Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

19 October 2022

 

Post No. 270

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Autumn 2022 Humanitarian Relief Appeal

• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Campaign – In Focus for Week Beginning 17/10/2022: Protection of African Grey Parrots

• Short-term Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Autumn 2022 Humanitarian Relief Appeal

Needy People, Flora, Fauna, Communities and Organisations in Africa are Asking for your Support!

 

Our humanitarian relief appeal for Autumn 2022 has now been launched as planned.  This appeal is about supporting needy people, flora, fauna, communities and organisations in Africa.  It includes the following five selected projects:

 

1) Green Skills for Green Recovery

2) Symmetry Project

3) Gender and Youth in Africa’s Recovery

4) Maintaining School Momentum

5) Save Flora and Fauna Projects.

 

A brief summary of these projects can be found under the Main Development section of this post.  The full project proposals of each project making this appeal is available should any of the potential donor or funder makes a request.

Donors and funders can seize the opportunity provided by these projects and the giving season to directly and respectively donate or fund these projects.

A message about this appeal can also be passed on to a person who is in a position and willing to support.  Many thanks to those who will be passing this message!

We understand that the world is still struggling with many crises (food, energy, climate change crises, etc.).  This struggle affects the ability of people to support good and deserving causes.

However, the effects of these crises are even stronger in place where there is a high level of poverty like in Africa.  This is why we have launched this seasonal appeal to help not only to reduce poverty but also to save lives from these crises.

Therefore, we are inviting those who can, to donate £2 to create 3 benefits (1 benefit for humans, 1 benefit for other natural livings and 1 shared benefit between humans and nature) or any amount starting from £2 or more as you wish or can.

You can gift aid your donation as well as support these projects in a way that is the most suitable and related to your situation, circumstance, budget, capacity and willingness.

To donate, gift aid and support otherwise; please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Campaign – In Focus for Week Beginning 17/10/2022: Protection of African Grey Parrots

 

African Grey Parrots (also known as psittacus erithacus) are listed on ‘earthsendangered.com’ (1).  Like many species, they are threatened due to hunting and habitat destruction.  They are trapped, smuggled and illicitly traded.  They also suffer from pollution like humans.  They need protection.  What do we mean by protection?

 

• • Protection of African Grey Parrots

 

It is about defence of African Grey Parrots against harm and danger.  Protection here has to be perceived from the perspective of environment and conservation like Chris Park (2) defines it as

“Any activity that reduces losses or risks, tends to maintain basic conditions and values, and reduces damage and injury to people and property” (p. 360)

Many African countries (such as Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, etc.) have in place protection measures to enforce and suspend illegal and illicit trade of African Grey Parrots.  Despite that there are still cases of smuggled or illicitly traded African Grey Parrots.  There is a need to protect and conserve African Grey Parrots.

Because of that, actions need to be taken to deal with the situation.  As “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 to protect African Grey Parrots

 

Actions to be taken with the community and the rest of the community can include the following ones:

 

✔ Working with law enforcement agencies dealing with endangered bird species

✔ Working together with African organisations specialised in rescued birds like Limbe Wildlife Centre (3) and other organisations working on the matter

✔ Continuing to raise awareness about endangered African Grey Parrots

✔ Supporting the rehabilitation and return of Parrots to the wild environment

✔ Promoting the restoration of dwindling wild population of parrots

✔ Undertaking fundraising and education to defend them

Etc.

 

In brief, these actions will be to help in keeping away from harm and danger, the rescue, rehabilitation and survivorship of African Grey Parrots.

The above actions will indeed assist in protecting and conserving African Grey Parrots, which are endangered bird species in Africa.

To take actions and/or find out more about this second composed note and/or the entire “A la une” Campaign, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Short-term Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living

 

These are critical actions or activities to be undertaken from now and within six months period to work with those who are poor because of high costs of living to make ends meet.  They are short-term protective support to be implemented before any humanitarian needs emerge or materialise within the community.  These actions are part of the service we are providing to support the community.

So, under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living, short-term actions or service include:

 

Assessing with users about how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting them and their needs as a result of crisis effects

Drawing a simple and practical action plan with users to tackle the effects of the cost-of-living crisis

Guidance, Advice and Information on organisations that are offering goods and services that could be accessible and affordable for users

Guidance, Advice, Referrals, Signposting and Information about support and benefits available for distressed households’ accounts and assets

Etc.

 

The service is available for those members of our community who need it and who would like to ask for it.  To request and/or access the service, please contact CENFACS.

 

Extra Messages

 

∝ Online Micro-volunteering Activities with CENFACS

∝ Triple Value Initiatives for Santa: Raising Funds while Playing, Running and Voting for Poverty Reduction over the Long Festive Period

∝ Poverty-reduction History Files

 

 

• Online Micro-volunteering Activities with CENFACS

 

As well as supporting CENFACS and its noble causes with no direct cash donations, people can add up or think of alternative ways of involving with CENFACS.  For example, they can micro-volunteer with us either online or offline or both.

To enable our readers and those who may be interested in micro-volunteering with us to understand what we are talking, let us explain the following jargons: micro-volunteering, smart tasks, smart communications tools and smart poverty relief.

 

• • What is Micro-volunteering with CENFACS?

 

It is about undertaking or completing small tasks, that can be online or offline or both, to make up one of our main projects.  While we recognise the importance of both online and offline tasks in our volunteering scheme (All in Development Volunteers), our focus on micro-volunteering in the context of this post will be on the online part of it.

 

• • Online micro-volunteering doing small smart tasks

 

Small tasks are micro-actions.  From what Anna Patton said (4), these tasks need to be easy, no-commitment, cost-free, to take less than 30 minutes to complete, little or no formal agreement needed before a volunteer can get started, and no expectation that the volunteer will return, no long-term commitment for the volunteer.

These tasks could be smart, that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely; as well as capable of generating and increasing support towards CENFACS’ good and deserving causes, especially at the time of the cost-of-living crisis.  These tasks can contribute to smart poverty relief.

The above table (table no.1) briefly provides a summary of these tasks.  For those who would like to dive into online micro-volunteering small smart tasks, they can contact CENFACS’ All in Development Volunteers Scheme.

 

• • Online micro-volunteering done via smart communication tools

 

It is the use of internet connected devices or tools (such as smart phones, tablets, video calling devices, notebooks, laptops, cameras, drones, etc.) to re-engage with CENFACS audience and supporters as well as to recruit new supporters.

Smart communication tools include as well other devices designed to run or complete actions carried out by smart phones, tablets, notebooks, etc.  These extra tools could be wireless printers, broad bands, messenger apps and so on.

Additionally, online micro-volunteering by using distance working and online technologies in our campaigns can help us to reach out to our supporters and Africa-based Organisations.

We understand that not every volunteer can afford to have them.  This is why we often ask support with smart communication tools so that our volunteers (All in Development Volunteers) could be able to micro-volunteer smarter and deliver smart poverty relief.

 

• • Online micro-volunteering to achieve smart poverty relief

 

This additional way of working and engaging with our audience and supporters via online micro-volunteering has brought some opportunities and benefits.  Amongst these opportunities or openings is that of creating smart relief, of reducing poverty symptoms for temporary relief which could lead to permanent relief.

In this respect, smart poverty relief is about prioritising resources and making sure that CENFACS’ poverty reduction system is helping to meet the needs of those in need as we undertake online micro-volunteering activities.

In other words, when volunteers carry out micro-actions, they are not doing them for the sake of entertaining themselves or just passing their time with and for CENFACS.

Through their small online tasks, they are bringing their contribution, however little it can be, to the larger project or programme or picture of CENFACS.  By adding up their small pieces of work/relief, one can get the sum of poverty relief, a big poverty relief.  Online micro-volunteering could be smart when it contributes to the big picture of poverty reduction.

To enable us to continue our voluntary work, we are asking to those who can, both individuals and organisations, to support us with smart communication tools to enhance our online micro-volunteering action.

To support CENFACS with Smart Communication Tools to micro-volunteer doing Smart Tasks to deliver Smart Poverty Relief, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Triple Value Initiatives for Santa: Raising Funds while Playing, Running and Voting for Poverty Reduction over the Long Festive Period

 

You can help CENFACS raise life-saving funds it needs for its good causes by making participants or interested parties to Triple Value Initiatives (or All-year Round Projects) to dress like Santa.

Participants and vested parties can then donate or sponsor your Triple Value Initiatives of Playing, Running and Voting for poverty reduction.

The income to be raised on these occasions can be donated to CENFACS.  It will help to support those in most need so that they can navigate their way out of poverty and hardships.

However, to raise funds via Triple Value Initiatives for Santa, one needs to first discuss the matter, their plan/idea with CENFACS.  Together with them, we can better plan their/our fundraising drive and help deliver it in a smooth and hassle-free way while following the rules of the game.

To raise funds for Triple Value Initiatives for Santa to help CENFACS and its noble causes, please contact CENFACS.

Just remember, do not forget to record and report your scores, results and fixtures about your Triple Value Initiatives (or All year-round Projects).  At the end of the process of All year-round Projects and by the end of the year, one should be ready to announce the 2022 Action-Results for either of the project: Run or Play or Vote.

The final Action-Results will consist of finding out and revealing the following for this year:

 

✔ The Best African Countries of 2022 which best reduced poverty

✔ The Best African Global Games Runners of 2022

✔ The Best African Development and Poverty Relief Managers of 2022.

 

If you have not yet thought about this finding or revelation, please start thinking right now and have your say about it by the 23rd of December 2022!

 

 

 

• Poverty-reduction History Files

 

Poverty-reduction History Files (PRHFs) are part of CENFACS‘ repository of knowledge and experience relating to the history of CENFACS in the month of history.  Through this part of repository, users and other stakeholders who are interested in the history of CENFACS can ask for a particular piece or file of CENFACS‘ history under defined conditions and terms.

The file or piece of information can help them to know and learn things such as how CENFACS addressed poverty issues in a particular context and time.  The file can as well enable them to conduct a comparative analysis in terms of poverty reduction while prospecting for the future of poverty reduction.

Those of our users who would like to grab this opportunity of the history month and who are interested in a particular piece of history about CENFACS, they can address their enquiry to CENFACS.

 

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

• Activités de micro-volontariat en ligne avec le CENFACS

En plus de soutenir le CENFACS et ses nobles causes sans dons directs en espèces, les gens peuvent additionner ou penser à d’autres moyens de s’impliquer avec le CENFACS.  Par exemple, ils peuvent faire du micro-bénévolat avec nous en ligne ou hors ligne ou les deux.

• • Qu’est-ce que le micro-volontariat avec le CENFACS?

Il s’agit d’entreprendre ou d’accomplir de petites tâches, qui peuvent être en ligne ou hors ligne ou les deux, pour constituer l’un de nos principaux projets.  Bien que nous reconnaissions l’importance des tâches en ligne et hors ligne dans notre programme de volontariat (Tous dans le développement), nous nous concentrons sur le micro-volontariat dans le contexte de cet article sur la partie en ligne de celui-ci.

• • Micro-volontariat en ligne en effectuant de petites tâches intelligentes

Les petites tâches sont des micro-actions.  D’après ce qu’Anna Patton a dit (4), ces tâches doivent être faciles, sans engagement, gratuites, prendre moins de 30 minutes à compléter, peu ou pas d’accord formel nécessaire avant qu’un bénévole puisse commencer, et aucune attente que le bénévole revienne, aucun engagement à long terme pour le bénévole.

Ces tâches pourraient être intelligentes, c’est-à-dire spécifiques, mesurables, réalisables, réalistes et limitées dans le temps; ainsi que capable de générer et d’accroître le soutien aux bonnes et méritantes causes du CENFACS, en particulier au moment de la crise du coût de la vie.

Ces tâches peuvent inclure brièvement l’un des éléments suivants :

✔ Prospection de soutiens potentiels

✔ Exécution de questionnaires

✔ Recrutement de nouveaux soutiens

✔ Dialogue avec les sympathisants

✔ Envoi et réception de messages de la part du soutien

✔ Suivre les pistes

✔ Configuration d’un événement en ligne

✔ Parrainage en ligne

✔ Financement participatif en ligne

✔ Rédaction d’un article de blog

✔ Re-tweeter un message

Etc.

Ces tâches peuvent contribuer à ce que nous appelons une lutte intelligente contre la pauvreté.

• • Micro-volontariat en ligne pour parvenir à une lutte intelligente contre la pauvreté

Cette façon supplémentaire de travailler et de s’engager avec notre public et nos sympathisants via le micro-bénévolat en ligne a apporté quelques opportunités.  Parmi ces opportunités ou ouvertures, il y a celle de créer un soulagement intelligent, de réduire les symptômes de la pauvreté pour un soulagement temporaire qui pourrait conduire à un soulagement permanent.

À cet égard, la lutte intelligente contre la pauvreté consiste à hiérarchiser les ressources et à s’assurer que le système de réduction de la pauvreté du CENFACS contribue à répondre aux besoins et attentes de ceux ou celles qui en ont besoin alors que nous entreprenons des activités de micro-volontariat en ligne.

