Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
02 November 2022
Post No. 272
The Week’s Contents
• The Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month) 2022
• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Campaign – In Focus for Week Beginning 31/10/2022: Safeguard of African Green Broadbill
• Giving Tuesday Event on 29/11/2022
… And much more!
Key Messages
• The Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month) 2022
November is the Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (or in short Skills Development Month) within CENFACS. It is the month that we recognise the economic value of education as well as of the non-economic benefits from education even if there could a dispute about these values or benefits. It is also the month we pay a particular attention to the technology of skill formation; month in which we try to find out how skills are formed and how technologies relating to them can help us to further reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.
So, our November work on economic issues relating to education has just started this week. This work will first be about the link between education economics and poverty reduction, then between education economics and sustainable development. This work will include the identification of causal relationships between African organisations’ work and outcomes in educational projects.
In this identification, we shall refer to the human capital theory which will be the theoretical and working paradigm to be used this month. In other words, all along this month we shall work on this assumption: the importance and capacity of education and training (skills development) to help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.
Skills formation and development will be about forming new skills (that is any abilities to perform an activity in a competent way) to continue to fight poverty, for example poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis. Skills formation and development will indeed include data skills. In other words, the skills we will be dealing with are foundational statistical skills that help to understand data relating to families’ or households’ life. This variety of abilities or skills will make our human capital.
Under the Main Development section of this post, you will find further information about this first key message.
• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Campaign – In Focus for Week Beginning 31/10/2022: Safeguard of African Green Broadbill
African Green Broadbill, also known as Grauer’s broadbill, is a rare and beautiful bird that belongs to typical African broadbills, that is the sub-family of Smithornithinae Genus: Smithornis African broadbill, Smithornis capensis. African Green Broadbill appears in tropical moist montane forest and is endemic to the Albertine Rift Mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
African Green Broadbill is classified as vulnerable and listed on ‘earthsendangered.com’ (1). It is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. Because of that, it needs to be kept safe or safeguarded.
• • Safeguard of African Green Broadbill
Safeguarding of African Green Broadbill is about ensuring that African Green Broadbill is free from danger and given protection from harm. Yet, many studies suggest that African Green Broadbill as species is threatened by deforestation and habitat degradation. As a result, actions need to be taken to deal with deforestation and habitat degradation that threaten this species. Since “A la une“ Campaign is about actions not words, we are going to take actions with the community and the rest of the community.
• • Actions for the Upkeep of African Green Broadbill in Existence
The kind of actions we are going to deal with is the one that can help stop or reduce deforestation and habitat degradation. These actions can include the following:
√ Afforestation, that is growing forests on forested lands, where African Green Broadbills can have access
√ Creation of new habitats or environmental conditions for African Green Broadbills to live
√ Replanting forests
√ Natural regeneration, that is natural regrowth of vegetation and of damaged or destroyed ecological communities
√ Aggradation, that is building up the land surface
Etc.
The above actions will assist in safeguarding African Green Broadbill, which is near endangered bird species in Africa.
To take actions and/or find out more about this fourth composed note and/or the entire “A la une” Campaign, please contact CENFACS.
• Giving Tuesday Event on 29/11/2022:
Support the Victims and Survivors of Violence in Armed Conflicts in Africa!
By and on 29/11/2022, CENFACS is looking forward to raising funds to help the victims and survivors of violence in conflicts, particularly the survivors of sexual violence in conflicts (like in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo) to change their lives.
This fundraising activity starts from the start of this November. On 29 November 2022, it will be the fundraising climax day as it is a Global Giving Tuesday. CENFACS hopes you can join and help it maximise the day through your giving.
Please share this message around your contacts, in particular with your friends and family members, on how you/they can make a helpful difference.
We would love your/their help in reaching our Giving Tuesday target and goal.
For those who would like to donate, they should not wait to do it. They can donate now as the need is pressing and urgent.
To donate, you simply need to contact CENFACS. You can text, phone, e-mail and complete the contact form on this site with your contact details. On receipt of your donation or intent to support, CENFACS will contact you back.
We look forward to your support to help the victims and survivors of violence in armed conflicts, particularly the survivors of sexual violence.
Thank you in anticipation.
