Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
12 October 2022
Post No. 269
The Week’s Contents
• 2022 “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Themed Activities via “Mbulu” Project
• Giving No Direct Cash Donations
• Climate Protection and Stake Action: On the Way to COP27
… And much more!
Key Messages
• 2022 “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Themed Activities via “Mbulu” Project
Our environmental campaign known as “A la une” has already started and is going to last for six weeks. The main theme of this campaign is still the same, which is Upkeep of the Nature; the sub-theme for this year’s campaign being Protection of Endangered Bird Species. This sub-theme will be delivered or conducted via “Mbulu” Project.
This year’s campaign is about the upkeep of endangered bird species. It is an action to reduce and stop extinction risk and threat that bird species (like Africa Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, Dwarf Honeyguide, African Green Broadbill and Crossley’s Ground-thrush) are subject in Africa and elsewhere. These bird species are just a few examples of many more that are threatened and at risk of extinction.
The above-mentioned examples of endangered bird species will make up selected composed notes or themed areas of our work; work that we will carry out together to shape the central topic or theme of “A la une” Campaign this Autumn.
We have provided, under the Main Development section of this post, the time frame and titles of these composed notes or themed areas of work.
The first themed area of work is Conservation of Congo Peafowls; themed area which kicked off from the 10th of October 2022.
For further information about this first note, please read under the Main Development section of this post.
• Ten No Direct Cash Donations
How to support CENFACS without directly giving cash
Last month, we highlighted ways of supporting CENFACS and of boosting your support. This week, we are adding ways of backing us without you having to directly give cash to CENFACS and its good causes. This is all part of improving the way in which you can make impact on what CENFACS is doing to help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.
Indeed, there are many ways that one can use to help CENFACS without directly given cash. One can unlock barriers to no direct cash donations for CENFACS. Those who would like to assist CENFACS by using other means than directly giving cash, they can think of the following.
Ten ways of donating to consider this Autumn and in the lead up to the end of the year:
1) Giving unwanted goods and items to CENFACS e-charity store at http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/
2) Sign up for a Gift Aid Declaration from which CENFACS can earn an extra 25p for every £1 you give
3) Nominate CENFACS for a donation at charity fundraising and donation events
4) Select CENFACS as your preferred charity for donation from advertising revenue
5) Raise free funds for CENFACS with your online shopping or choose CENFACS as a donation recipient of some of the profits raised from online shopping
6) Donate your unwanted and unused points and cashback to CENFACS as your chosen charity from your loyalty shopping rewards or good causes’ gift cards
7) Name CENFACS as your favourite deserving cause if it happens that you have the opportunity to click the online option “donate cashback to charities”
8) Donate any unwanted excess points of your loyalty card from apps that may give support to good causes
9) Give away to CENFACS any vouchers received or earned that you do not need or want
10) Hand out to CENFACS any proceeds from unwanted or unneeded prize draw or award you prefer to get rid of.
The above ten-themed ways of not directly donating cash are just the few examples of ways of helping that one can think over or come across with to support CENFACS without having to directly give cash. However, this does not mean one cannot donate cash. They can and if you choose to donate cash, CENFACS will happily accept your cash donations.
Alternatively, one can consider other no direct cash donations (such as planned gifting, gaming assets, streaming activities, digital tickets and collectible, crypto-assets and non-fungible tokens) since resource giving to charitable causes is a fast-growing industry.
To support CENFACS without directly giving cash and or by directly donating cash, just contact CENFACS.
• Taking Climate Protection and Stake for African Children at the Implementation with Installation Sub-phase (Phase 3.2)
On the Way to COP27
On our way to CO27, we followed up climate talks including Africa Climate Week 2022 and Pre-COP27 Talks in Kinshasa.
• • Africa Climate Week 2022
As part of the preparation for follow-up of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) from Monday 07 November to Friday 18 November 2022 (1); we followed Africa Climate Week 2022 (2) which was held from 29 August to 2 September in Libreville (Gabon).
At this platform, stakeholders discussed regional climate action solutions and forged regional partnerships. We considered the contents of this discussion and assessed how they could fit into CENFACS’ CPSAC (Climate Protection and Stake for African Children) and its sub-phase 3.2.
