Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
23 November 2022
Post No. 275
The Week’s Contents
• Data Skills to Run your Household; In Focus from Wednesday 23/11/2022: Data Insight and Analytics Skills
• 3-tier Security Support: The Three Tiers of Security Against Poverty
• 4-week Guidance Programme for Not-for-profit Investment in Africa
… And much more!
Key Messages
• Data Skills to Run your Household; In Focus from Wednesday 23/11/2022: Data Insight and Analytics Skills
Data Insight and Analytics Skills are the 3rd level of our presentation of skills to support households making our community to run their lives. It is the level at which we try to analyse data or information to tell us what they mean for us and our households.
It is at this level that one can look into the amount of data generated via their everyday activity of meeting basic life sustaining needs of food, drink, shelter, heath, education, information, transport, etc. Using their analytical knowledge and skills, they can identify any meaningful information and study the patterns and trends about this information.
To navigate these analytical skills, we have provided a basic understanding of them under the Main Development section of this post.
• 3-tier Security Support: The Three Tiers of Security Against Poverty
The Three Tiers of Security Against Poverty are one of CENFACS’ Starting XI Projects for this Autumn 2022. Before informing you how CENFACS is going to work with community through this project, let us briefly explain it.
• • What is 3-tier Security Support?
This year, we have many crises. Amongst these crises, we can single out three of them which could be the major ones for ordinary people and families, and which are: food, energy and financial crises. These crises have knock-on effects on other areas of their lives as well as of the economy.
To reflect the impacts of these three crises on the security system of the community, we can argue about three levels or tiers of security which have been affected or jeopardised. In other words, the CENFACS Community needs to get the three levels of security (that is, food, energy and finances) in order and under control if this community wants to continue to help reduce poverty and hardships within its members and sister communities.
In this respect, 3-tier Security (i.e., Food, Energy and Financial Security) or The Three Tiers of Security against Poverty are designed to provide users with freedom from the possibility of future energy, food and financial worries and stresses.
3-tier Security is at the same time a support and resource that helps provide freedom from vulnerability and exposure to energy, food and financial poverty. The initiative takes stock of the work we have done so far with users on energy, food and financial security.
It is about having in the same envelope the three security projects which are: Energy Security Project, Food Security Project and Financial Security Analysis Project. In doing so, this amalgamation of the three projects will help to better work with the community to fight the current and future crises.
• • Working with the community through 3-tier Security Support and Resource
Having the three levels and projects of security under one roof, it makes easier to work with the community as the following explanations about what we can achieve together through these projects shows.
a) Energy Security Project
With the Energy Security Project under the same roof with the two other security projects, we can work with the community by…
√ Helping to assess the energy security needs of energy insecure and poor
√ Exploring and identifying energy security options available for them
√ Developing energy safety net and protection they need against energy precariousness
Etc.
b) Food Security Project
With the Food Security Project under the same roof with the two other security projects, we can work with the community by…
√ Addressing the level of insecurity and threat posed by food insecurity
√ Supporting food insecure people so that they can progressively navigate their way towards food availability, access, utilisation and stability
√ Helping to level up those who are looking for sustainable solutions to food crisis
√ Assisting them to avoid food poverty
Etc.
c) Financial Security Analysis Project
With the Financial Security Analysis Project under the same roof with the two other security projects, we can work with the community by…
√ Helping financial insecure people to progressively navigate towards financial security
√ Conducting an express analysis of the financial security of their households from their data
√ Supporting those who are looking for sustainable solutions to financial crisis they are facing to level up
Etc.
d) Relationships between food, energy and financial security
As one can notice these three levels of security are linked.
For example, having financial security can guarantee access to food and energy security. Enjoying food security could lead to financial and energy security. Securing energy can provide the power to build financial and food security.