Extra Messages
∝ Activity/Task 11 of the Knowledge (‘K’) Year and Project: Identify the Skills of Those in Need
∝ Long-term Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
∝ Integrating “A la une” Campaign and Nature Aspect of COP27
• Activity/Task 11 of the Knowledge (‘K’) Year and Project: Identify the Skills of Those in Need
The 11th Activity or Task of our ‘K’ Year and Project is about Identifying the Skills of Those in Need.
To be able to help those in need in what they would like to do (as occupation, job, activity, event, etc.), it is better to recognise or establish the identity of the skills and capabilities they possess.
Depending on the skills they possess and or can acquire, it is possible to think of what opportunity can meet their skills. The identification of skills can also establish if there is any gap between their goal/ambition (what they want to do or achieve) and what is on offer on the market (what they can realistically get from the market).
For example, one can identify the skills of those in need via their curriculum vitae or résumé. One can even rank these skills and match them with the kind of occupation these people are looking for in order to navigate their way out of poverty and hardships.
So, by identifying the skills of those in need, this helps to bridge the gap, if any, between their goal and the reality on the market.
The above is the Activity or Task no. 11 for the ‘K’ Year/Project for those who are interested in carrying it out.
For those who want any clarification of any aspects of this activity or task, they can contact CENFACS.
• Long-term Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
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.
Through this level of service, CENFACS hopes to support the community to become more financially resilient as the cost-of-living crisis lasts and beyond. In doing so, they can better manage their financial well-being and survive.
At this level, the actions to be undertaken could be those listed below:
Help beneficiaries improve their productivity and capacity to earn or generate sufficient income
Protect the economic basis of beneficiaries’ survival as humans
Support them to consume green and local so that they can be 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
Encourage them to lead long-term change not to be behind it
Advise them on lasting financial resilience support schemes
Get them invest in long-term solutions to the cost-of-living crisis
Advocate with them and on their behalf to those holding key to long-term solutions to their financial security problems
Etc.
Through the above-mentioned actions, one can expect that the cost-of-living crisis will not transform itself to the crisis in the lasting cost of surviving as human beings. The 2020s decade will not be a decade of lost generation for the victims of cost-of-living crisis if this crisis lasts longer than expected. This why we have this 2-to-10-year service or programme of work with the community.
The service is available for those members of our community who need it and who would like to ask for it. The service can be accessed via what we called ‘GARSIA’ (that is Guidance, Advice, Referrals, Signposting, Information and Advocacy) options.
To request and/or access the service, please contact CENFACS.
• Integrating “A la une” Campaign and Nature Aspect of COP27
There are some areas of CENFACS “A la une” Campaign that are linked to some of the points to be raised during COP27, in particular within the Nature Pavilion at COP27. Because of that, we are looking at those areas in conjunction with these talkable points as we are undertaking our “A la une” Campaign. In technical terms, we can argue that we are going to integrate CENFACS‘ nature campaign and climate talks to be held under COP27. Before that, let remind our readers what is “A la une” Campaign and what is COP27.
• • 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 as well 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.
Amongst similar efforts is COP27.
• • What is COP27?
COP27 is 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 (2).
Generally, CENFACS follows the rounds of climate talks or negotiations hold during these sessions of the conference of the parties. Likewise, we shall follow COP27, particularly talks to be held within the Nature Pavilion of COP27. Prior to following these talks, we are looking at the integration between “A la une” Campaign and the Nature Aspect of COP27 via common nature points for discussion.
• • Integration between “A la une” Campaign and Nature Aspect of COP27
Through the integration of the two, we are studying if there are some synergies between the two (CENFACS‘ Nature Campaign and Nature Pavilion of COP27). Using an integrative approach, it is possible to identify some interconnectedness between the goal of the upkeep of the nature and that of keeping global average temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
It is as well conceivable to associate the upkeep of the nature and some of the issues which will be raised inside Nature Pavilion of COP27. These nature integrative points may include these ones below:
√ Action to protect, manage and restore natural ecosystems
√ The place of nature and climate within the blue zone
√ Sustainable approaches to land use and contributions to greenhouse gas emissions
√ Untapped potential of natural ecosystems
√ Carbon sinks (e.g., forest, ocean or any natural environment) and their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
√ Nature positive action and nature-based solutions
√ Preservation of existing ecosystems
√ Restoration of degraded lands
√ The Convention on Biodiversity to be negotiated
√ Ways of halting and reversing nature losses
√ Carbon market or greenhouse gas trade system and the price on releasing carbon
√ Ways of ending commodity-driven deforestation
√ Technologies for nature
Etc.