Ce qui précède résume le micro-volontariat en ligne avec le CENFACS.  Pour soutenir le CENFACS avec des outils de communication intelligents pour micro-faire des tâches intelligentes pour fournir un soulagement intelligent de la pauvreté, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Autumn 2022 Humanitarian Relief Appeal

Needy People, Flora, Fauna, Communities and Organisations in Africa are Asking for your Support!

 

The following items summarise their appeal:

 

∝ The data that justify the need to help

∝ The projects

∝ The request

∝ The beneficiaries

∝ The asks

∝ What your donation can achieve

∝ How to send your support.

 

Let us unpack each of these items.

 

• • The data that justify the need to help

 

The data (or information in words and numbers) that tell us there is a humanitarian need to support are given in the following examples and data from multilateral agencies working on poverty matter.

For example, looking at food security and nutrition in the world, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations et al. argue (5) that

“The number of severely food insecure people in Africa between 2019 and 2021 was 295.5 million“.

Writing on inequality, the United Nations Development Programme (6) in its latest report found that

“Inequality in income was 27.1% and inequality in education was 34.3% in 2021 in Sub-Saharan Africa” (p. 284)

The same United Nations Development Programme (op. cit.) stated that

“Mean years of schooling were 5.1 for female and 6.9 for male in 2021 in Sub-Saharan Africa” (p. 289)

“Labour force participation rate for female was 62.1% and 72.3% for male for ages 15 and older” (p.294)

Reporting on issues facing cities around the world, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (7) state that

“Only 54 per cent of the urban population in Africa have access to safely managed water and only 23 per cent have access to sanitation” (p. 15)

“About 84.3 per cent of the multidimensionally poor live in Sub-Saharan Africa” (p. 78)

Covering news on endangered species, the website ‘phys.com’ (8) reported in August 2022 that

“Over 150 endangered vultures were poisoned to death in Southern Africa”.

Likewise, it was published in the ‘lemomde.fr’ (9) that

“Last September, there was kidnapping or removal of chimpanzees (three primate babies) from their sanctuary in Lubumbashi (Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo)”.

What the above-mentioned pieces of information and facts tell us.  They indicate the following.

Whether it is about food insecurity or inequality reduction or inequality between the two sexes or issues facing the world’s cities, the above data just highlight the underlying problem of poverty and extreme poverty in Africa.  One part of the above-mentioned figures also indicates the continuing threats to wildlife and the lack of skills in some situations to navigate out of poverty and hardships.

Furthermore, as the global cost-of-living crisis continues the figures about poverty and threats to the wildlife could be different; meaning that poor people, children, women, flora and fauna could be in a worse scenario case or situation in which humanitarian relief could be part of the response.  Data-based solutions to poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis can only help this situation, especially in the long term.

These above data from multilateral agencies finally highlight CENFACS‘ findings and the reality on the ground in Africa in the area of operation of CENFACS.  There is need out there that deservingly requires support that the locals are requesting to address existing humanitarian needs, especially at this time of the difficult global economic situation exacerbated by energy and food crises.

 

• • The projects

 

Five projects to help reduce poverty and meet the needs of the local people, animals, plants and organisations this Autumn and beyond

 

1) Green Skills for Gren Recovery (Learning and Skills Development Project)

This is a project that helps to reduce poverty linked to poor or incomplete skills, knowledge, information and capacities amongst African organisations and those who are running these organisations living in deprived areas and anxious improve their green skills in order to rehabilitate, recover, reconstruct and move forward clean, green and safely from the synergic effects of the coronavirus, the cost-of-living crisis and climate change.

Green skills are understood here from the perspective of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (10) as

“The knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society”.

 

2) Save Flora and Fauna projects (Environmental projects)

These are wildlife preservation, conservation and protection initiatives which help to advance justice and equity for flora and fauna, and which include two areas of action:

a) Life-saving actions against new forms of exploitation and trafficking of animal and plant species

b) Life-saving action against the cost-of-living crisis on flora and fauna.

The first action is an action to protect animal species in Africa from new forms of wildlife exploitation and trafficking, including kidnapping of animals from their natural sanctuary.

For example, in North-Kivu (the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Cong0), there are armed groups that set up their bases in the vicinity of parks like the park Virunga, which is sanctuary of very rare mountain gorillas.  These groups threatened protected ecosystems by exploiting natural resources (such as woods and animals) via poaching, illegal fishing, smuggling, kidnappings of animals, etc.  Specimen and trophies from elephant ivory, charcoal and illicit fishing are traded by these groups to finance their supply of arms and to engage in armed conflicts.

The second action is about making sure that, plant and animal species regain, restore, rebuild and thrive their lives while humans are trying to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.  In other words, the action is about to ensure that the cost-of-living crisis does not lead to flora and fauna crises since we depend on them in order to come out of the cost-of-living crisis.

There are many natural species that we would like to save, but it will take time to do it.   To name the few, we can list the following:

∝ animal species like elephants, gorillas, rhinoceros, etc.

∝ birds such as the Congo bay owl, African Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, Dwarf Honeyguide, African Green Broadbill, Crossley’s Ground-thrush

∝ fish like cae cobarbus geertsi

∝ plants like afzelia pachyloba

∝ threes, water and forests.

They can be saved from danger of exploitation and killings while aiming at reducing poverty in Africa.

 

3) Symmetry Project (Equality Project)

A sustainable development initiative aiming at reducing the difference in the distributional effects of rising costs of living that have been asymmetrical or uneven.  It is a project of working with local poor people in parts of Africa where there is uneven impact of the cost-of-living crisis and poverty reduction in order to establish equal right and address the roots and causes of this type of asymmetry or inequality in a sustainable way.

 

4) Gender and Youths in Africa’s Recovery (Young Girls’ Education and Health)

It is a CENFACS drive to help better integrate young people and girls as well as to have a gender dimension in the process of green, economic and social recovery in Africa.  It is proven that where young people are included, there is a better chance of making sensible decisions and choices for the future.

Through this project, Africa’s youths, particularly girls, will be supported to play an active role in Africa’s resilient recovery.  The project will try to reduce gender poverty and discrimination towards the contribution that young people, particularly young girls, are making or can make in the recovery process in Africa.

 

5) Maintaining School Momentum (Educational hardship project)

One thing is for a child to go back to school; another thing is for the same child to stay in the school/educational system.  Maintaining School Momentum Project is an educational support to poor children facing poverty barriers to go back to schools, to stay in the school system and cope with the pressure of the educational requirements.

The project will help these children to keep school engagement process, to meet their educational goal setting, to be motivated toward learning, to improve their schooling habits, to get organisational tools they need for their schooling and maintain excitement during the school year.

 

In total, 5 projects to donate £2 for 3 benefits as you wish per project

 

Note: Further details about the above projects are available on request from CENFACS.

 

• • The request

 

The beneficiaries of the above projects are local poor people, flora and fauna under threat as well as Africa-based Organisations that CENFACS works with to help reduce the following types of poverty and hardships:

• Poor or lack of basic infrastructures (such as safe drinking water collection points, medical and health centres, toilets and washing essentials, places to get training and basic education, online necessary equipment, lack of personal protective equipment to stop the spread of diseases, etc.) to secure safe drinking water, to educate children, to sanitise health and access primary health care, etc.

• Lack of animal protection and care, threats to extinction or killings, trafficking and poaching of endangered animals (such as the elephants, gorillas, rhinoceros, etc.) and plant species (such as maize, potato, bean, squash, chilli pepper, vanilla, avocado, husk tomato and cotton crops).

• Wildlife crime through illegal harvest of and trade in wildlife and forest products as well as derived products

• Income poverty and dehumanising treatment afflicted to poor particularly women, young girls and children

• Asymmetrical economic effects of the cost-of-living crisis whereby those who are poor do not have the same sort of support than others to cope with the mounting or crippling effects of the cost-of-living crisis as well as they cannot move out of the vicious circle of deprivations

• Little involvement of the youth, particularly young girls, in the building process toward green, economic and social recovery from the cost-of-living crisis; yet young girls (youths) can play an active role in Africa’s resilient recovery efforts.

• Lack of income and or enough earnings by poor families to send their children back to school and/or for these children to keep school momentum.

 

• • The beneficiaries

 

This Autumn 2022 humanitarian relief appeal will help…

 

✔ The real and direct beneficiaries and end users who are poor people (amongst them the youth, young girls and children)

✔ The endangered wildlife and plant species

✔ The indirect beneficiaries made of African organisations based in Africa and working on the issues/causes of these poor people and species.

 

• • The asks

 

The above needy people, flora, fauna, communities and organisations need your support.

CENFACS is appealing to you to donate £2 to create 3 benefits (1 benefit for humans, 1 benefit for animals and plants, and 1 benefit for both humans and nature) as you wish to achieve penultimate relief.

 

• • What your donation can achieve

 

If you donate £2 for 3 benefits, we can anticipate the following use and relief impacts that these amounts can help

 

⇒ To implement Green Skills for Green Recovery by…

✔ buying computer and distance learning equipment for training and development

✔ building workshop halls and or hiring spaces for digital and IT training in a secure environment.

For example, £2 can help provide a tablet to a community and use this tablet to disseminate knowledge and information about local green economy practice at household level.

 

⇒ To deliver Save Flora and Fauna projects by…

✔ running wildlife protection awareness campaign to address illicit trafficking in wildlife and to keep advocacy on wild animals’ and plants’ rights and welfare

✔ buying or developing software or apps on protection and care of wildlife species in Africa.

For example, £2 can help rescue animals from their kidnappers and rehabilitate rescued animals (e.g., African Grey Parrots) at a rescued animal rehabilitation centre.

 

⇒ To execute Symmetry project by…

✔ running online and virtual equality workshops on the reduction of asymmetrical adverse effects of the cost-of-living crisis between people and groups

✔ training people to tackle inequalities of poverty reduction or treatment induced by the cost-of-living crisis within their communities.

For example, £2 can help a poor family to access clean energy to prepare a meal while reducing the uneven distributional consequences of the cost-of-living crisis.

 

⇒ To improve the participation of the youth, particularly young girls in the green, economic and social recovery in Africa by…

✔ helping to increase girls’ and youths’ representation and participation in the recovery process in Africa

✔ supporting African voluntary organisations to advocate for girls and youths to have a democratic say in the decision-making and delivering processes of Africa’s resilient green recovery.

For example, £2 can help pay for childcare and other care services so that young girls can study and engage in the recovery process in Africa in a gender-aware and inclusive way.

 

⇒ To make back-to-school support and maintenance of school momentum realise needy children’s dreams by…

✔ setting up income-generating activities with poor families to meet the cost of sending back to and keeping their children at schools

✔ purchasing school e-books and e-materials through African voluntary organisations to help educationally needy children to add distance learning opportunities to their education in order to mitigate the adverse effects of the cost-of-living crisis on children’s learning and abilities.

For example, £2 can enable poor families to buy organisational tools and to access motivational programmes for children to stay engaged with the schooling process and educational system.

 

To realise a total of 5 lasting benefits, it may require a donation of £10 to £20 or even more.

 

To smooth the process of supporting the above-mentioned beneficiaries, CENFACS is ready to post to you and or to any other potential supporters the project proposals or an information pack about them for consideration to support.  Likewise, CENFACS is ready to talk to you or to potential funders about them if they want us to do so.

To donate, gift aid and or support differently, please contact CENFACS.

 

• • How to send you support

 

You can donate

* over phone

* via email

* through text

* by filling the contact form on this website.

 

On receipt of your intent to donate or donation, CENFACS will contact you.  However, should you wish your support to remain anonymous; we will respect your wish.

We look forward to your support with helpful difference for the Poor People, Organisations and Wildlife Species in Africa.

Thank you in anticipation for your willingness to give and help change the lives of these poor people, organisations and wild species.

 

_________

 

• References

 

(1) www.earthsendangered.com/(Accessed in October 2022)

(2) Park, C., 2011, Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York 

(3) https://limbewildlife.org (Accessed in October 2022)

4) Patton, A., 2021, Micro-volunteering, Making a Difference in Minutes, (Originally published Dec. 2017) at https://www.missionbox.com/article/183/micro-volunteering-making-a-difference-in-minutes (Accessed October 2021)

(5) FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2022, Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable, Rome, FAO, https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0639en (Accessed in October 2022)

(6) United Nations Development Programme, 2022, Development Report 2021/2022 Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World, New York, USA

(7) United Nations Human Settlements Programme, World Cities Report 2022: Emerging the Future of Cities at www.unhabitat.org (Accessed in October 2022)

(8) https://phys.org/news/2022-08-endangered-vultures-poisoned-death-southern.html (Accessed in October 2022)

(9) https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2022/09/26/en-rdc-c-est-la-premiere-fois-qu-on-enleve-des-chimpanzes-contre-ranson_6143288_3212.html (Accessed in September 2022)

(10) European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training at https://www.ippr.org/files/2021-02/skills-for-a-green-recovery-feb2021.pdf (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.

 

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 10^th 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 10^th 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.