So, working with the community through 3-tier Security Support and Resource means two things as shown below.
d.1) 3-tier Security as Support is about establishing these links between the three levels of security for a particular household making our community. However, establishing these links is not a goal as such. The goal here is to simultaneously reduce or end food, energy and financial insecurity.
d.2) 3-tier Security as Resource, it means finding the necessary resources and tools in terms of information, documentation or materials, guidance and leads to share with these households and enable them to resolve the issues of food, energy and financial insecurity they are experiencing.
For those members of our community who would like to work with us on these three levels or projects of security, they can contact CENFACS with their security needs.
For those who would like to enquire about the 3-tier Security Support and Resource, they are free to enquire to CENFACS.
• 4-week Guidance Programme for Not-for-profit Investment in Africa
As part of CENFACS‘ Guidance for Investing in African Not-for-profit Organisations and Causes in Africa, we are running a programme to support not-for-profit investors in Africa.
If you want advice, help and support for investing in not-for-profit organisations and causes in Africa; CENFACS can work with you under its 4-week Guidance Programme for Not-for-profit Investors in Africa, starting from 21 November 2022.
The programme is designed to work with those who would like to invest in the not-for-profit organisations and causes in 2023. The following is our plan of action/work for the programme.
The guidance is FREE. However, CENFACS does not mind a voluntary donation from programme users.
The guidance is a great way to realise your dream or ambition as a not-for-profit investor in Africa, to enter and start 2023.
Need to apply for the programme, please contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
∝ Appeal to End Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts in Africa
∝ 2022 All Year-round Projects (Triple Value Initiatives): Play, Run and Vote for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development
∝ Climate Talks Follow-up project: What can we take away from COP27?
• Appeal to End Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts in Africa
Our Appeal to End Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts in Africa has entered the last phase of its campaign before the Global Giving Tuesday on 29 November 2022.
CENFACS would like to inform those who are not aware about some of the key figures and facts relating to sexual violence in armed conflicts in Africa and appeal to them to ACT NOW.
For those who know them, we would like to appeal to them to ACT as well.
What is known about sexual violence in armed conflicts in Africa?
The Amnesty International Limited (1) quotes the United Nations by arguing the following:
“Between January and September [2022], at least 1,100 women were raped in North Kivu and Ituri [Democratic Republic of Congo] as a result of conflict-related sexual violence (p. 146)
In Central African Republic, 6 girls aged between 14 and 16 were drugged and raped daily by members of the rebel group Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation at a base in the Nana Mambere area in January [2022] … According to MINUSCA, between January and June [2022], 131 Cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including 115 rapes, 12 attempted rapes, 1 case of sexual slavery and 3 forced marriages, were documented (p. 119)
In Tigray, sexual and gender-based violence by troops fighting included gang rape used against women and girls as a weapon of war in the conflict (p. 164)
In South Sudan, state security forces and non-state armed actors committed at least 63 incidents of sexual violence in conflict, affecting 89 women, girls and men, aged between two and 50, including rape, gang rape and forced nudity (p. 339)”.
By looking at the above-mentioned figures and facts, there is a need for support to the victims-survivors of these atrocities.
You can help end the weaponization of sexual violence as a tactic of war in Africa.
You can assist in STOPPING SEXUAL VIOLENCE TO WOMEN, GIRLS AND MEN in armed conflicts in Africa.
Please donate £10 to restore and save broken lives as a result of armed conflicts in Africa.
Please don’t wait until the 29th of November 2022 to donate. CENFACS‘ door is already open for donations. You can donate NOW!
To discuss or enquire about this appeal, please contact CENFACS.
Thank you!
• 2022 All Year-round Projects (Triple Value Initiatives): Play, Run and Vote for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development
CENFACS’ Triple Value Initiatives (or All Year-round Projects) have only one month to go.
The 2022 Edition of All Year-round Projects will be closed on 23 December 2022. You can still play, run and vote to reduce poverty before this verdict day.