• • Pre-COP27 Talks in Kinshasa (held between 3 and 5 October 2022)
Further to the High-level ministerial meeting, pre-COP27, held from 03 to 05 October 2022 in Kinshasa at the Palais du Peuple (3), we are looking at some burning issues which some participants and representatives of environmental organisations raised during the talks. These issues include the following ones:
✔ Access to climate funds, especially for grass root organisations
✔ Promotion of populations’ education in eco-gestures
✔ Impact of destructive wars and conflicts on the environment in Africa (like in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo)
✔ How partnership between the three forest basins (i.e., Amazonia, Indonesia and Congo) can provide climate protection and stake for children or future generations
✔ Alternative to deforestation for poor people
✔ New adaptative mechanisms to live for poor people, especially for those who depend on wood and leaves to build shelters and make traditional remedies
✔ Poor people’s access to electricity and gas
✔ The reduction of anthropogenic pressure and vegetal formation containing woods
Etc.
We are working on the Kinshasa pre-COP27 issues raised by various organisations to see how they could affect children and future generations in Africa. We are looking at these issues and studying how they could fit into CENFACS’ CPSAC and its sub-phase 3.2.
For those who are working on the same issues, it would be good if they can communicate with CENFACS. For those who would like to support and or enquire about CENFACS’ CPSAC and its sub-phase 3.2, they can as well contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
∝ Back-to-school Project: Integrated Training Centre in Doutchi, County of Dosso in Niger
∝ Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
∝ Be.Africa Forum discusses Bazaïba-Kerry Arguments
• Back-to-school Project: Integrated Training Centre in Doutchi, County of Dosso in Niger
The Young People of the rural area of Doutchi want you to fund their project!
The centre aims at harmoniously integrating young people in their rural area and fighting against poverty through local sustainable development.
This project, which has been selected and highlighted as part of CENFACS‘ back-to-school programme of work, is unfunded,
We know that at this current time of the cost-of-living crisis, things are difficult for many people including small individual donors. However, for those who may be interested in this project, this is an opportunity to make a world of difference.
For those who would like to donate no direct cash, they can use any of the ten-themed ways of giving without directly donating cash, themed ways we have mentioned in this post.
For those who prefer to donate cash, they can do it and their cash will be accepted.
Please, be one of our generous givers by helping to integrate young people in their rural area of Doutchi and fighting against poverty through local sustainable development.
Please do not wait to donate as the needs are pressing and urgent NOW.
To donate cash and/or no direct cash, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
Further details about this project can be found at www.cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/
We look forward to your support to make helpful difference for the young people in their rural area of Doutchi and for fighting against poverty through local sustainable development there.
Thank you for your generosity.
• Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living is one of CENFACS Starting IX Projects for this Autumn 2022. In order to get a basic understanding of it, it is better to define it, to highlight the kind of poverty this campaign is trying to address, to spell out the types of actions making it, and to explain its phases or steps.
• • What this campaign is about
The Campaign to End Poverty Linked to Rising Costs of Living is an organised series of actions to gain support for the cost-of-living poor so that something can be done for them. These actions need to result in change, particularly the reduction and end of poverty led by the cost-of-living crisis. The latter is now a barrier for many poor. To tackle this barrier, one may need to understand poverty linked to the cost of living.
• • Basic understanding of poverty attached to the cost of living
For anyone to understand poverty due to high cost of living, it is better to define the cost of living. The website ‘ben.org.uk’ (4) defines the cost of living as
“The amount of money needed to cover basic expenses such as housing, food, taxes, and healthcare in a certain place and time period”.
From the above definition, it is possible to argue that those who are poor because of rising cost of living like at the moment are those who are failing or totally struggling to meet this rise. The rise includes hikes in energy bills, food prices, taxes, interest rates, rent, etc. In order to deal with this rise, actions need to be taken to support or work with the cost-of-living poor so that they can reduce and eventually end poverty linked to rising costs of living.
• • Actions or ways of working with the community to reduce and possibly to end poverty linked to the high cost of living
There are those who believe that to end poverty linked to high costs of living, earnings and incomes or any benefits received by the poor have to be uprated to the rates of inflation. However, CENFACS as a charity does not have the means or power to adjust its members’ incomes or earnings or benefits for inflation. Instead, what CENFACS can do is to work with them in a series of actions or activities so that they can navigate their way out of poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis. What are these actions or activities?
