like to go with any of these activities.
• • How can I participate?
Anyone can participate or run any of these projects as long as they follow the underlying principles relating to them. They can use whatever means are necessary to undertake and complete these projects.
For example, if one wants to undertake physical run, they need to plan the running equipment they need including personal protection equipment against the coronavirus, to have a devise to time themselves; a bottle of water, a pair of comfortable trainers, etc.
• • When can I enter these projects?
You can enter any of these projects at any time of the year. However, since they are all year round projects, it is better to join or run them early. This way, you will have more time to organise yourself and fit them within your other areas of life. Also, if you start earlier it is much easier to get help than if you start later.
• • Why should I run these projects?
There are several reasons that may help you to decide to participate like the following:
√ These projects may help you to improve your own life in terms of health, wellbeing, fitness and happiness
√ You can use them as a way of bringing back something to the community
√ You can take the opportunity given through these projects to do something against poverty and hardships
√ You can use them to improve sustainable development and reduce adverse impact of climate change on any lives
For example, during the coronavirus crisis and lockdowns, one can use them to break out the vicious circle of the COVID-19 lockdown pressure.
• • Where can I run them?
It depends on each of the projects. For run activity, you can do it outdoor and or indoor. As to gaming activity, you can play online or offline. Concerning vote activity, you obviously need to conduct some background research which you can do at home, in the library, online or travel abroad for those who can. You can as well do fieldwork. It really depends on your ambition and what you want to achieve as outcomes.
So, the above are the possible questions and related answers for those who would like to know more about Triple Value Initiatives (All-year Round Projects). For those who have still questions to ask, they can address them to CENFACS.
Main Development
• Wealth and Wellbeing Transfer Project
The following are the key highlights of the Wealth and Wellbeing Transfer Project (WWTP).
• • What is WWTP?
WWTP is a project of intergenerational poverty reduction that consists of working together with poor families in the community in order to identify the barriers to wealth creation while setting up strategies and building skills that will empower them to develop wealth transfer policy and practice.
Through this project, users will learn techniques and skills on how to save income, build inheritance and resources transfer so that their future generations do not inherit poverty and hardships.
Although many quantitative studies show that there is no systematic evidence of a causal correlation between receipt of intergenerational financial transfer (i.e. parent cash transfers) on the one hand and health and wellbeing outcomes on the other, it is hoped that WWTP will provide some positive effects in terms of wellbeing for intergenerational transfer beneficiaries.
• • Project Components/Activities
WWTP is indeed about how to build generational wealth and wellbeing which involves the following:
√ Investment in children’s human capital
√ Income saving skills and techniques to save for future generations
√ Creation of an income earning capacity to pass down to children
√ Financial literacy and numeracy skills
√ Capacity building in handling resources and assets
√ Digital and online technologies applying to money/wealth transfers
√ Income-generating leads
√ Resources transfer know how
√ Capability development in inheritance matters
√ Basic financial management skills
Etc.
• • Project outcomes
One of the problems with poor families is that many of them do not see the benefit of valuating their assets and liabilities. Yet, doing some basic valuation of their wealth and their conditions of poverty can help to measure the gap to bridge in order to start the work of building skills that will empower them to develop wealth transfer policy and practice.
From the perspective of this empowerment and as a result of the implementation of this project, one can anticipate the following changes and effects may happen:
√ Project beneficiaries will develop skills to save income and resources
√ They will become entrepreneurial and risk-informed takers in saving matters
√ There will be development and use of inheritance policy
√ They will be keen in asking valuation of their family wealth and wellbeing
√ Some of them may be willing to write a will or seek for will writing advice/support
√ There will be an improvement in children’s human capital, financial and numeracy skills, family assets management, family reserves building, a fair share of resources between current consumption and future generations’ needs, etc.
• • Project Indicators
The following intergenerational wealth and wellbeing transfer indicators will help to achieve the above desired outcomes:
√ The number of project users who will consider taking life insurance policy and will writing service as a result of this project
√ The number of children per family compared to resources and assets that family has will give some indication on the ability of that family to save
√ The percentage of children of a particular family with high/low/medium happiness (or life satisfaction) scores
√ The number of parent project users who will improve their learning ability in terms of transferring their wealth to their children
√ The rate of family resources allocation between current consumption and saving/investment in children’s human capital
√ The rate of accumulated wealth for a given family
√ The percentage of reduction of resources waste for a particular family
Etc.
• • Project Beneficiaries
Generally, the beneficiaries of this project will be low income poor families in the community.
Specifically, the project will benefit local people/families who are mostly out of touch of anything relating to intergenerational financial and wealth transfer to future generations because of their conditions of poverty.
• • Project funding status
So far, this project is unfunded. This means we are open to any credible funding proposals or proposition from potential funders or donors. It is known that the coronavirus pandemic has put a toll on everybody. However, those who would like to support this project will be more than welcome.
To fully or partly fund this project, please contact CENFACS.
• • Impact monitoring and evaluation
As part of impact monitoring, there will be routine and systematic gathering of information on all aspects of the project. In other words, we will systematically collect and analyse information to keep regular checks and balances on the project.
Likewise, we shall assess what the project will achieve in relation to the overall objectives it was set up. This is to say that evaluation will be conducted regarding the efforts spent on this project to find out whether or not these efforts are value for relief from the lack of intergenerational wealth transfer policy and practice.
In proceeding in this manner, we will be able to measure the impact or at least the outcomes from this project.
The full project proposals including budget are available on request. It is known that this time of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown is a difficult one. The health and economic crisis instigated by the coronavirus pandemic has perhaps negatively impacted intergenerational wealth transfer. However, for those who may be interested in this project, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
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References
(1) United Nations Development Group, Indicators for Monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (United Nations, New York, 2003)
(2) https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/safe (accessed February 2021)
(3) https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/effectiveness (accessed February 2021)
(4) https://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=513§ionid=41488034 (accessed February 2021)
(5) https://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/books/NBK493099 (accessed February 2021)
(6) https://www.who.int/topics/essential_medicines/en (accessed February 2021)
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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 2021 and beyond.
With many thanks.