CENFACS hopes that those who have been using these projects have managed to carry out any of these three activities:
a) Run or Organise a Run Activity to Reduce Poverty in 2022
b) Play the CENFACS League for Poverty Relief
c) Vote their 2022 African Poverty Relief Manager.
If they have, we would like to hear from them the following three bests or stars of the year 2022:
√ The Best African Countries of 2022 which would have best reduced poverty
√ The Best African Global Games Runners of 2022
√ The Best African Development Managers of 2022.
The deadline to tell us your bests or stars is 23 December 2022.
Please remember, don’t miss this verdict day or closing date.
To tell us your results or to enquire about these projects, please contact CENFACS.
• Climate Talks Follow-up project: What can we take away from COP27?
After following COP27, let us consider what was agreed, how it affects our key demand of protection and stake for children, and what will be the next step for Climate Talks Follow-up project.
• • What was agreed at COP27 that may affect CENFACS’ work and users?
It is encouraging to learn that the following outcomes were achieved:
∝ Agreement to provide “loss and damage” funding to climate-vulnerable developing countries hit hard by climate disasters
∝ Promotion of renewables and “low-emission” energy
∝ Setting up of a work programme to urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation
∝ Agreement on just and equitable transition based on national development priorities and inclusion of social protection and solidarity measures
∝ Scaling up of the provision of climate finance to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate
∝ Setting up a new collective climate finance goal for 2025 that will take into account the needs and priorities of developing countries
∝ Taking a renewed global action on nature, although threats to the nature will be debated at COP15, the United Nations Biodiversity Summit in December 2022.
The above outcomes or initiatives will affect people with whom we work as well as our work on poverty reduction and sustainable development. However, are these outcomes and other ones deriving from COP27 enough to meet our demand for the climate stake and protection for children and generations to come? We are not sure.
The good news is that UNICEF (2) has created ‘a new climate financing initiative to enhance countries’ climate resilience and disaster preparedness for children and youth as well as bolster protection for children from the impacts of future climate-related disasters’.
• • Have COP27 results met our key demand of protection and stake for children?
Despite what was agreed at COP27, it is worth noting the following:
∝ There is still less money to pay for new technology and infrastructure which children, especially those from poor nations, could benefit
∝ There is little or less money in the forms of grants, loans and private investments to support efforts to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects. One can hope the above-mentioned new financial initiatives will help in these efforts
∝ The failure to expand the ‘phase down’ text of unabated coal to include oil and gas could mean unchanged threats to children health, especially respiratory diseases
∝ There is less support to switch to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydropower for children and future generations (for example, how do you expect coal-dependent energy poor families to switch to clean source of energy if they do not have the means to do it for themselves and their children?).
One can hope that when the United Nations will meet for COP28 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) in 2023, there will be another opportunity to raise ambitions, to look into those gaps and to provide ways forward. In doing so, this will provide us a basis for clarity about climate protection and stake for children and generations to come.
• • What is the next step for our Climate Talks Follow-up project?
We are still at the implementation phase, which is Phase 3 of our Climate Talks Follow-up project. The sub-phases or segments of the implementation phase for this project are exploration, installation, initial implementation, full implementation and expansion.
At the moment, we have been dealing with the installation sub-phase (Phase 3.2). As project planning is a backward and forward process, we shall deal with this phase and the previous one.
For any further details and to support 2022 Climate Talks Follow-up project, please contact CENFACS.
Message in French (Message en français)
L’édition 2022 de Projets ‘tout au long de l’année’ (ou Initiatives à triple valeur): Jouer, courir et voter pour la lutte contre la pauvreté et le développement durable
Les Initiatives à triple valeur (ou projets ‘tout au long de l’année’) n’ont plus qu’un mois à venir.
Bien que cette édition 2022 d’Initiatives à triple valeur sera fermée le 23 décembre 2022, vous pouvez toujours jouer, courir et voter pour réduire la pauvreté avant le jour du verdict ou date de clôture.