• • • Actions to be taken with the community
It takes a long time for a crisis like the current cost-of-living crisis to end. Because of that, it is better to have short-, medium- and long-term actions; actions that can stemmed from a strategy to end crisis.
Since it is difficult to know the duration of the cost-of-living crisis, we prefer to have an open strategy or plan which will run for the duration of the crisis. In this open strategy or plan, we can conduct short-, medium- and long-term actions.
a) Short-term or immediate actions when working with the community
These are critical actions or activities to be undertaken from now and within six months period to help those who are poor because of high costs of living to make ends meet. Through these actions, one can hope to undertake the following:
✔ Get informed to avoid goods and services that are excessively high priced on the market
✔ Search for support and benefits available for distressed households’ accounts and assets
✔ Create a simple and practical action plan with users to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
b) Medium-term actions
This second level of actions is designed to avoid that the cost-of-living crisis to settle in with the time and to become a humanitarian crisis. Amongst actions to be taken, which will run between 6 and 24 months, include these ones below:
✔ Encourage our community members to develop or learn skills that are adapted with the evolving time and help them navigate out of the cost-of-living crisis
✔ Develop with them an action plan to come out of the cost-of-living crisis in medium term
✔ Support them to build energy and food security systems in the medium term and beyond.
c) Long-term actions
These actions go from 2 to 10 years. The aim of this third level of actions is to avoid that the cost-of-living crisis leads to intergenerational poverty; that is the transmission of poverty linked to high cost of living to future generations.
At this level, the actions to be undertaken could be those listed below:
✔ Help beneficiaries improve their productivity and capacity to earn or generate income
✔ Support them to consume green and local so that they are less exposed to the volatility of the international prices of goods and services
✔ Find ways of scaling down repressive or punitive market dictatorship on them.
The above-mentioned actions are just a selection amongst the ones we hope to take with the community. They will be taking them via what we called ‘GARSIA‘ (that is Guidance, Advice, Referrals, Signposting, Information and Advocacy) services.
Because in any campaign, there are phases or steps, these actions will be taken according to the phases of our campaign.
• • Phases/steps in the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living
Any crisis has some phases or cycle to take or follow. Because of that, our campaign will follow the cycle of a typical crisis. We use the adjective typical because we do not exactly how the cost-of-living crisis will evolve. What we know so far, there has been a crisis (the cost-of-living crisis). And if we use the generic model of this typical crisis, we can guestimate that there will be de-escalation, stabilisation and resolve phases of the current crisis.
In each phase of our model of crisis curve, there will be actions to be taken. However, actions from each phase should not be treated separately without considering actions before and after each phase. This is because there could be communicating vessels between the two phases.
So, the phases or steps of our Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living will be aligned with the above-named phases (i.e., de-escalation, stabilisation and resolve). At the moment, our Campaign is between the crisis phase and the de-escalation phase.
The above is the summary of our Campaign to End Poverty Induced by High Costs of Living. To enquire and or support our campaign, please contact CENFACS.
• Be.Africa Forum discusses Bazaïba-Kerry Arguments
‘Aljazeera.com’ (5) reported that John Kerry – the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate – argued last week at pre-COP27 in Kinshasa that
“There was a way to provide employment and economic development without polluting sensitive environmental areas such as ‘really critical peatlands’ at risk”.
It is understood that John Kerry made his argument as he thought that drilling in the Congo Basin’s rainforests and peatlands could release vast amounts of heat-trapping gas.
The same ‘Aljazeera.com’ (op. cit.) wrote that Ève Bazaïba, the Congolese environment minister, contended that
“As much as we need oxygen, we also need bread”.
This week at CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum, we are discussing the argument and counterargument made by the two high-level environment representatives respectively. We are debating if one should save the environment (or the Paris Climate Treaty) or save humans or both. In other words, should the Congolese forest and forest resources be protected while the Congolese children are dying with hunger, or the Congolese children should be given bread no matter what happens to the Congolese forest and forest resources? And if one had to save both (environment and humans), how should they do it?
You can join or add your input to the debate by telling the CENFACS be.Africa Forum what you think. You can tell it over phone, via email or text, and by filling the contact form on this site.
Please tell us what you think.