_________

 

• 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

05 October 2022

 

Post No. 268

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• History Month with Making Memorable Positive Difference Project – In Focus: Managing and Maintaining Infrastructures to Reduce Poverty in Africa  

• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign with Concentration on Critically Endangered Bird Species

• Activity/Task 10 of the Knowledge (‘K’) Year and Project: Know the History of People in Need

 

… And much more!

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

• History Month with Making Memorable Positive Difference Project – In Focus: Managing and Maintaining Infrastructures to Reduce Poverty in Africa

 

This year’s Making Memorable Positive Difference (MM+D), which is the 14th one, will be about the Management and Maintenance of Infrastructures to Reduce Poverty.

Infrastructures play a key role in the process of poverty reduction.  Their good management and maintenance are equally important.  This is because it is not enough building infrastructures.  It is as well vital to manage and maintain them.  If infrastructures are well managed and maintained, they can serve both the current and future generations.  In this respect, those who manage and maintain infrastructures can have a significant role and responsibility in the history.

As part of MM+D 2022, we will remember the history of infrastructures in Africa, especially critical infrastructures for poverty reduction.  We shall as well reminisce those who managed, kept and looked after them.

Thus, the history of infrastructures in Africa will be looked at in two ways:

a) Infrastructure development as a connector and service provider to poverty reduction

b) History of Infrastructures in Africa through Infrastructure Managers.

Infrastructures will be remembered between two periods:

a) Period of large infrastructure investment in Africa during the 1960s and 1970s (Period of post-independence Infrastructures)

b) Period in the aftermath of the Millennium or the transition from the 20th to the 21st Century (Period of the years 2000s Infrastructures).

For further information on this acknowledgement about Managing and Maintaining Infrastructures to Reduce Poverty in Africa, please read under the Main Development section of this post.  

 

 

• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign with a Concentration on Critically Endangered Bird Species

 

“A la une” takes Save Fauna and Flora advocacy to the next level of CENFACS‘ environmental communications and awareness raising.  It will focus on Critically Endangered Bird Species through our new initiative called ‘Mbulu’.

‘Mbulu’ (that is; Mobilising for Birds’ Useful Life for Us) is a new advocacy project set up by CENFACS to help protect critically endangered bird species in Africa.  What do we mean by endangered?

 

• • Meaning of endangered

 

Endangered can be defined from the Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation written by Chris Park (1) as

“A species that is in danger of *extinction if existing pressures on it (such as over-harvesting or habitat change) continue, and which is therefore likely to disappear if it is not offered adequate protection” (p. 147)

Birds like African Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, African Green Broadbill, etc. are endangered species.  Our new project ‘Mbulu‘ will deal with these species.

 

 

 

• • ‘Mbulu’ (that is; Mobilising for Birds’ Useful Life for Us) as a focus of our birding campaign

 

In the coming weeks, we are embarking on a campaign to help save critically threatened for extinction birds in Africa.   This Autumn birding season’s campaign will be featured by a number of notes to be written to make up the theme of the campaign.

There will five notes which will be related to the following birds: Africa Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, Dwarf Honeyguide, African Green Broadbill and Grossley’s Ground Thrush.  Through these campaigning notes, we hope to mobilise together for birds’ useful life for all of us.  This mobilisation will be indeed an action for the upkeep of bird species.

To support “A la une” campaign and “Mbulu” project, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Activity/Task 10 of the Knowledge (‘K’) Year and Project: Know the History of People in Need

 

The 10th Activity or Task of our ‘K’ Year and Project is about Knowing the History of People in Need.  It is about building the knowledge of their history.

Indeed, knowing the history of those who are asking for help or need help can serve in the following objectives:

 

✔ to get helpful information about these people

✔ to form their identity or profile (that is, beneficiary persona)

✔ to know who they are and who they are not

✔ to learn about their mistakes and successes

✔ to construct memory about how they got into poverty and why they are still in poverty

✔ to understand how past events shape up their lives and made poverty and hardships they are living today

✔ to identify which lessons that can be learnt from their history

✔ to see if they can develop abilities and skills to avoid past mistakes

✔ to spot the paths they can navigate out of poverty

Etc.

 

 

The more one can get the above-mentioned details from those in need, the better position they will be in order to help them.

The above is the Activity or Task no. 10 for the ‘K’ Year/Project for those who are interested in carrying it out.

For those who want any clarification of any aspects of the activity or task, they can contact CENFACS.

 

Extra Messages

 

October 2022 Food Security Appeal

Triple Value Initiatives (or All-year Round Projects) as Green/Blue Prescribings

Fuel/Energy Budget for Families: Data Skills

 

 

• October 2022 Food Security Appeal

 

This is an appeal to raise awareness and provide support to acute food insecure people in Africa.  This appeal, which is a part of CENFACS’ Making Zero Hunger Africa Campaign, is also about joining in the World Food Day initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations on 16 October 2022.

Through this appeal, one could support those who are acute food insecure, particularly but not exclusively in hotspot African countries which we have selected to launch this appeal.  In other words, the selected countries are just a sample of others.

These hotspot selected African countries include Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mali and Niger.

According to the World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisations of the United Nations (2), the number of people in acute food insecurity in 2022 (most recent projections) would be in the above-named hotspot countries as follows:

 

3.5 million in Burkina Faso

2.2 million in Central African Republic

2.1 million in Chad

25.9 million in Democratic Republic of Congo

2.1 million in Madagascar

1.8 in Mali

4.4 in Niger (p. 8).

 

Both the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisations of the United Nations (op. cit.) define acute food insecurity as

“Any manifestation of food deprivation that threatens lives or livelihoods regardless of the causes, context or duration” (p. 39)

With the difficulties that these hotspot selected African countries and other countries around the world are experiencing to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, these numbers could increase or at best be stationary.

If one wants to build a zero-hunger generation and act against hunger (as a way of backing World Food Day 2022), then supporting this appeal will bring a tremendous help to those acute food insecure in Africa.

This appeal runs from now until the 16 October 2022; day on which we shall join others across the world to act against hunger.

You can support this appeal via CENFACS or directly help the acute food insecure in the above-mentioned hotspot selected African countries.

To support via CENFACS, please contact us NOW.

 

 

 

• Triple Value Initiatives (or All-year Round Projects) as Green/Blue Prescribings

 

Our work on green and blue spaces continues as we are trying to get the views of those of our members using Triple Value Initiatives as blue or green prescriptions.  CENFACS is looking into the possibility of how their undertakings of these initiatives can be fitted into blue or green prescriptions.

Social prescribing nature-based activities are known as those ones that support the health and well-being of the community.  These activities can be land-based (green prescribing) and water-based (blue prescribing).

The National Academy for Social Prescribing (3) describes social prescribing as

“Being about helping people getting more control over their healthcare to manage their needs in a way that suits them”.

For those who have been using the Triple Value Initiatives, it would be a good idea to share with us their experience in terms of health and well-being benefits so that we know how green or blue prescribing these initiatives can be.

The more people respond, the more we would know about the health and well-being outcomes from these initiatives, the more we could be recommending people or blue/green prescribing them to use these initiatives.

Their responses will as well help prepare CENFACS’ State of Play, Run and Vote.

To support CENFACS’ State of Play, Run and Vote as well as our work on blue/green prescribings, please let us know your personal experience on Triple Value Initiatives in terms of health and well-being results.

 

 

• Fuel/Energy Budget for Families: Data Skills

 

As soaring energy price is a hot topic this October and Autumn 2022 as well as a concern for many members of our community, we would like to continue our work on this topical issue.  In particular, we are looking at energy or fuel budget for families as part of the reduction of energy poverty.

Energy or fuel budgeting is our support to the community in the context of and the implementation of CENFACS’ 2020s Poverty Reduction Programme and Development Agenda.  We are trying to support them to develop basic data skills to understand energy or fuel budget and the implications for their entire family budgets.  Through this process, one can hope they will be moderated in their energy consumption and able to navigate their way to reduce energy poverty and other types of poverty.

We would like to remind those who forgot or do not know that those who spend more than 10% of their income in energy, they could be considered as energy poor.  In other words, the sensitivity of energy share to their household income is high.  As a result, we would like to raise awareness about energy share to household income by looking at fuel/energy budget for families.  Our awareness-raising activity will include disucssions on the current energy price cap and its implications for your household budget.

If you are a member of our community and would like to know more or exchange ideas in terms of data about the right balance between your energy expenses budget and the other budgets for your household, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

Those who would like to share their data skills in this area of household Fuel/Energy Budget, they are also welcome.

 

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

À paraître à l’automne 2022: Le 77e numéro du bulletin d’information FACS qui s’intitulera Sécurité financière pour les pauvres

Le sous-titre de ce numéro sera:

Comment réduire les inquiétudes et le stress financiers pour les pauvres en cette période difficile de la crise du coût de la vie

Résumé du 77e numéro de FACS

Les effets persistants du coronavirus et la crise actuelle du coût de la vie inquiètent et stressent de nombreuses personnes et familles ordinaires et pauvres.  Ils les inquiètent et les stressent 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. Ces personnes et ces familles ont besoin d’une certaine forme de sécurité financière si l’on a besoin d’éviter que la crise actuelle ne devienne une crise humanitaire.

Le 77e numéro de FACS, le bulletin bilingue du CENFACS, aidera non seulement à comprendre leurs soucis et leur stress financiers, mais aussi à explorer avec eux des stratégies d’adaptation positives pour calmer leur esprit et trouver la tranquillité d’esprit. À cet égard, le numéro pourrait fournir quelques conseils et astuces pour éviter que la transformation du coût de la vie qu’ils connaissent ne devienne un coût humanitaire.

Bon nombre de ceux/celles qui font partie de notre communauté recherchent une sécurité financière afin de joindre les deux bouts du mois ou simplement de couvrir leurs besoins vitaux de base. Il y a un déficit de revenu et un endettement parmi eux/elles; ceux/celles dont le revenu est inférieur à leurs dépenses. Ils/elles ont tous/toutes besoin de sécurité financière pour éviter que la crise actuelle ne les pousse au bord de la catastrophe humanitaire ou de l’effondrement.

Le 77e numéro explorera les moyens d’assurer la sécurité financière avec et pour ces personnes et ces familles.  Bien que le numéro ne répertorie pas les organisations et les institutions qui fournissent une couverture de sécurité financière, il regroupera un certain nombre de correctifs de sécurité financière avec et pour elles.  Cependant, en soutenant qu’elles ont besoin de sécurité financière, qu’entendons-nous par là?

La sécurité financière doit ici être considérée du point de vue de ce que le site internet « quicken.com » (4) prescrit, à savoir:

« La sécurité financière fait référence à la tranquillité d’esprit que vous ressentez lorsque vous ne craignez pas que votre revenu soit suffisant pour couvrir vos dépenses. Cela signifie également que vous avez suffisamment d’argent économisé pour couvrir les urgences et vos objectifs financiers futurs. Lorsque vous êtes en sécurité financière, votre niveau de stress diminue, vous laissant libre de vous concentrer sur d’autres problèmes ».

La définition mentionnée ci-dessus sera celle à laquelle nous nous référerons dans le 77e numéro de FACS. La sécurité financière doit ici être différenciée des instruments financiers (comme les actions, les obligations, les valeurs bousières, les titres financiers, les lettres de change, les bons du Trésor, etc.) émis par les entreprises, les institutions financières (par exemple, les fonds de pension, les fonds d’investissement, les banques et les compagnies d’assurance) et le gouvernement.

Nous aborderons la sécurité financière du point de vue des gens et des familles ordinaires et pauvres, de ceux ou celles qui n’en ont pas financièrement.

En cette période difficile de crise du coût de la vie, le 77e numéro de FACS sera un voyage avec ces personnes et ces familles sur la façon dont elles vont lever les fonds dont elles ont besoin et ériger les bases de la sécurité financière. Dans le 77e numéro, nous tenterons d’identifier les niveaux de sécurité financière dont elles ont besoin, qu’ils soient élevés, faibles ou moyens.

La sécurité financière ne concerne pas seulement notre communauté plus proche, la communauté CENFACS.  Il s’agit également de notre communauté élargie; ce sont les personnes avec lesquelles nos organisations sœurs basées en Afrique travaillent en Afrique.

Pour ces communautés et ces personnes éloignées, la sécurité financière dépend de la façon dont elles essaient de développer leurs stratégies financières d’adaptation (par exemple, si elles ont obtenu un renflouement financier) afin d’atténuer les effets secondaires combinés du coronavirus et d’autres maladies, de la crise du coût de la vie et du changement climatique.

Le 77e numéro va plus loin en explorant comment ces organisations ajustent leur modèle d’organisme de bienfaisance ou sans but lucratif afin de continuer à servir leurs communautés dans ce contexte de flambée des prix de l’argent, de la nourriture, de l’énergie et d’autres biens et services.  De même, il contiendra un appel à ce qu’une partie des dividendes financiers créés (par exemple, à partir de flux financiers illicites en Afrique) soit acheminée vers les  organisations sœurs basées en Afrique travaillant avec les personnes et les communautés pauvres.