Le CENFACS peut espérer que ceux/celles qui ont utilisé ces projets ont réussi à mener à bien l’une de ces trois activités :
a) Courir ou organiser une activité de course pour réduire la pauvreté en 2022
b) Jouer à la Ligue CENFACS pour la lutte contre la pauvreté
c) Voter pour leur responsable de la lutte contre la pauvreté en Afrique 2022.
S’ils/elles l’ont fait, nous aimerions entendre d’eux/elles les trois meilleures ou stars suivantes de l’année 2022:
√ Les meilleurs pays africains de 2022 qui auraient le mieux réduit la pauvreté
√ Les meilleurs coureurs/ses africain(e)s des Jeux Coureurs de 2022
√ Les meilleurs gestionnaires du développement africain de 2022.
La date limite pour nous dire vos meilleurs ou étoiles est le 23 décembre 2022.
S’il vous plaît rappelez-vous, ne manquez pas ce jour de verdict.
Pour nous faire part de vos résultats ou pour vous renseigner sur ces projets, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.
Main Development
• Data Skills to Run your Household; In Focus from Wednesday 23/11/2022: Data Insight and Analytics Skills
The following contents will help to understand the kinds of data insight and analytics skills that a household may need:
∝ Key Concepts
∝ Data Insight Skills
∝ Data Analytics Skills
∝ How CENFACS Can Work with the Community Members on Data Insight and Analytics Skills to Run their Households.
Let us briefly explained each of these contents.
• • Key Concepts
There are four concepts that underpin the Data Insight and Analytics Skills to Run your Household: data, information, insight and analytics.
• • • Data, information and insight
Explanations about these three concepts cut across each other within the data literature. Amongst these explanations is what Carolyn Sansom (3) argues about them, which is
“Data, which can be quantitative and qualitative, is raw, unorganised and unprocessed facts… Information – which can be in the form of graphs, reports and visualisations – is processed and organised data… Insight is analysed information”.
Like businesses, households use data, information and insight to run their lives. Households making the CENFACS Community do the same.
• • • Analytics
There are many approaches to analytics. In the context of these notes, we have selected an explanation from ‘oracle.com’ (4) which is as follows:
“Analytics is the process of discovering, interpreting, and communicating significant patterns in data. Quite simply, analytics helps us see insights and meaningful data that we might not otherwise detect”.
This kind of analytics will help household to better deliver a data user experience for their own wellbeing and wellness. In this respect, each household can agree its own data analytical process.
• • Data Insight Skills
Before identifying the skills involved data insights, one may need to understand data insights. Data insights refer to the deep understanding an individual or organisation gains from analysing information on a particular issue. To add value on what we are saying, the website ‘datarobot.com’ (5) argues that
“Data insights are the knowledge gained through analysing data, generating conclusions from data that can benefit your business. Data are the input. Insights are the output”.
Many households do this sort of exercises to understand their lives without sometimes knowing they are carrying out data insights. To better undertake data insights, it may require some skills.
• • • Skills to generate data insight
There are many data insight skills that a typical household running its life can consider, which are:
√ Digital skills
√ Comprehension skills on how the household operates
√ Collaborative skills
√ Skills to understand household ethics and value
√ Creative skills
√ Skills to interpret data
√ Home economics skills
Etc.
The households making CENFACS Community would need some of these skills in order to successfully run their data insights.
• • Data Analytics Skills
To know the skills and capacities that can be used to conduct data analytics, one may need to understand data analytics.
The definition used in these notes about data analytics comes from ‘aws.amazon.com’ (6) which states that
“Data analytics converts raw data into actionable insights. It includes a range of tools, techniques, and processes used to find trends and solve problems by using data”.
Although ‘aws.amazon.com’ (op. cit.) speaks about business processes, this definition can apply to households to a certain degree. What data analytics does for businesses can do it for households as well. Indeed, data analytics can shape household processes, improve decision-making within a household and foster household health and wellness.