Message in French (Message en français)
• Comment soutenir le CENFACS sans donner directement d’argent
Dix façons de faire un don à considérer cet automne et à l’approche de la fin de l’année:
1) Donner des biens et des articles non désirés à la boutique de l’organisme de bienfaisance électronique CENFACS à http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/
2) Inscrivez-vous pour une déclaration d’aide aux cadeaux à partir de laquelle le CENFACS peut gagner un supplément de 25 pence pour chaque 1 livre que vous donnez
3) Proposer la candidature du CENFACS pour un don lors d’événements de collecte de fonds et de dons de bienfaisance
4) Sélectionnez le CENFACS comme organisme de bienfaisance préféré pour les dons provenant des revenus publicitaires
5) Collectez des fonds gratuits pour le CENFACS avec vos achats en ligne ou choisissez le CENFACS comme bénéficiaire d’un don de certains des bénéfices générés par les achats en ligne
6) Faites don de vos points et remises en argent non désirés et inutilisés à CENFACS en tant qu’organisme de bienfaisance de votre choix parmi vos récompenses d’achat de fidélité ou vos cartes-cadeaux pour de bonnes causes
7) Nommez le CENFACS comme votre cause méritante préférée s’il arrive que vous ayez la possibilité de cliquer sur l’option en ligne « faire un don de remise en argent à des organismes de bienfaisance »
8) Faites don de tout excédent de points indésirables de votre carte de fidélité à partir d’applications susceptibles de soutenir de bonnes causes
9) Offrez au CENFACS tous les bons reçus ou gagnés dont vous n’avez pas besoin ou que vous ne voulez pas
10) Distribuez au CENFACS tout produit d’un tirage au sort ou d’une récompense indésirable ou inutile dont vous préférez vous débarrasser.
Les dix façons ci-dessus de ne pas donner directement de l’argent ne sont que quelques exemples d’aide que l’on peut réfléchir ou rencontrer pour soutenir le CENFACS sans avoir à donner directement de l’argent. Cependant, cela ne signifie pas que l’on ne peut pas donner de l’argent. Vous peuvez donner de l’argent en espèces et si vous choisissez de faire un don en espèces, le CENFACS acceptera volontiers vos dons en espèces.
Alternativement, on peut envisager d’autres dons en espèces non directs (tels que les dons planifiés, les actifs de jeu, le streaming, les billets numériques et les objets de collection, les crypto-actifs et les jetons non fongibles), car les dons de ressources à des causes caritatives sont une industrie en croissance rapide.
Pour soutenir le CENFACS sans donner directement de l’argent et/ou en donnant directement de l’argent, il suffit de contacter le CENFACS.
Main Development
• 2022 “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Themed Activities via “Mbulu” Project
The following covers the points making this Main Development:
∝ What is “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence)?
∝ What is “Mbulu“?
∝ “A la une” Campaign Calendar
∝ Executing our “A la une” Campaign from Week Beginning 10/10/2022 by Focusing on the Conservation of Congo Peafowl
• • What is “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence)?
“A la une” is CENFACS‘ well-known household campaign for justice towards for nature in the autumnal season.
It is about working together in organised and active way toward the goal of keeping up the nature in (good) existence.
It is about telling those who are in a position to help to fix the overexploitation and end extinction of natural species.
It is CENFACS’ branding or theme that holds to account those who are destroying the nature and its resources as well as it looks forward to changing the way our society works.
Briefly, “A la une” Campaign, which has to be differentiated from one-time protest, has three attributes, which are:
a) It focuses on a concrete goal of keeping up the nature in (good) existence
b) It has specific outcomes for working with CENFACS‘ users to protect nature or the wilderness/wildlands
c) It helps to add up to similar efforts and work on protecting the nature.
“A la une” Campaign needs sub-themes to be completed. The sub-theme we have selected to deliver “A la une” Campaign for this year is “Mbulu“.
• • What is “Mbulu“?
“Mbulu” stands for Mobilising for Birds’ Useful Life for Us. “Mbulu” Project is a sequence of tasks with a defined start (10/10/2022) and end date (19/11/2022) to achieve the overall aim of keeping up the nature (here endangered bird species) in (good) existence, particularly from exploitation and extinction.
Whereas “A la une” Campaign is our overall values or umbrella body of work for justice towards nature, “Mbulu” Project is one of the groupings of projects making our “A la une” Campaign.
“Mbulu” is a SMART (that is, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) goal within “A la une” Campaign or a result that we are attempting to achieve.