En faisant appel de cette manière, cela pourrait fournir un point de départ ou un nouveau développement pour connecter les pauvres et les familles mentionnés ci-dessus avec des niches financières qui sont censées les aider, mais ils ne le font pas pour le moment.

Enfin, le 77e numéro de FACS fournira à certains constituants ou éléments d’une base pour un programme de travail avec notre communauté sur les moyens de construire et de développer la sécurité financière avec ces personnes et ces familles.

Ce qui précède donne un peu de saveur ou une idée générale du prochain numéro de FACS, le 77e numéro du bulletin FACS.

Pour toute demande de renseignements et/ou questions concernant ce numéro, n’hésitez pas à contacter le CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• History Month with Making Memorable Positive Difference Project – In Focus: Managing and Maintaining Infrastructures to Reduce Poverty in Africa

 

The following items make up the contents of this year’s focus of Making Memorable Positive Difference Project:

 

∝ What is Making Memorable Difference Project (MM+D)? 

∝ MM+D Days 

∝ MM+D Timeline

 

• • What is MM+D? 

 

MM+D is

∝ a two-day event of Awareness, Thought and Recognition set up by CENFACS in 2009 to celebrate the Black History Month in our own way and feeling while preserving the tradition linked to this remembrance and standing on the shoulders of similar celebrations

∝ a history project of collective memory about works carried out, heritage and legacies left by Africans

∝ all about collectively telling, acknowledging, studying and learning that everyday Africans wherever they are (in Africa) or elsewhere (in the UK-Croydon and the world) are striving to improve the quality of their lives and of others. Through their historically valuable works, they are making memorable positive difference and the world a better place for everybody, including the generations to come.

∝ a celebration of African Abilities, Talents, Skills, Gifts and Legacies to Africa and the world.

 

This year’s dedicated two days (27 and 28 October 2022) are days of historical study, analysis and skill recognition and celebration of the legacies left by Africans in Infrastructures to reduce poverty, particularly the management and maintenance of these infrastructures.

 

• • MM+D Days

 

There will be Two Days of the history of Infrastructures to Reduce Poverty in Africa as follows:

 

∝ One Day of Infrastructure development as a connector and service provider to poverty reduction

∝ One Day of History of Infrastructures in Africa through Infrastructure Managers of the history.

Let us summarise the contents of each day’s work.

 

• • • Heritage/Patrimony Day (27 October 2022): Infrastructure development as a connector and service provider to poverty reduction

 

On the first day of our MM+D, we shall remember infrastructure development in Africa as heritage and/or patrimony from our ancestors or those who built them.  We shall as well look at how post-independence infrastructures (large-scale infrastructure projects) in Africa were linked to poverty reduction.

The definition of infrastructure we will be using on that day is from a reference to the United Nations by Ulrikke Wethal (5), who quotes this:

“The term infrastructure can be used to cover all physical facilities, institutions and organisational structures, or the social and economic foundations, for the operation of a society and social infrastructure is often distinguished from economic infrastructure”.

Ulrikke Wethal adds that construction-based physical infrastructure can be divided in two groups: civil engineering (roads, railways, ports, dams, power stations, drainage and water supply) and residential and non-residential buildings.

In this construction-based physical infrastructure, our MM+D will focus on infrastructures upon which poor people depend for their lives.  In other words, we shall work on infrastructures that connect us or help to reduce poverty in Africa.

 

• • • Legacies and Gifts Day (28 October 2022): History of Infrastructures in Africa through Infrastructure Managers of the history

 

During the Legacies and Gifts Day of MM+D, we shall learn these legacies and gifts of infrastructures from those who managed and maintained them.  Infrastructures will be looked at as properties handed on or left to the new generations.

To better work on that day, one may need to understand the meanings of management and maintenance.

Management can be understood in many ways.  In the context of MM+D, we will be referring to what Christopher et al (6) say about it, which is:

“Management is the process of organising and directing human and physical resources within an organisation so as to meet defined objectives.  The key management roles are planning, control, coordination and motivation” (p. 350)

With reference to our MM+D, we will be interested in the management of physical infrastructure like those helping to reduce poverty.

Christopher Pass et al (op. cit.) also explained maintenance as

“The management process of repairing and maintaining buildings, plant, machinery and equipment to avoid breakdowns and disruption to production”(p. 349)

Likewise, we shall be concerned with the maintenance of physical infrastructures to reduce poverty.

Since there is history of badly managed and poorly maintained infrastructure projects, of neglected infrastructures and debts linked to infrastructures in Africa; we shall investigate the historical processes that led to the mismanagement and neglect of infrastructures.  In this investigation, we shall reminisce infrastructure managers of the post-independence and early millennium eras in Africa, particularly those infrastructure managers who made memorable positive difference.

The above is this year’s MM+D theme.  To engage with this theme and or support this project, please contact CENFACS on this site. 

Because we are talking about history, let us remember the history of CENFACS‘ MM+D through timeline.

 

• • Making Memorable Positive Difference Timeline

 

MM+D has a history and timeline.  The following is the timeline of MM+D since its inception.

 

2009: CENFACS recognised environmental sustainability.

2010: We acknowledged and honoured sports contributions and history in relieving collective poverty and improving community lives beyond fitness and beyond individualistic achievements.

2011: We recollected, remembered and revered caregiving talents and legacies of young carers in enhancing human development (their own development and other people’s development) by reducing the burden of poverty.

2012: We dedicated our historical recognition to Africa’s Global Game Runners and the Science of Running.

2013: Our two days were about the Memorable Positive Difference Made and brought by Working Poor (Miners & Factory Workers) in relieving poverty. We consecrated them to the historical study of The Role of Working Poor Miners and Factory Workers of Natural Resources and Extractive Industries in the Poverty Relief in Africa since the Berlin Conference (1884-5).

2014: We celebrated the place of the African Music and Dance in the pre– and post-colonial eras, the late 1950s and the early 1960s.  This celebration focused on the African History of Singing and Dancing and their Impacts on Liberation and Freedoms.

2015: Making Memorable Positive Difference focused on African Negotiators of the History. 

2016: We remembered the Protectors and Guardians of the African History and Heritage. 

2017: We acknowledged the Communicators of the African History 

2018: We learnt about African Communications and Oral History

2019: We searched on the African Health History

2020: We celebrated African Sculpture and Representation of African Historical Figures of the Pre-independence Era (i.e. Period before the 1960s)

2021: We recognised and celebrated of the legacies left by Africans in dance, particularly the Congolese Rumba.

For further details about these past MM+D events, please contact CENFACS. 

_________

 

• References

 

(1) Park, C., (2011), Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation, Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York 

(2) WFP and FAO, (2022), Hunger Hotspots, FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, October 2022 to January 2023 Outlook, Rome (Accessed in October 2022)

(3) https://socialprescribingacademy.org.uk/about-us/what-is-socialpresscribing/ (accessed in October 2022)

(4) https://www.quicken.com/what-financial-security (Accessed in September 2022)

(5) Wethal, U., (2019), Building Africa’s Infrastructure: Reinstating History in Infrastrurcture Debates, In Forum for Development Studies, Centre for Development and Environment, Universtity of Oslo 

(6) Pass, C., Lowes, B., Pendleton, A., & Chadwick, A., (1991), Collins Dictionary of Business, HarperCollins Publishers, Glasgow

_________

 

• 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

28 September 2022

 

Post No. 267

 

 

The Week’s Comments

 

• Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, In Focus for 2022 Edition: Out of the Cost-of-living Crisis

• Green Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 26/09/2022: Interaction between Green and Blue Spaces in the Process of Poverty Reduction

• Data Skills to Run your Household

 

…And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, In Focus for 2022 Edition: Out of the Cost-of-living Crisis

 

To introduce the 2022 Edition of Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, we are going to briefly explain the following: Help and Resources for a Fresh Start as well as the focus for this year’s Fresh Start.  Fresh Start and Out of the Cost-of-living Crisis are key words and contextual framework of CENFACS‘ Autumn poverty reduction work.

 

• • Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources

 

Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help strikes or kicks off our Autumn programme and Starting XI Campaign.  It is our Autumn project striker.  Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources are made of fresh start skills, tips, hints, tweaks, hacks, etc.; help and resources designed to overcome poverty and hardships.  They are indeed activities to manage new beginnings and plans for the future.

Our advice-giving month of September continues as planned and will end next month.  Advice-giving is part of our Help and Resources for Autumn Fresh Start.  Although we put particular emphasis on advice-giving activity in our September engagement, other aspects of Autumn Fresh Start or striker are equally important and will continue beyond September.

Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help comes with Fresh Autumn Start (FAS) Resources.  The highlights of the 2022 Edition of FAS, which are given below, take into account and focus on the cost-of-living crisis.  The resources provided in FAS are non-financial help towards the costs of living.  In this respect, the focus will be on what help that is available for users and what resources they can have in order for them to navigate their way out the cost-of-living crisis.

 

• • Out of the Cost-of-living Crisis as a Focus for this Year’s Autumn Fresh Start

 

Coming out of the cost-of-living crisis is a process that can last long ahead.  It can last long because prices of goods and services are still rising.  In the UK for example, the interest (that is; the price of borrowing money) expressed in terms of current bank rate by the Bank of England (1) is now 2.25%.  And the Bank of England can still rise it depending on the economic conditions and the performance of the economy.  In addition to the interest rate increases, inflation in the UK stood at 9.8% in August 2022, according to the ‘rateinflation.com’ (2).  These increases, which can settle in the duration, affect the prices of goods and services in the economy.  They also influence the prospect and duration of coming out of the cost-of-living crisis and of the cost-of-living poverty.

In the general and global context of continuing soaring prices, it is difficult to see how ordinary people, especially those living in poverty like some of CENFACS users, can survive without any help and access to resources to help them.

To begin the process of navigating way out this crisis, they need to freshly start.  There is say that every day is a fresh start.  In this Autumn of the cost-of-living crisis, fresh start is even more relevant than at any time.  They need to freshly start since they are still dealing with the lingering socio-economic effects of the coronavirus.  They need to freshly start to navigate their way out of the current cost-of-living crisis.  So, in the process of coming out, Fresh Autumn Start could be what they badly need.

Further details about the above key words and contextual framework are given below under the Main Development section of this post.

To ask for ‘Fresh Start’ Help and or access Fresh Start Resources to Navigate your Way out of the Cost-of-living Crisis, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

• Green Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 26/09/2022: Interaction between Green and Blue Spaces in the Process of Poverty Reduction

 

Green Spaces can have influence on Blue Spaces and vice versa.  This influence can happen in the process of reducing poverty.  In the context of this note, we are looking how this influence between the two can be beneficial for the community we serve.  Before that let us explore the influence between the two spaces.

 

• • The influence between green and blue spaces

 

Prior to dealing with this influence, it is better to understand both spaces.

Our understanding of green spaces comes from what Abigail Isabella McLean (3) argues about them, which is

“Green space refers to the many types of green land, ranging from parks to natural areas.  Hence, the green spaces … will encompass naturally occurring green spaces, such as forests, but also space created within human-made means such as green roofs and tree-lined streets”.

As to blue space, its definition comes from what the ‘environmentagency.blog.go.uk’ (4) states about it, which is

“Blue spaces are outdoor environments – either natural or manmade – that permanently feature water and are accessible to people.  In short – the collective term of rivers, lakes or the sea”.

So, blue spaces include blue ecosystems such as sea and coastline, rivers, lakes, canals, waterfalls, fountains, etc.

The above two definitions allow to understand the influence or interaction between green and blue spaces.  Their influence can be looked at via or at the level of benefits they provide to humans; benefits which could be similar in those cases. What are those benefits?

 

• • Benefits provided by green and blue spaces to humans

 

A research study by Claire J. McCartan (5) found that

“Exposure to green and blue spaces has been linked to improvements in physical health including a reduction in cortisol levels, blood pressure, cholesterol and increases in self-reported health; there is also growing evidence of the benefits for mental health and wellbeing.  How green and blue spaces transmit these benefits may be as a result of increased levels of physical activity and social interaction, greater exposure to sunlight, Vitamin D and healthy bacteria”.

Also, writing in the Guardian, Elle Hunt (6) argues that

“The benefits of blue space… are less publicised than green space.  The science has been consistent for at least a decade: being by water is good for body and mind.  Proximity to water – especially the sea – is associated with many positive measures of physical and mental wellbeing, from higher levels of vitamin D to better social relations.  Many of the processes are exactly the same as with green space – with some added benefits”.

Furthermore, there are studies, like the one carried out by Abigail Chan (7) that conclude green and blue spaces can bring communities together while helping to reduce loneliness and stress.

The above research work and findings indicate that there are benefits to human health resulting from green and blue spaces.  Some of the benefits are similar between the two spaces.  This similarity in benefits provided can point out to some degree of influence or interaction between these spaces.

Although Elle Hunt (op. cit.) speaks about added benefits regarding the blue spaces, one can suggest that being in a green space can be seen as the same as staying in blue space.  This could mean that green and blue spaces could interact on each other via the benefits they provide to humans.