Like most resources on the data analytics matter, ‘aws.amazon.com’ (op. cit.) distinguishes four types of data analysis, which are: descriptive analytics, diagnostics analytics, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics. From these types of data analytics, one can associated skills to them.
• • • Skills to conduct data analytics
We can relate skills to the above-mentioned four types of data analytics. Members of any household making our community needs skills to conduct data analytics. They need descriptive, diagnostics, predictive and prescriptive analytics skills. What can they do with these skills?
Let us see what they can do with each of these skills.
a) Descriptive analytics skills
A household with descriptive analytics skills can say what their data look like by visualising them (their data) using for example pie charts, bar chart, line graphs, tables or generated narratives.
b) Diagnostics analytics skills
A household possessing diagnostics analytics skills can conduct a detailed data analytics process to identify problems and understand why something happened. For example, over holidays (like Christmas) household members can deep-dive into their data to understand what is telling them in terms of the cost-of-living crisis.
c) Predictive analytics skills
A household having predictive analytics skills can use the history of their data to foretell, foresee, forecast and predict what could happen to its members. For example, they can refer to the history of their income and expenses data in the last 12 months to forecast and predict what will be happen (or future trends) if they do not take the required step in order to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.
d) Prescriptive analytics skills
A household owning prescriptive analytics skills can advise its as a remedy by both predicting what is likely to happen and proposing an average response to counteract. For example, if a household is predicting that economic recession will be unavoidable, it can plan a matching response or remedial action to protect itself from the coming economic recession.
So, by using the patterns and other meaningful information gathered from the analysis of data, households can describe, diagnose, predict and prescribe what could happen to them if they do not take serious and meaningful steps to resolve the issues they are facing or may face.
However, not all households making our community have the required skills and competences to carry out this sort of data analytics exercise or activity. For those lacking skills or capacities or simply struggling to conduct this type of analysis or analytics, they should not feel abandoned. CENFACS can work with them on this matter.
• • How CENFACS Can Work with the Community Members on Data Insight and Analytics Skills to Run their Households
CENFACS can work with those who need help and support regarding their data so that they can effectively and efficiently run their households. We can work with them on data insight and analytics matters so that they can be in a position to better understand data that run their lives. We can conduct with them basic data insights and analytics using the tools of poverty reduction we have in our box.
Where our capacity is limited in comparison to their demand or specific needs, we can signpost or refer them to relevant data insight and analytics services or organisations that are available on the market and can be accessible to them.
For those members of our community who will be interested in Data Insight and Analytics Skills to Run their Household, they can contact CENFACS. CENFACS can work with them to enhance their Data Insight and Analytics Skills to Run their Household.
So, Data Insight and Analytics Skills are the last episode of our 4-week series of presentation of Data Skills to Run your Household. To conclude our serial presentation, we are going to conduct Monitoring and Evaluation of Data Skills to Run your Household next week.
To get further insight into Skills Development Month, please contact CENFACS.
If one is particularly interested in a particular skill or has something to share about the skills we developed during our serial presentation, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
________
• References
(1) Amnesty International Limited (2022), Amnesty International Report 2021/22: The State of the World’s Human Rights, London, UK (www.amnesty.org)
(2) https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-calls-investment-worlds-first-child-focused-climate-risk-financing-solution (accessed in November 2022)
(3) Carolyn Sansom at https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/six-key-skills-for-turning-data-into-insight/ (accessed in November 2022)
(4) https://www.oracle.com/business-analytics/what-is-analytics/ (accessed in November 2022)
(5) https://www.datarobot.com/blog/what-are-data-insights/ (accessed in November 2022)
(6) https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/data-analytics/ (accessed in November 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. Likewise, CENFACS accepts matching gifts from companies running a gift-matching programme.
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 until the end of 2022 and beyond.
With many thanks.