These points for discussion and their discussion will enable us to find out how they affect our users and how our users can get prepared as we are on our way to COP27.
For those who would like to find out more about this integration of CENFACS’ Nature Campaign and aspects of COP27 relating to nature, they can contact CENFACS.
Message in French (Message en français)
Vient de paraître: Le 77e numéro du FACS
Le 77e numéro de notre bulletin bilingue FACS vient de paraître. À l’intérieur de ce numéro dans la page 10, il y a le Projet d’analyse de la sécurité financière.
Ci-dessous se trouve le résumé de ce projet (Projet d’analyse de la sécurité financière).
Alors que les prix des biens et des services continuent d’augmenter pendant que les revenus et le soutien financier des gens ne correspondent pas au niveau et à l’ampleur de la flambée du coût de la vie, il est devenu évident que beaucoup de nos bénéficiaires éprouvent des difficultés financières. Ils/elles éprouvent des difficultés financières car leurs actifs sont inférieurs à leurs passifs. En termes techniques, ils sont financièrement précaires.
Pour faire face au niveau d’insécurité et de menace que représente l’insécurité financière pour ces personnes en difficulté, il est nécessaire d’élaborer une réponse appropriée.
Le Projet d’analyse de la sécurité financière, qui peut ne pas être un soutien financier en termes de liquidités ou d’actifs convertibles en espèces, peut aider à travailler avec des personnes en situation d’insécurité financière afin qu’elles puissent progressivement se frayer un chemin vers la sécurité financière.
Par exemple, grâce à ce projet, nous pouvons effectuer une analyse expresse de la sécurité financière de nos bénéficiaires ou ménages à partir de leurs données. L’analyse aidera à déterminer la situation financière d’un/e bénéficiaire résidentiel(le) donné(e) de notre projet.
L’analyse peut fournir des informations précieuses pour éviter potentiellement la pauvreté financière. À cet égard, le Projet d’analyse de la sécurité financière contribuera à améliorer le niveau de ceux/celles qui recherchent des solutions durables à la crise financière à laquelle ils/elles sont confronté(e)s.
Pour accéder ou soutenir ou encore contribuer au Projet d’analyse de la sécurité financière, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.
Pour plus de détails à ce projet, veuillez aussi contacter le CENFACS.
L’exemplaire intégral du 77e numéro de FACS est disponible sur demande. Pour toute question ou commentaire sur ce numéro, n’hésitez pas à contacter le CENFACS.
Le 77e numéro de FACS est stocké dans notre référentiel sous les détails suivants:
Bulletin bilingue FACS / Titre du numéro: Sécurité financière pour les pauvres / Numéro: 77 / Mois et année de publication: Octobre 2022 / Editeur: CENFACS.
Main Development
• The Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month) 2022
The following items make up our Skills Development 2022:
∝ Month of November within CENFACS
∝ Poverty as a lack of skills and knowledge
∝ CENFACS Community’s Skills Data Bank
∝ CENFACS and its work on skills development
∝ Data Skills to Run your Household
∝ In Focus from Wednesday 02/11/2022: Data Storage Skills.
Let us summarise these items.
• • Month of November within CENFACS
November month has two features within CENFACS which are: Skills evaluation and training implementation.
• • • November as a month of skills evaluation
November at CENFACS is the month of education and training, which revolves around the development of skills for life, for work, for poverty relief and sustainable development. It is the month during which we look into ourselves and try to assess, explore and learn the skills we need in order to further help reduce poverty in a sustainable way amongst ourselves and re-engage with the business of sustainable development.
• • • November as a training implementation month
November is also the training implementation month during which we pay attention to the following: educationally related projects or projects that involve training, skills development and acquisition of new knowledge to help users and our Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) to empower themselves with the educational tools and training resources they need to further help reduce poverty.
For example, one of the skills development projects to support ASOs is skills to hybrid work (that is, the flexibility to split time between working remotely and from the office), in particular when there is handicap for people to meet in-person and work.