Writing a note about the above-mentioned interaction is not the end of the theme of green spaces.  The real aim here is how CENFACS can work with the communities in the UK and in Africa in order for them to live this interaction through the enjoyment of the benefits provided by both spaces.

 

• • Working with the communities to access the benefits provided by both spaces through their interaction

 

There are ways of working with communities to make the interaction between green and blue spaces work for them.

For example, if green and blue spaces can help reduce loneliness and stress, and loneliness and stress are seen as forms of poverty; then CENFACS can work with those members of its community who feel poor because of loneliness in order to alleviate this type of poverty.

Likewise, if the blue space can assist in reducing inequality, then CENFACS can work with those of its members who suffer from inequality, to tackle the matter.

Furthermore, if blue infrastructure (like rivers and inland lakes) can help address physical inactivity, then CENFACS can work with the members of its community who are physically inactive so that they look for and find opportunities to access blue infrastructure and tackle their physical inability.

In short, if one of our members needs blue or green prescription, we can work with them on this matter through advice, information, guidance, signposting and social prescribing.

The above is our last note about the theme of green spaces which we hope we have enjoyed.  We also expect that through this theme, one will be able tackle green or blue poverty they are facing.

Saying that the above is our last note does not mean that we stopped working on green spaces.  We are still working on them even though we will not produce any further note for the rest of the days of September 2022.

For those who would like more information about any of the notes developed throughout this month about green spaces as well as those who need a blue or green prescription, they are free to contact CENFACS.

For those who would like to support the theme of green spaces and our work, they should hesitate to contact CENFACS with your support.

 

 

• Data Skills to Run your Household

 

Data Skills to Run your Household is the second project of our 2022 Starting XI Campaign. Although this project was scheduled to start late in the Autumn, we are launching it now since we are in time of the cost-of-living crisis.  And the sooner those in need of data skills understand the data making their household and life, the sooner they can prevent any further damaging effects on them from the cost-of-living crisis.

 

• • What is data skill?

 

When we introduced this project through the presentation of our Starting XI Campaign and Autumn Programme, we argued that Data Skills were/are the amalgamation of literacy and numeracy skills.  Yet, Data Skills are deeper than what we said.  How deeper are they?

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

∝ these families 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.

 

• • 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.

 

For those of our members interested in this project, they are welcome to contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• End-of-Month Special Offer with Translation Day on 30/09/2022

• Happiness Survey and Questionnaire

•  Save Flora and Fauna 

 

 

• End-of-Month Special Offer with Translation Day on 30/09/2022

 

As part of CENFACS’ Translation Service and the United Nations’ International Translation Day, CENFACS’ in-house bilingual translators will be offering special translation service on 30/09/2022 in French to English and vice versa.  

If you have texts, documents, projects and stories to be translated from English to French and vice versa, please grab the unique opportunity of the end of the month and the beginning of the Autumn season to get your work translated.

Translation is free service that we offer to our community.  However, we do not mind a voluntary donation or gift to keep this service running and the machinery of CENFACS.

Should anyone need translation; they can let us know before the Translation Day so that we could plan ahead.

Please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS beforehand should you need translation, and we hope you will join us on the Translation Day.

 

 

• Happiness Survey and Questionnaire

 

As part of our Summer Reporting and Sharing of experiences and stories, we are running a Happiness and Healthiness survey.

The survey, which is mostly about hearing your Summer experiences and stories, is also about improving on planning and delivery of summer projects and of enhancing the outcome of our advice on summer break and season.

For those who may be interested in this survey, there is a questionnaire to complete and return to CENFACS.  This questionnaire can also be found in our Fresh Autumn Start resource.  You can request the questionnaire as well.

To request and or complete the questionnaire, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

•  Save Flora and Fauna 

 

During our Build Forward Better Programme from the life-threatening and -destroying impacts of the coronavirus, our campaign on flora and fauna have been part of this process of building forward.  Since we have curated and returned some of our projects, we have returned the original format of this campaign, which is Save Flora and Fauna.

 

• • What is Save Flora and Fauna? 

 

Save Flora and Fauna, which is a twin advocacy, is one of our Starting XI Projects.  Through this Starting XI Project, we are continuing to advocate for the protection of animal and plant species in Africa and elsewhere in developing world.  Animals get killed, traded and extinct to such extent that some animal species are at the brink of disappearing.  Some plants are also threatened and disappearing.

As said above, our advocacy has two parts, which are: save fauna and save flora.  Let us consider each part.

 

• • Save Fauna

 

We continue to advocate for the protection of animals in Africa and elsewhere in developing world whereby animals get killed, traded and extinct to such extent that some species are at the brink of disappearing.

Our fauna advocacy aims at dealing with ways of tackling the threats to survival in the wild facing by the world’s big cats (such as lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cheetah, snow leopard, puma, clouded leopard, etc.), the world’s majestic animals and symbols of power and courage.

Animals such as jaguars, tigers, elephants, snakes, alligators, rhinoceroses, etc. are under threat.  There are several reasons about it which include: hunting, illicit and illegal trade, over-harvesting, habitat loss, climate change, poaching, etc.

CENFACS’ Save Animals or Fauna advocacy is to advocate for the re-enhancement of protection of endangered, threatened and vulnerable animal species.

In this process, we are as well interested in efforts made to protect animals from diseases including the coronavirus.  For example, people can still remember how tuberculosis killed elephants in South Africa, a few years ago.

 

• • Save Flora

 

We are as well extending our advocacy to other species in danger like trees, plans and flowers (flora).  It is about advocating to save these species that are threatened with extinction.

For example, the New Phytologist Foundation (8) argues that 35% of the species are threatened with extinction.  They include maize, potato, bean, squash, chilli pepper, vanilla, avocado, husk tomato and cotton crops.

If this threat is true and continues, then one needs to protect and build forward better these threatened species.

In the light of the above, what would be the contents of our Save Flora and Fauna for this Autumn.   

 

• • This Autumn advocacy about ‘Save Flora and Fauna’

 

This year’s advocacy for flora and fauna will include two actions as follows.

 

1) Life-saving action against new forms of exploitation and trafficking of animal and plant species

 

This is an action to protect animal species in Africa from new forms of wildlife exploitation and trafficking, including kidnapping of animals from their natural sanctuary.

For example, in North-Kivu (the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Cong0), there are armed groups that set up their bases in the vicinity of parks like the park Virunga.  These groups exploit natural resources (such as woods and animals) via poaching, illegal fishing, smuggling, kidnappings of animals, etc.  Specimen and trophies from elephant ivory, charcoal and illicit fishing are traded by these groups to finance their supply of arms.

According to the Journal Le Monde (9), there has been kidnapping and holding of three baby chimpanzees from their sanctuary to ransom in the province of Katanga of the Democratic Republic of Congo, this September 2022.  The kidnappers of these baby chimpanzees are still asking for money via social media.

As part of our action, we are appealing to those kidnappers to release those smuggled chimpanzees.

 

2) Life-saving action against the cost-of-living crisis on flora and fauna

 

The current cost-of-living crisis has put enormous pressure on humans, particularly the poorest ones.  One could be afraid that fauna and flora could be neglected or simply forgotten or abandoned since mankind cannot cope with their own pressure of facing soaring costs of living.

This action is about making sure that, plant and animal species regain, restore, rebuild and thrive their lives while humans are trying to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.  In other words, the action is about to ensure that the cost-of-living crisis does not lead to flora and fauna crises since we depend on them in order to come out of the cost-of-living crisis.

 

• • Save Fauna and Flora to “A la une” Campaign

 

Save Fauna and Flora is only an iceberg of the wide natural creature protection campaign run by CENFACS.  CENFACS’ Save Fauna and Flora is run this week and will be soon after followed by our Autumn environmental umbrella campaign, “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action to the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) project.

“A la une” will take Save Fauna and Flora advocacy to the other level of environmental communications and awareness raising.  It will focus on Critically Endangered Bird Species.  We shall focus on saving endangered bird species through our new initiative called ‘Mbulu’, as we said at the beginning of this September.

‘Mbulu’ (that is; Mobilising for Birds’ Useful Life for Us) is a new advocacy project planned by CENFACS to help protect critically endangered bird species in Africa.  Birds like African Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, African Green Broadhill, etc. are endangered species.

The above is our highlights for Save Flora and Fauna.  To advocate and raise your voice to save endangered plant and animal species, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

Enquête et questionnaire sur le bonheur et la santé

Dans le cadre de nos rapports d’été et de notre partage d’expériences et d’histoires, nous menons une enquête sur le bonheur et la santé.

L’enquête, qui porte principalement sur l’écoute de vos expériences et de vos histoires estivales, vise également à améliorer la planification et la livraison des projets d’été et à améliorer les résultats de nos conseils sur les vacances d’été et la saison.

Pour ceux/celles qui pourraient être intéressé(e)s par cette enquête, il y a un questionnaire à remplir et à retourner au CENFACS.  Ce questionnaire se trouve également dans notre ressource ‘Nouveau départ d’automne’.  Vous pouvez également demander le questionnaire.

Pour demander et/ou remplir le questionnaire, veuillez communiquer avec le CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources, In Focus for 2022 Edition: Out of the Cost-of-living Crisis

 

The following two items cover the presentation of Autumn ‘Fresh Start’ Help and Resources: 

 

∝ Making Autumn Start and Season Easier 

∝ Key summaries of FAS 2022 Edition.

 

Let us look at these items.

 

• • Making Autumn Start and Season Easier 

           

In order to make Autumn Start and Season Easier it is better to understand Fresh Autumn Start and its context.

 

• • • What is Fresh Autumn Start (FAS)

 

FAS is a continuation of our Summer Support projects into the Autumn season.  It is a building block or additional back up of useful survival tips and hints to embrace Autumn as smoothly and trouble-freely as possible.

It includes real life situations that users may face when and as they return from their Summer break or season on one hand, and possible leads to proffer solutions to their arising Autumn needs on the other hand.

This FAS resource is not exhaustive or an end itself.  It needs other resources as complement.  It is a good basic insight into a Fresh Start as it provides helpful advisory tools for a Fresh Start and confidence building from the beginning to the end of Autumn season.  It could also be used as a reference for users to engineer their own idea of Fresh Start and the sustained management of autumn needs.

At the end of this resource, there are some websites addresses/directories for help and support.  These sources of help and support are not exhaustive.  We have mainly considered third sector organisations and service providers as well as social enterprises.

For further or extended list of service providers for Autumn needs, people can contact their local authorities and service directories (both online and in print).

 

• • • Fresh Autumn Start in the context of Rising Costs of Living

 

This Autumn, we are approaching Fresh Start Help from the perspective and context of Rising Costs of Living.  It is the context in which prices of goods and services are continuing to rise while incomes are not in position to catch up with rising costs.  It is the context of cost-of-living crisis.  In this typical context, the most sufferers are those living in poverty as they cannot afford rising prices and bills.

A context like the one we have depicted needs a response so that our users can meet their needs and navigate their way out of the cost-of-living crisis.  Our users need help and support.  We can work with them so as they can get the needy help in order to meet basic life-sustaining needs and requests.

Briefly speaking, Fresh Start Help is the first line of support in the process of coming out of the cost-of-living crisis.  The second line of support is Fresh Start Resources.

 

• • Key Summaries of FAS 2022 Edition

 

The key summaries of FAS 2022 Edition can be found under the contents below.

 

• • • Contents for FAS 2022 Edition

 

The contents for 2022 Edition of FAS include:

 

∝ Autumn scenarios and actions to take

∝ Examples of Summer Break Expenses Track Record and Autumn Budget

∝ People needs and Autumn leads

∝ Integration of threats and risks

∝ What you can get from CENFACS

∝ Autumn online and digital resources.

 

Let us briefly explain each of these contents.

 

• • • Possible Autumn Scenarios and Possible Actions

 

When returning from Summer break and/or season, people can find themselves in a variety of situations depending on their own individual circumstances and life experiences.  This variety of situations may require or be expected to be matched with a diversity of responses in order to meet people’s Autumn needs.

These variable circumstances and diverse responses or a course of actions can take the different shapes as well as can be framed in order to take into account the continuing adverse impacts of climate change.  One of these shapes could be to contextualise and customise back-to-relief, fresh start and build-forward-better support.  This is what CENFACS tries to do via the advice service.

 

• • • Examples of Summer Break Expenses Track Record and Autumn Budget

 

Tracking down and reassessing summer break/season expenses are a positive step to put one through an optimistic start of the Autumn season.  As part of this positive step, FAS is packed with an example of Summer Break Expenses Track Record.

Budgeting Autumn items and needs is also good for a Fresh Start and for overall control over the start and rest of autumn season expenses.  Since our focus is on ways of coming out of the cost-of-living crisis, one can write a budget that deals with soaring costs of living. 

To write a comprehensive budget, one needs to include in their budget possible projections or forecasting or even scenarios regarding key indicators or adjustment factors like interest rate, inflation, indexes of goods and services, etc.  Such a budget will help in costing the activities planned in the process of navigating one’s way out of the cost-of-living crisis.