“Mbulu” as a SMART goal helps…
✔ Increase awareness within our community and the rest of the community about endangered bird species
✔ Get improved conversions in terms of new sustainable initiatives
✔ Attract support to our noble cause of reducing poverty by developing sustainable initiatives.
Any campaign to be serious needs to have some planning, strategy and process.
• • “A la une” Campaign Calendar
• • • Six Weeks of Campaign for the Upkeep of the Nature
As announced earlier, we have started our 6-week campaign work for the Upkeep of the Nature. The campaign will help in promoting healthy relationships between humans and nature by taking actions to reduce and end extinction risks and threats to Bird Species. It will also help in the fight against the adverse impacts of climate change.
As outlined earlier, the sub-theme of “A la une” for this year is Protection of Endangered Bird Species delivered via “Mbulu” Project while the “A la une” theme remains the same which is: Upkeep of the Nature.
Within these theme and sub-theme, we have composed six notes including monitoring, evaluation and review of the “A la une” Campaign. These notes, which can be found below are in fact actions that can be taken to Protect Endangered Bird Species.
• • • “A la une” Composed Notes or Themed Areas for Action
During the following periods within this Autumn and “A la une” season, CENFACS’ advocacy on environment will focus on the following areas from the beginning of every Mondays (starting from 10 October 2022 to 19 November 2022).
In total, there are six themed areas of work and action starting from the 10th of October 2022 and thereafter every Mondays until the 19th of November 2022. These activities will help us to re-communicate our environmental message for the upkeep of the nature in (good) existence as well as triggering better changes the way in which our community/society works.
The notes are supposed to guide our action since “A la une” is about actions, not words. During the run and at the end of these notes and actions, we shall pull monitoring and evaluation reports. We shall as well review the campaign results to see how it performed overall and if we achieved our goal, that is “Mbulu“.
To engage with “A la une” themed areas and to act for healthy and wealthy nature, please contact CENFACS.
• • Executing our “A la une” Campaign from Week Beginning 10/10/2022 by Focusing on the Conservation of Congo Peafowl
The Congo Peafowl, which is found only in the downland rainforests of the Congo River basin in Central Democratic Republic of Congo, is threatened by habitat loss caused by mining, shifting cultivation and logging, according to various sources.
Within birding literature, it is said that the Congo Peafowl, which is also known as the African peafowl or ‘mbulu’ by the Bakôngo, is vulnerable and its population is decreasing.
According to the World Pheasant Association (6),
“Peafowl use regenerating forest with little disturbance in close proximity to primary forest… Peafowl use both primary and secondary forest. Patches of secondary or regenerating forest connecting fragment of primary forest increase connectivity and allow the peafowl to move between forest blocks. Such areas of secondary forest could be an important component for a conservation strategy for Congo peafowl”.
There are more actions that can be taken to conserve Congo Peafowl.
• • • What one can do to conserve Congo Peafowl
In order to secure long-term survival of the Congo peafowl, one can take actions with CENFACS via “A la une” Campaign on the following:
✔ Restore peafowl’s lost habitat by preventing any development that would alter or destroy its habitat
✔ Scale down mining, shifting cultivation and logging activities that threatened peafowl’s habitat and way of life
✔ Provide peafowl with primary and secondary forest to increase its movements.
The above actions will help to reduce extinction risks and threats to the Congo peafowl, which is endangered bird species in Africa.
Briefly, this is our first note of the “A la une” Campaign for this year.
To find out more about this first note and/or the entire “A la une” campaign, please contact CENFACS.
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• References
(1) https://unfccc.int/event/cop-27 (Accessed in September 2022)
(2) https://unfccc.int/ACW2022 (Accessed in September 2022)
(3) https://drcprecop27.medd.gouv.cd/en (Accessed in October 2022)
(4) https://ben.org.uk/how-we-help/for-me/articles/reduce-your-living-costs/ (Accessed in October 2022)
(5) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/4/us-asks-drc-to-pull-oil-blocks-from-auction-to-protect-forests (Accessed in October 2022)
(6) https://www.pheasant.org.uk/congopeafowl (Accessed in October 2022)
_________
• Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going this year
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 also consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.
Additionally, we would like to inform you that planned gifting is always an option for giving at CENFACS.
Donate to support CENFACS!
FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ NOBLE CAUSES OF POVERTY REDUCTION.
JUST GO TO :Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)
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 2022 and beyond.
With many thanks.