• • Poverty as a lack of skills and knowledge
It is known that poverty is not only material or the lack of monetary income; it is even more the lack of knowledge, skills, knowhow and technologies than anything else. Therefore, knowing and learning a skill can help to further reduce poverty, particularly but not exclusively poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis, and can set one on the right course of the development process. In this respect, there could relationships between economics of education and poverty reduction, between skill formation and poverty reduction.
• • • Relationship between the economics of education and poverty reduction
The economics of education is generally defined as the study of economic issues relating to education. The paradigm used in the economics of education is human capital theory. This theory suggests that investment in education and training lead people to become productive.
However, education and training do not only lead to the improvement of productivity. They can also pave the way for poverty reduction. As people get more educated and trained, these further education and training can provide them with the means to overcome poverty. As a result of this, there could be relationship between the economics of education and poverty reduction.
There could disagreement about this link between the two. However, despite this disagreement we are working on the assumption that education and training can lead to poverty reduction.
• • • Link between skill formation and poverty reduction
Let us briefly try to understand skill formation by highlighting its definitions. One of its definitions comes from an online dictionary at the website igi—global.com (3), which explains the following
“Skill formation is the process by which individuals achieve and develop innate or acquired skills to cope with everyday life challenges. Besides heredity, it includes formal and informal training activities and life experience”.
From this definition, it is possible to deduct that individuals who are poor can use their innate or acquired skills to cope with the challenge of poverty by developing survival and coping strategies. If they continue to use their skills and those strategies, they can navigate their way out of poverty. When they reach the point at which their skills and strategies effectively enable them to reduce poverty, then one could argue about the link between skill formation and poverty reduction.
• • CENFACS Community’s Skills Data Bank
As part of our Skills Development Month, we would like to remind every member of our community that they can register their skills to our data bank, which is repository containing information about CENFACS and the data of the CENFACS’ Community. The register is free. Skills and information are stored on it in accordance with the latest regulations on data protection.
Knowing the skills that one possesses; it makes easy when opportunity arises to match them with registered skills. It also helps to point those in need of support to the right and relevant a skilful person and direction.
To register your skills to make up the CENFACS’ Community of skilled people, please contact CENFACS.
• • CENFACS and its work on skills development
As far as CENFACS is concerned, we strive to support those who want to learn a skill while we at CENFACS as an organisation plan our own training, learning and development programme from time to time when we can access both funding and training.
The focus for this November 2022 will be on enhancing data skills for households making the CENFACS Community.
• • Data Skills to Run your Household
Data Skills to Run your Household is the second project of our 2022 Starting XI Campaign. In order to understand this project, we are going to define data skill and provide the types of skills this project may contain.
• • • What is data skill?
Data Skills to Run your Household are the naturally acquired or developed talents and accomplishments that will allow our project beneficiaries to better run their households.
The project will help families/households that lack skills in terms of handling data…
∝ to gain sufficient skills and knowledge to use data making their lives
∝ to attach value to data
∝ to capture household data and turn them into value
∝ to create trust in data systems they use to manage their lives
∝ to support both technical skills building and efforts to enhance a culture of data use within household systems
∝ to improve family/household limited data literacy skills
∝ to keep learning numeracy and statistical literacy skills at family/household level
∝ to empower and inform household data users
∝ to build the skills of household decision-makers in relation to handling information about their households
Etc.
From these various ways of handling data, it is possible to have different types of data skills.
• • • Types of data skills
Investing in building the data skills for the good running of your household and decision-making process can help not only to tackle poverty linked to the lack of ability to handle data, but also other forms of poverty that a household may face. There are various data skills that a typical data unskilled household may need or require.
These types of data skills can include the following:
∝ Skills needed to collect, process and disseminate data
∝ Skills to extract the relevant information from data
∝ Skills for data engineering to manage and process data
∝ Foundational statistical skills to understand data relating to family life
∝ Data sharing skills within and outside household
Etc.
From these types of skills, we can select four of them and create skills-focused area to work on each Wednesday of November 2022. To make it easy, our creation is built around the management of data.
• • • What is management of data?