To support this financial control, FAS contains two examples of budgets: Autumn budget adjusted for the cost-of-living crisis and fresh start budget.   

 

• • • People’s Needs and Autumn Leads 

 

Variable circumstances can obviously result in multiple needs.  One of these circumstances is the current cost-of-living crisis.  To meet those needs, we may have to gather resources, tools and institutions to guide us.  The 2022 Edition of FAS provides a table that gives an idea of the likely leads to satisfy people’s needs or just to guide them.

 

• • • Integrating Threats and Risks from the Adverse Impacts of Various Factors into FAS

 

The FAS 2022 edition integrates the damaging impacts of economic factors or variables such as interest rate change, inflation, the cost-of-living index, policy changes, etc. 

It also considers the probable evolution of these factors or variables in the medium term since there are speculations that the worsening of these variables like the cost-of-living crisis can lead to humanitarian crisis.  Likewise, the probable adverse impacts of climate change are nevertheless taking into account and unavoidable. 

This integration is at the levels of possible Autumn scenarios, Autumn budget and arising needs.  It is the integration of both life-sustaining needs and life-threatening impacts of the coronavirus and climate change.

 

• • • What You Can Get from CENFACS in Autumn under Autumn Help to Navigate your Way out of the Cost-of-living Crisis

 

The set of helps provided in the FAS 2022 is part of CENFACS’ UK arm of services and additional services we set up to overcome the negative side effects of crises and risks (like the coronavirus, the cost-of-living crisis).  In this respect, FAS 2022 include ‘Fresh Start‘ activities or services that can be aligned with Post-pandemic Rebuilding Activities we explained in our post of 18 May 2022.  What are these activities? 

There are two activities we would like to mention, which are:

a) activities to manage new beginnings

b) activities to manage plans for the future.

 

• • • • Fresh Start Activities as Those to Manage New Beginnings 

 

The activities relating to the management of new beginnings will help to work with the community to achieve the following:

✔ Set up new goals with them

✔ Identify new opportunities and threats at the current time of the cost-of-living crisis.

We shall work with them through advice, tips and hints in order for them to manage the new beginnings.

 

• • • • Fresh Start Activities as Those to Manage Plans for the Future

 

Fresh Start activities could be those of managing the future as well.  By using  futuring and visioning methods and techniques, it is possible to develop scenarios, horizon scanning and trend monitoring/analysis to help them not only navigate their way out of the cost-of-living crisis; but to minimise the likely harmful impacts of future risks and crises as well.

Besides the above-mentioned provision, FAS 2022 further takes into account specific needs of people that may require specialist organisations and or institutions to deal with them.  In which case CENFACS can signpost or refer the applicants to those third parties.

 

• • • Autumn online and digital resources

 

As explained earlier, FAS 2022 Edition contains a list of organisations and services that can help users in different areas covering basic needs.  Most the provided resources, which are from the charity and voluntary sector, are online and digital.  The list gives their contact details including the kinds of support or service they provide.

 

We hope that the basic tips and hints making the contents of FAS 2022 Edition will help you in some aspects of your Autumn needs, and you will find the relief you are looking for.

We would like to take this opportunity of the beginning of the new season to wish you a Happy and Healthy Autumn, as well as good luck in your efforts to Navigate your Way Out of the Cost-of-living Crisis!

 

_________

 

• References

 

(1) https://www.bankofengland.co.uk (Accessed in September 2022)

(2) https://www.rateinflation.com/inflation-rate/uk-inflation-rate (Accessed in September 2022)

(3) McLean A. I., at https://peopleknowhow.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/what-are-the-benefits-of-green-and-blue-space.pdf (Accessed in September 2022)

(4) https://environmentagency.blog.go.uk/2021/08/04/blue-space-the-final-frontier/ (Accessed in September 2022)

(5) McCartan C. J., at https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/green-and-blue-spaces-mental-health-benefits-of-being-outdoors (Accessed in September 2022)

(6) Hunt E., at https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/03/blue-space-living-near-water-good-secret-of-happiness (Accessed in September 2022)

(7) Chan A., at https://environment-review.yale.edu/creating-community-role-green-and-blue-spaces-cities (Accessed in September 2022)

(8) https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10225 (accessed September 2022)

(9) https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2022/09/26/en-rdc-c-est-la-premiere-fois-qu-on-enleve-des-chimpanzes-contre-ranson_6143288_3212.html (Accessed in September 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

21 September 2022

 

Post No. 266

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Autumn of Freshness to Cope with Crises

• Starting XI Campaign in 2022: Autumn Programme with Starting XI Projects to Cope with Crises

• Green Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 19/09/2022: Green Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development 

 

… And much more!

 

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Autumn of Freshness to Cope with Crises

 

• • What Autumn is about for us

 

Autumn is the time of natural recycling process of plants and trees.  Leaves change colour and fall.  Without reinventing the wheels, we can say that Autumn of Freshness at CENFACS is the season after the long sunny weather and break of Summer; season during which our body and mind naturally recycle and engage in renewed energy, strength and thoughts.

Autumn of Freshness is the season of

∝ making fresh start after returning back from Summer to resume our life routine, work, education and voluntary work, particularly poverty relief one

∝ restarting after having some life and/or work experience (e.g., voluntary work or experience over the Summer, project visits, holiday trips, tourism, travel/expeditions of all kinds, etc.)

∝ beginning to apply or introduce and share those new experiences, ideas and discoveries we had during the Summer break or holiday

∝ novelty, creativity and innovation to try to resolve the old, new, challenging and emerging issues of poverty and hardships.

Will this Autumn be same as the previous ones?

 

• • Autumn of Freshness 2022

 

This Autumn will be of Freshness or Fresh Start to Cope with Crisis.

In Autumn 2021, we accepted that change was inevitable as the 1960s theory of the five stages of grief or model of change curve by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross (1) told us.  Since then, we started to gradually return the nature of our Autumn, which is of Freshness or Fresh Start.  Yet, before we finished the return of our service from the coronavirus, another crisis which was already rampant stroke, the cost-of-living crisis.

Because of the interruption brought by the cost-of-living crisis, this Autumn would not be the same.  What will it be about?

Autumn 2022 at CENFACS will be about

∝ continuing the unfinished work of return while coping with the cost-of-living crisis

∝ how fresh we are to continue and finish the business of return from the coronavirus while coping with the cost-of-living crisis; that is freshness to simultaneously end one crisis (e.g., the coronavirus) while coping with another one (that is; the cost-of-living crisis)

∝ working together with our local people to positively cope with crises, particularly with the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate and the current cost-of-living crisis.

We are going to work together to try to finish the unfinished business of returning our service, building forward from the coronavirus pandemic and cope with the reality of the cost-of-living crisis.

Therefore, the key words and phrases for our sharing and engaging contents over this Autumn are Freshness or Fresh Start to Positively Cope with Crises; words and phrases which will underpin all our work over this period.

 

 

• Starting XI Campaign in 2022: Autumn Programme with Starting XI Projects to Cope with Crises

 

Autumn of Freshness is about working together with our users and stakeholders through a helpful bundle of Fresh Start projects blended together to give a contemporary and targeted relief, thanks to a good knowledge of users’ needs and expectations.

These projects will implement new and improved ways of working with local people to meet changing needs mainly led by the lingering effects of the coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis in the Year of Knowledge; a year of knowledge of poor people’s needs in a new era and landscape of poverty reduction and development policies.  These projects make up our Autumn 2022 Fresh Start Programme.

 

• • What is included in the Autumn 2022 Fresh Start Programme?

 

The Autumn 2022 Fresh Start Programme is made of

(a) Skills, tips, hints, tweaks and hacks to positively cope with crises

(b) Transformative experiences

(c) The Season’s appeal to stand up again against poverty and hardships

(d) A Slice of Africa’s history

(e) A Campaign to end the cost-of-living crisis

(f) Blue and green realignments of initiatives to the principles of greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and targets

(g) Thoughts and inspirations to finish the unfinished work of building forward from the coronavirus.

All this is flavoured with hopes, dreams and reasons to believe in the future; a poverty-free, sustainable, net zero and crisis-free world.

So, the line-up for CENFACS’ Starting XI Projects and Campaign to end the lingering effects of the coronavirus and cope with the cost-of-living crisis for this Autumn is as follows:

 

(1) Women, Children and Skills/Strategies to Respond to Crises – NEW

(2) Basic Data Skills to Run your Household – NEW

(3) 3-tier Security (i.e., Food, Energy and Financial Security) – NEW

(4) Making Memorable Difference by Managing and Maintaining Poverty-reduction Infrastructures in Africa  

(5) Save Flora and Fauna

(6) Leaves-based Advice

(7) “A la Une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) with a Focus on Critically Endangered Bird Species

(8) International Advice Service

(9) Autumn Help to Come out the Cost-of-living Crisis

(10) Campaign to End the Cost-of-living Poverty

(11) Autumn Humanitarian Relief Appeal.

 

For more on these projects, read below under the Main Developments section of this post.

 

 

• Green Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 19/09/2022: Green Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development

 

In this third note of our Green Spaces theme, we would like to focus on these three elements: the meaning of green poverty reduction, the link between green poverty reduction and sustainable development, and how CENFACS can work with the community in order to keep the linkages between green poverty reduction and sustainable development.  Let us briefly explain each of these items.

 

• • Green Poverty Reduction

 

In order to reduce green poverty, one may need to understand it.  Our understanding of green poverty comes from two sources.

The first source of green poverty is from ‘headliners.org’ (2) which states that

“Green poverty is an unequal access to space relating to demographic and socio-economic factors”.

On the same ‘headliners.org’ website, it is said that

“The conversation on green space ignores unequal distribution and factors surrounding private gardens…, inequality in indoor and outdoor spaces”.

This definition approaches green poverty from the perspective of space and access to that space.  To reduce green poverty, poor people need to have access to indoor and outdoor spaces, green spaces.

The second source of green poverty is from the theory of a colour wheel for poverty.  The proponents of this theory define poverty according to colour.  For instance, ‘compassion.com’ (3) defines green as

“The colour of nature that represents balance and symbolises self-respect, growth and harmony.  It also symbolises freshness, like a fresh opportunity, a chance to success and break the cycle of poverty”.

From what ‘compassion.com’ has stated, one can argue that if you want to reduce poverty, you better go green.

 

• • Linkages between green poverty reduction and sustainable development

 

There could be links between the reduction of the inability to access green spaces and the development that allows both the current and future generations meet their needs without compromising the future ones to meet theirs.

In practical terms, if one wants to access green spaces in order to reduce poverty they are experiencing, this access should not deplete or overexploit natural resources that the generations to come will depend upon.  There are ways of working with the green poor so that natural depletion or overexploitation does not happen.

 

• • Working with the community for a better linkage between green poverty reduction and sustainable development

 

As we keep arguing, the purpose of these notes about green spaces is not to develop theories or make statements.  The real aim is to work with the members of our community so that they can find answers to the problems they are facing.  One of these problems is green poverty.  And we can work with them to deal with this issue by taking a sustainable development path.

With them, we can work on…

 

✔ dealing with the state of having little or no indoor or outdoor spaces

✔ having a small environmental impact when accessing green spaces

✔ finding alternative resources than having to rely on marginal spaces

✔ the causes of uneven distribution of both indoor and outdoor green spaces and how these causes relate to them

✔ the identification of possible solutions for them

✔ the relationship between space and demographic and socio-economic factors if it affects their households

✔ the fresh opportunity they may seize in the green economy in order to break the cycle of poverty

✔ the steps they need to take to embrace green development to reduce green poverty if they are not doing it

✔ meeting their needs of accessing green spaces without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

 

There could be limitations in what we could offer and what they can do since we are talking about poor people or green poor.  However, working together with them, we can achieve more outcomes together than not working together, outcomes in terms of the linkages between green poverty reduction and sustainable development.

The above is our second note for the Green Spaces.  To add your input and or enquire about this third note, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Starting or Renewing your Involvement with CENFACS’ Work this Autumn 2022

• Getting the Most of your Involvement with CENFACS into Poverty Reduction Work from Autumn 2022 and Beyond

• Back-to-school Project: Integrated Training Centre in Doutchi, County of Dosso in Niger

 

 

• Starting or Renewing your Involvement with CENFACS’ Work this Autumn 2022

 

The beginning of every season is an opportunity either to continue to do the things we always do as they work or to think of taking on new initiatives in the new season or to do both.  Likewise, in time of the cost-of-living crisis there are not only worries and stresses; there are as well opportunities and possibilities to do things differently.  One can use the opportunity of the cost-of-living crisis to review or change things.  One way of doing is to start or continue to look forward.  There are many ways in which one can look forward this Autumn.

For example, one can use the opportunity of the cost-of-living crisis and rethink on the types of organisations and projects they support.  One may find appropriate to start or increase or even reduce their support to a particular development cause.  One could also think of getting involved in CENFACS’ work or renewing their commitment to it if they have ever got involved in it before.  The decision is theirs.