Management of data can be defined in many ways. In the context of these notes, we have selected the definition provided by ‘phoenix.edu’ (4) which states that
“Management of data refers to the processes that store, secure, process and analyse data and includes the management of servers, databases, networks and computers”.
From this definition, one can pull out the different skills that households, particularly but not exclusively those making the CENFACS Community, need to plan and make these above-named processes to happen.
The following table (table no. 1) summarises our plan (Wednesdays’ Skills Focus) for approaching these pulled-out skills this month. It highlights a set of skills to focus on from every Wednesday of each week of November 2022 starting from 02/11/2022.
As the table no. 1 shows, the last Wednesday of November 2022 will deal with the monitoring and evaluation of Data Skills to Run your Household.
Let us start with the first area of our Wednesdays’ Skills Focus, which is Data Storage Skills.
• • In Focus from Wednesday 02/11/2022: Data Storage Skills
To deal with Data Storage Skills, we are going to briefly explain data storage in the context of households or families and the types of skills that can involve when households or families are trying to store their data.
• • • Data Storage in the context of households/families
Data storage in the context of households and/or families is simply about the place where household/family files are kept. Most of files we will be dealing with are those households/families can keep themselves. Others like medical records are kept by relevant body like health authorities.
Regarding the files that households/families can keep themselves, they may include everything from invoices, tenancy agreements to sensitive files or information like their bank statements. When dealing with these households/families, a question one can ask is the following: Are these files kept in a safe, secure and easy place to access when they need the information containing in these files? Are these files stored on a computer system or in a paper box or shelves of bookcase, etc.?
Depending on the way these households/families choose to store their files, it is possible to work with them so that they can find the effective and efficient methods of storing their private files. This will require some data storage skills.
• • • Data Storage Skills in the context of households/families
The question we are trying to answer here is: What skills does a typical household/family need to store data relating to its life?
There is a range of data storage skills that a household/family may use. Without listing all of them, we can mention the following:
√ Organisational skills
√ Problem-solving skills
√ Data collection skills
√ Foundational statistical skills
√ Information and Telecommunication (IT) skills
√ Data entry skills
Etc.
Depending on the task a member of a typical household/family (e.g., household/family data controller or manager) is doing to store data, they may need a particular type of skills.
For example, if they are inputting the household/family data in a computerised database (e.g., a datastore) at home, they may need IT data entry skills. They may also need to understand a particular software (e.g., any of the versions of Microsoft Excel or Access) if they are using this software. If they are filing their children’s school files or records using a non-computerised filing system, they can manually organise their files in paper or metal box.
Briefly, it all depends on the skills they possess, the resources they can afford and the methods they choose to store their household data. Since, we are all trying to save papers, it will be worth for them to learn how to store some of their data or files using a digital device or a computer instead of keeping everything on papers. Again, this will belong to them whether they can afford it or not.
In this process of storing data, CENFACS Community members are not alone. They can work with CENFACS, especially those members who are struggling with data storage skills or who are simply having some problems to store their household/family data.
• • • CENFACS working with the community members through Data Storage Skills to Run their Household
We would like to reiterate that the purpose of working with the community members on data skills, here data storage skills, is to help them as follows:
√ to create trust in data systems
√ to learn and build technical skills like statistical literacy skills
√ to enhance a culture of data use within household
√ to improve household/family the overall data skills
√ to attach value to data
√ to empower and inform household data users
√ to encourage the community members to register their skills on CENFACS Skills Data Bank
above all, to reduce poverty linked to poor data skills; yet data skills are necessary to deal with life-saving household/family matters.
For those community members of our community who will be interested in Data Storage Skills to Run their Household, they can contact CENFACS. CENFACS can enhance their Data Storage Skills to Run their Household.
Additionally, for those who would like to register their skills on CENFACS Skills Data Bank, they are welcome to do so. This registration will help in matching the support in terms of skills and the needs in the community.
To get further insight into Skills Development Month at CENFACS, please continue to read our weekly posts.
_________
• References
(1) www.earthsendangered.com/(Accessed in October 2022)
(2) https://unfccc.int/event/cop-27 (Accessed in September 202
(3) https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/is-entrepreneurship-a-bio–social-phenomenon/92105 (accessed in November 2021)
(4) https://www.phoenix.edu/blog/what-is-data-management.html (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.