We have spelled out below various ways in which one can enhance CENFACS’ noble cause and make a useful impact on poverty reduction with us.

 

 

• Getting the Most of your Involvement with CENFACS into Poverty Reduction Work from Autumn 2022 and Beyond

 

• • Where to start: Sign up!

✔ Register with us and or update us with your contact details

✔ Respond to our communications and communicate with us when occasion arises

• • Stay in touch with our…

✔ Newsletter and other paper and free-paper communication materials

✔ Regular updated and upgraded resources and supporting information

• • Involve us in raising awareness of the poverty relief issue

✔ Advertise with us for helpful good and deserving causes

✔ Pass our relief messages on to interested third parties  

• • Share your transformative experience

✔ Tell us what you think and or your development story

✔ Help us improve with your voices, comments, reports and feedbacks

• • Boost your support

✔ Support us according to your means and limits as every support counts

✔ Add value to your support, if you can, by improving your support to us to support you and or others 

• • Get noticed to go further with your involvement

✔ Register and keep up to date with information about your event, project, activity and so on

✔ Join up our network of poverty relief and development work

• • Stay ahead of the game with us

✔ Communicate with us before hands and when the needs arise

✔ Often read our news alerts, tweets and switch to our new developments  

• • Deliver on your promises 

✔ If you promise to do something for or with CENFACS and others, please do it

✔ If you can’t do it, please let us know.  Don’t just stay silent!

• • Make our communications with you to be a two-way process and multi-channel approach

✔ Talk to CENFACS and CENFACS will talk to you as well and vice versa

✔ Help us improve the flow of information on poverty relief and development using a variety of channels and platforms 

• • Be contactable and present via

✔ E-mail, (tele or mobile) phones, physical address and social media platforms

✔ Word-of-mouth recommendations, outreach and other means of contact (like video calls)

• • Get the word out on your communication channels

✔ Spread words about CENFACS’ work on your social media links

✔ Promote CENFACS’ work in what and where you think we can fit in

• • Keep your involvement with CENFACS digitally and on papers

✔ Up-to-date information on to your mobile by our free text alerts and messages

✔ Check CENFACS’ website and make enquiries online 24 hours 7 days a week

• • Act upon information received from us

✔ Don’t just read or hear them and do nothing about them.  Please react and be vocal!

✔ If they are irrelevant to you, please pass them onto an interested and committed party

• • Build and protect standards of trust in CENFACS

✔ Correct inaccuracies and misinformation, stop the spread of false information about CENFACS and its community/network

✔ Tackle with us disinformation and distrust about our poverty reduction work and initiatives

• • Continue the legacy of CENFACS’ work

✔ It is now 20 years and two months that CENFACS has been working on poverty relief and sustainable development since it was registered in 2002.  You can continue this legacy with us.

✔ You can be the face of CENFACS to those who are looking for a lifeline of support from us.

The above ways of getting involved in CENFACS’ work may not be exhaustive.  Should you have any other way, please let us know.

To get involved with CENFACS into poverty reduction work, just let us know.

 

 

• Back-to-school Project: Integrated Training Centre in Doutchi, County of Dosso in Niger

 

As part of our September 2022 work on back to school, we would like to highlight the above-mentioned project from one of CENFACS Africa-based Sister Organisations.

 

The project aims at harmoniously integrating young people in their rural area and fighting against poverty through local sustainable development.

 

The specific objectives of this project include:

✔ To create autonomy for young people

✔ To respond to the local need of lack of skilled and competent labour

✔ To win back local parents’ trust and help them to take part in the education and training of their children.

 

The performance of this project will be measured by the following indicators:

✔ The number of girls to be educated compared to boys

✔ The number of young people going back to school or returning to the educational system

✔ The schooling rate to be achieved in this rural area

✔ The illiterate and innumerate rate to be decreased

✔ The reduction of the percentage of migration flows towards urban areas

✔ The employment rate of school leavers.

 

This project, which is unfunded, has been selected and highlighted as part of CENFACS‘ back-to-school programme of work.  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, they can contact CENFACS for full project proposals and budget.

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

Commencer ou renouveler votre implication dans les travaux du CENFACS cet automne 2022

Le début de chaque saison est l’occasion soit de continuer à faire les choses que nous faisons toujours parce qu’elles marchent, soit de penser à prendre de nouvelles initiatives dans la nouvelle saison, ou de faire les deux.  De même, en période de crise du coût de la vie, il n’y a pas que des inquiétudes et du stress; il y a aussi des opportunités et des possibilités de faire les choses différemment.

On peut profiter de la crise du coût de la vie pour revoir ou changer les choses.  Une façon de le faire est de commencer ou de continuer à regarder vers l’avenir.  Il y a plusieurs façons d’envisager cet automne.

Par exemple, on peut profiter de l’opportunité de la crise du coût de la vie afin de repenser les types d’organisations et de projets qu’on soutient.  On peut trouver approprié de commencer ou d’augmenter ou même de réduire son soutien à une cause de développement particulière.

On pourrait aussi penser à s’impliquer dans le travail du CENFACS ou à renouveler son engagement si on s’y est déjà impliqué.  La décision vous appartient.

Ceux ou celles qui sont intéress(é)es à s’engager ou s’impliquer sont pri(é)es de contacter le CENFACS.

 

 

Main Development

 

• Starting XI Campaign in 2022: Autumn Programme with Starting XI Projects to Cope with Crises

 

The following two items provides the main idea of our Starting XI Campaign in 2022:

 

∝ What is Starting XI Campaign?

∝ Starting XI Projects to Cope with Crises

 

Before highlighting the projects making the Starting XI Campaign in 2022, let us explain this campaign.

 

• • What is Starting XI Campaign?

 

It is an organised series of actions and operations designed to help achieve the goal of poverty reduction during the autumnal season.  Normally, there are eleven projects that make this campaign and help work with the communities here in the UK and Africa to freshly start Autumn.  These projects are our Fresh Start ones which will help beneficiaries to cope with the lingering effects of the coronavirus and the current cost-of-living crisis.  What are these projects?

 

• • Starting XI Projects to Cope with Crises

 

The XI projects we are talking about will allow us to start our overall Autumn Season’s poverty reduction campaign.  This is why we call them as Starting XI Projects or Campaign.

 

11 PROJECTS TO COPE WITH CRISES: 11 WAYS OF HELPING TO REDUCE AND END POVERTY THIS AUTUMN 2022

 

Please find below key highlights of projects making CENFACS’ Autumn 2022 of Positively Coping with Crises, including the month each of these projects is supposed to start.

 

• • • Key Highlights of Starting XI Projects 

 

September 2022

 

(5) Save Flora and Fauna projects (including the Big Beasts sub-advocacy) will continue our advocacy work on the protection of plants and animals while we are carrying on to implementing new ways of working with local people and organisations in Africa to help save flora and fauna (Advocacy)

(6) Leaves-based Advice is a step forward within the framework of the advice service we provide to the community.  The leaves element within our local advice package, which marked CENFACS’ 2021 Year of Leaves, will continue to feature the advisory process of helping the community to reduce poverty.   (Advice)

(7) A la Une (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) will include our sub-advocacy work on nature, which is Sustainable Trajectories for the Nature.  This year, A la Une project will focus on Critically Endangered Bird Species.  We shall focus on saving endangered bird species through our new initiative called ‘Mbulu’. 

‘Mbulu’ (that is; Mobilising for Birds’ Useful Life for Us) is a new advocacy project planned by CENFACS to help protect critically endangered bird species in Africa.  Birds like African Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, African Green Broadhill, etc. are endangered species.  The ‘Mbulu’ project will help to advocate together for a safe life for birds. (Campaign)

 

October 2022

 

(11) Autumn Appeal to Support projects is a renewed engagement with supporters via an appeal to deal with the exacerbation of poverty by climate change, the cost-of-living crisis and the coronavirus in Africa. (Humanitarian appeal)

(4) Making Memorable Difference (MMD): The focus for this October History Month will be on the difference that was made in people’s and communities’ history in the way infrastructures (that is; basic and permanent structures, services and equipment) were managed and maintained.  Our work for this year’s MMD will be about identifying the historical figures of Africa who could be called Managers and Keepers of infrastructures to reduce poverty. (History project)

(10) Campaign to End the Cost-of-living Poverty: It 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 the cost-of-living crisis.  The latter is now a barrier for many poor.  In the coming days and weeks, we shall specify the kind of actions to be taken. (Poverty-relieving campaign)

 

November 2022

 

(9) Autumn Help to Come out the Cost-of-living Crisis: Those who cannot afford the cost of living because of soaring prices of goods and services do not match their levels of income, they need someone to contribute towards making their problems or pain less severe.  They require financial help to cover the difference between their income and inflation.

Autumn Help to Come out the Cost-of-living Crisis, which will be a resource, will contain new information, tips and hints to help the community lifted out of the cost-of-living crisis.  This initiative or resource could start or be published before November 2022.  (Resource)

(1) Women & Children FIRST Development Day: This year our Development Day will still be about skills that can be learnt and developed in order to freshly start Autumn 2022.  This year, it will be about skills to respond to crises and risks.

Every day, women and children respond to crises and risks they face.  The nature of crises and risks is changing, so do the responses to them.  Learning and developing new crisis-response skills for women and children could be one of the ways of approaching this Autumn season.

This year’s Development Day, which will be about Skills to Respond to Crises and Risks, will resonate with the November month of Skills Development within CENFACS. (Thoughts)

(8) International Advice Service: Our support to Africa-based Sister Organisations via advice will continue to operate to help these organisations to overcome many challenges they face such as changing climate, the coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis.  Under this service, we have planned to conduct more activities this coming November 2022. 

(2) Basic Data Skills to Run your Household: We have amalgamated literacy and numeracy skills into data skills.  The latter aims at empowering users with skills to prepare, identify and visualise data (i.e., words and numbers) that run their life.  It will help them to have control over their data and life. (Data Advocacy & Skills)

(3) 3-tier Security (i.e., Food, Energy and Financial Security): 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 also a freedom from vulnerability 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. (Support and Resource) 

 

Note:

As said earlier, the above XI projects will allow us to start our overall Autumn Season’s poverty reduction campaign.  This is why we call them as Starting XI Projects or Campaign.

Although they are scheduled for Autumn 2022, we may slightly alter our initial plan and or introduce occasional initiatives to cope with the reality of the unpredictability and complexity of development situations (e.g., coronavirus uncertainty, side effects of the cost-of-living crisis, humanitarian and emergency situations), in which case we shall let you know as early as we can.

________

 

• References

 

(1) Kübler-Ross E., 1969: On Death and Dying, New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc.

(2) https://www.headliners.org/what-is-green-poverty (Accessed in September 2022)

(3) https://www.compassion.com/poverty/color-wheel-poverty.htm (Accessed in September 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

14 September 2022

 

Post No. 265

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Reduction of Back-to-school Poverty in 2022

• Green Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 12/09/2022: Green Spaces and Socio-economic Inequalities

• Coming in Autumn 2022: The 77th Issue of FACS Newsletter which will be titled as Financial Security for the Poor

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Reduction of Back-to-school Poverty in 2022

 

Back to school is a challenging time for many families and parents especially for those on low-income brackets or just poor.  It is even controversial for many of them as they are trying to strike a delicate balance between building forward educational life for children and still dealing with the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.  It is deeply demanding for them during this painful time of the cost-of-living crisis as the expenses of sending back their children to school are fiercely competing with soaring living costs.

Amongst these challenges, the greatest one for these families is back-to-school poverty.  Back-to-school poverty is what we are trying to help reduce or eradicate within our back-to-relief programme this Autumn 2022.  In our latest post, we explained what we mean by back-to-school poverty.  In this post, we shall expand further on it and the way of working with the community to reduce this type of poverty.  We are tackling it while carrying on back-to-relief programme and services.

For more on back-to-school poverty and its reduction, please read under the Main Development section of this post.

 

 

• Green Spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 12/09/2022: Green Spaces and Socio-economic Inequalities

 

Before presenting this second note of our Green Spaces theme, let us first try to understand the meaning of socio-economic inequality.  Then, we will deal with it and the way in which we can work with the community on socio-economic inequalities or injustices linked to green spaces.

 

• • What is a socio-economic inequality?

 

There are many ways of perceiving or defining socio-economic inequality.  One of these ways is the one provided by ‘eachother.org.uk’ (1) website which argues that

“Socio-economic inequality relates to disparities that individuals might have in both their economic and social resources that are linked to their social class.  These disparities include but aren’t limited to their earnings, education, and/or income”.

These disparities can prevent some individuals, particularly the socio-economically deprived ones to have access to quality green spaces; spaces that can have bearing on the reduction of poverty.

 

• • Green spaces can have bearing on the reduction of socio-economic inequalities

 

The distribution of and access to green spaces can have bearing on the reduction of socio-economic inequalities or they can reinforce these inequalities.   People living in deprived neighbourhoods with lack of access to green spaces may experience socio-economic inequalities and have the high price to pay for inequality.  In contrast, those dwelling in areas with equalitarian and good distribution of green spaces could live with less socio-economic inequality.

Having argued the above, the purpose of this note is not only to depict the link between green spaces and socio-economic inequalities.  This note is also about working with the community so that our members can mitigate the effects of socio-economic inequalities relating to the asymmetrical or uneven distribution of green spaces in an area.

 

• • Working with the community to tackle socio-economic inequalities or injustices linked to green spaces

 

There are ways of working with the socio-economically disadvantaged members of our community living in deprived neighbourhoods or wards to tackle various issues related to the access to green spaces.  One of these ways is to work on geographic accessibility to green spaces.

For example, we can work with them on the following matters:

∝ Check if they live in a socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhood since there could be correlation between this type of neighbourhood and lack of access to green spaces

∝ Look at the quality of green spaces they normally access compared to the centroid of their neighbourhoods

∝ Evaluate the benefits of accessing green spaces by these socio-economically deprived

∝ Work out their distance to local green spaces, the number of green spaces in their local area, the conditions and features of green spaces (like water, aesthetic, parks, threes, recreational activities, etc.).

The above examples illustrate some of the ways of working with the community.  For those members of our community who are socio-economically disadvantaged and would like to work on issues relating to green spaces, they are welcome to contact CENFACS.

To end this note on socio-economic inequalities relating to green spaces, we would like to quote what Joseph E. Stiglitz (2) says about the Price of Inequality for the Unted States of America (USA), which is:

“I believe it is not too late for this country to change course, and to recover the fundamental principles of fairness and opportunities on which it was founded” (pp. 362 & 363)

Although Stiglitz speaks about the USA, it is possible to refer to the argument he made in his book and apply it in order to help reduce socio-economic inequalities linked to the lack of fair and equal access to green spaces.

The above is our second note for the Green Spaces.  To add your input and or enquire about this second note, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Coming in Autumn 2022: The 77th Issue of FACS Newsletter which will be titled as Financial Security for the Poor

How to reduce financial worries and stresses for the income poor at this challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis

 

• • Abstract for the 77th Issue of FACS

 

The lingering effects of the coronavirus and the current cost-of-living crisis are making worried and stressed many ordinary and poor people and families.  They are making them worried and stressed as prices of goods and services keep rising while people’s incomes and financial support do not match the level and scale of soaring cost of living.  These people and families need some form of financial security if one needs to avoid the current crisis to become a humanitarian one.

The 77th Issue of FACS, CENFACS‘ bilingual newsletter, will help not only to understand their financial worries and stresses, but also to explore with them positive coping strategies to calm their mind and find peace of mind.  In this respect, the Issue could provide some tips and hints to avert the transformation of the cost-of-living they are experiencing into a humanitarian one.

Many of those making our community are looking for financial security in order to make ends meet or just to cover their basic life-sustaining needs.  There are income deficit and indebted amongst them; those having their amount of income falling short of their spending.  They all need financial security to avoid that the current crisis pushes them to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe or collapse.

The 77th Issue will explore ways of building financial security with and for these people and families.  Although the Issue will not list organisations and institutions that provide financial security cover, it will bundle a number of financial security fixes with and for them.  However, by arguing that they need financial security, what do we mean by that?

Financial security here has to be viewed from the perspective of what ‘quicken.com’ (3) argue about, which is:

“Financial security refers to the peace of mind you feel when you aren’t worried about your income being enough to cover your expenses.  It also means that you have enough money saved to cover emergencies and your future financial goals.  When you are financially secure your stress level goes down, leaving you free to focus on other issues”.

The above-mentioned definition will be the one we shall refer to in the 77th Issue of FACS.  Financial security here has to be differentiated from the financial instruments (like shares, bonds, stocks, gilts, bills of exchange, treasury bills, etc.) issued by firms, financial institutions (e.g., pension funds, investment funds, banks and insurance companies) and government.  We shall approach financial security from the perspective of ordinary and poor people and families, those who do not financially have.

At the current challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis, the 77th Issue of FACS will be a journey with those people and families on how they will raise the finances they need and erect the basic foundations of financial security.  Through the 77th Issue, we shall try to identify the levels of financial security they need, whether high or low or medium.

Financial security is not only about our closer community, CENFACS Community.  It is also about our extended community; that is the people with whom our Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) work in Africa.  For these distant communities and people, financial security is about how they are trying to develop their coping financial strategies (for example, if they got any financial bailout) in order to mitigate the combined side effects of the coronavirus and other diseases, the cost-of-living crisis and changing climate.

The 77th Issue goes further mile in exploring how these ASOs are adjusting their not-for-profit or charitable model in order to continue to serve their communities in this context of spiralling prices of money, food, energy and other goods and services.  Likewise, it will contain an appeal for a portion of financial dividend created (e.g., from illicit financial flows in Africa) to be channelled to ASOs working with poor people and communities.  In appealing in this way, this could provide a starting point or a new development in connecting the above-mentioned poor people and families with financial niches that are supposed to help them, but they are not doing it at the moment.

Finally, the 77th Issue of FACS will provide some constituents or elements a foundation for a programme of work with our community on ways of building and developing financial security with these people and families.

The above gives a bit some flavour or general idea about the next issue of FACS, the 77th Issue of FACS Newsletter.

For any enquiries and or queries about this Issue, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Summer 2022 Humanitarian Appeal Projects: Only Week to Go!

 

All Poor, Poor Children, Young Carers and Families Need Your Support!

 

There is only one week to go before our Summer Humanitarian and Fundraising Campaign ends.

You can do something for poor children, young people and families in Africa, who are the potential beneficiaries of the following projects:

 

✔ CENFACS’ Distress-free Life from the Cost-of-living Crisis in Africa

✔ All Gifts for All Poor 

✔ International Networking and Protection against the Cost-of-living Crisis

✔ Iconic Young Carer 

✔ ELCLASSICO International.

 

For more details about ways of supporting the above initiatives and other ones, please contact CENFACS.

Please remember, the fundraising campaign about the above-mentioned projects will end by 22 September 2022.

CENFACS will accept any support given during and beyond the duration of this campaign.

Please do not wait to donate as the needs are pressing and urgent NOW.

We look forward to your generous support to make helpful difference for the All Poor, Poor children, Young People and Families in Africa

Thank you for your generosity.

 

 

 

• Taking Climate Protection and Stake for African Children at the Implementation with Installation Sub-phase (Phase 3.2)

Taking forward what was discussed during Africa Climate Week 2022

 

Under CENFACS’ CPSAC (Climate Protection and Stake for African Children) and its sub-phase 3.2., we are continuing to make the case for our demand to give a climate stake to children.

We are as well carrying out our 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 (4).

The slogan for this 2022 follow-up will be: Sharm El-Sheikh Makes Children’s Dreams Come True.

As part of this preparation, we followed Africa Climate Week 2022 (5) 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 are considering the contents of this discussion and see how they can fit into CENFACS’ CPSAC and its sub-phase 3.2.  We are as well looking at how we can take forward what was discussed during Africa Climate Week 2022.

To support and or enquire about CENFACS’ CPSAC and its sub-phase 3.2, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Summer 2022 Reporting in Your Own Words, Numbers and Information Graphics

 

Last week, we started to unlock or unpack our Summer holiday data and to prepare to tell our Summer holiday stories.  This week, we are going further in putting into practice our unlocked or unpacked data in support of Summer experiences or stories.

 

• • Summer 2022 Experiences Reporting as an Additional Opportunity

 

From this week until Wednesday the 21^st of September 2022, we are simply asking to those who can, to share with us and others their Summer experiences; experiences about what they did during the Summer break and think that it is useful for sharing.

The 2022 Summer Experiences Reporting activity is a further opportunity for reporting, sharing, learning and development for those who have not yet informed us about the outcomes of projects; projects pending for reporting, personal experiences to be shared, lessons to learn and development trends to spot.

 

• • Sharing Development Experiences, Stories, Tales and Reports about Summer 2022

 

As we are nearly reaching the end of Summer 2022, we would like our users and supporters as well as those who sympathise with CENFACS’ cause to share with us and others their experiences, stories and reports about the initiatives mentioned below.

 

a) Run, Play and Vote projects (Triple Value Initiatives)

You can feedback the outcomes or Action-Results of your Run, Play and Vote projects.

b) Volunteering and Creation Stories

You can also share your volunteering stories with us and others if you did volunteer during the Summer break.

c) Summer programmes: Happiness, Healthiness and Appeal projects

You may prefer to report on your use of Happiness and Healthiness projects and your response to our Humanitarian Relief Appeal projects.

d) August 2022 Trending Activities

You can as well report on your experience of following the direction of poverty reduction through Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests.

e) Knowledge Year’s Activities/Tasks

As we are in CENFACS’ Knowledge Year, we would be more than happier to hear any uplifting stories related to this year’s dedication.

f) Journal of Happiness and Healthiness

You can share the contents of your happiness and healthiness journal relating to happy, healthy and trustful Summer 2022; as well as help build a better Summer holiday experience.

g) Other Experiences and Memorable Stories Reporting

You can feedback on any moving experience or transformative story you have had during Summer 2022.

 

You can report your experience via e-mail, over phone and through social media networks or channels of communication (e.g., Twitter).

Thank you for supporting us with your Summer 2022 experience, story and report In Your Own Words, Numbers and Information Graphics.

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

• Rapports de l’été 2022 dans vos propres mots, chiffres et graphiques d’information

La semaine dernière, nous avons commencé à déverrouiller ou à déballer nos données sur les vacances d’été et à nous préparer à raconter nos histoires de vacances d’été.  Cette semaine, nous allons plus loin dans la mise en pratique de nos données déverrouillées ou déballées à l’appui des expériences ou des histoires d’été.

• • Rapports sur les expériences de l’été 2022 en tant qu’opportunité supplémentaire

De cette semaine jusqu’au mercredi 21 septembre 2022, nous demandons simplement à ceux/celles qui le peuvent de partager avec nous et avec d’autres leurs expériences estivales; sur ce qu’ils/elles ont fait pendant les vacances d’été et pensent que c’est utile pour le partage.

L’activité de rapport sur les expériences d’été 2022 est une autre occasion de rendre compte, de partager, d’apprendre et de développer pour ceux/celles qui ne nous ont pas encore informés des résultats des projets; les projets en attente de rapports, les expériences personnelles à partager, les leçons à tirer et les tendances de développement à repérer.

• • Partager des expériences, des histoires, des contes et des rapports sur le développement de l’été 2022

Alors que nous approchons la fin de l’été 2022, nous aimerions que nos bénéficiaires et soutiens ainsi que ceux/celles qui sympathisent avec la cause du CENFACS partagent avec nous et d’autres leurs expériences, histoires et rapports sur les initiatives mentionnées ci-dessous.

a) Projets Courir, Jouer et Voter (Initiatives à triple valeur)

Vous pouvez commenter la différence que vous avez faite ou les résultats d’action de vos projets Courir, Jouer et Voter.

b) Histoires de bénévolat et de création

Vous pouvez également partager vos histoires de bénévolat avec nous et d’autres personnes si vous avez fait du bénévolat pendant les vacances d’été.

c) Programmes d’été: Projets de bonheur, de santé et d’appel

Vous préférerez peut-être rendre compte de votre utilisation des projets de bonheur et de santé et de votre réponse à nos projets d’appel à l’aide humanitaire.

d) Activités de tendance d’août 2022

Vous pouvez également rendre compte de votre expérience de la réduction de la pauvreté grâce aux services écosystémiques terrestres fournis par les forêts.

e) Activités/tâches de l’Année de la connaissance

Comme nous sommes dans l’Année de la connaissance du CENFACS, nous serions plus qu’heureux d’entendre des histoires édifiantes liées au dévouement de cette année.

f) Journal du bonheur et de la santé

Vous pouvez partager le contenu de votre journal du bonheur et de la santé relatif à l’été 2022 heureux, sain et confiant; ainsi que pour aider à construire une meilleure expérience de vacances d’été.

g) Reportage des autres expériences et histoires mémorables

Vous pouvez commenter toute expérience émouvante ou histoire transformatrice que vous avez eue au cours de l’été 2022.

Vous pouvez communiquer votre expérience par e-mail, par téléphone et via les réseaux sociaux ou les canaux de communication (par exemple, Twitter).

Merci de nous soutenir avec votre expérience, votre histoire et votre rapport de l’été 2022 dans vos propres mots, chiffres et graphiques d’information.

 

 

Main Development

 

• Reduction of Back-to-school Poverty in 2022

 

In order to approach back-to-school poverty, the following items will be considered:

 

∝ Back-to-school challenge

∝ Back-to-school poverty

∝ Back-to-school disrupted by the cost-of-living crisis

∝ Back-to-school support

∝ Back-to-school budget adjusted for inflation 

∝ Extra Investment Linked to Back-to-school Preparation and Children’s Education 

∝ Back to school is NOT a one-day event 

∝ Go net zero in your back-to-school approach.

 

Let us summarise each of these elements explaining our way of approaching back-to-school poverty.

 

• • Back-to-school time as a challenging period for a basic human right and a deserving cause

 

For some, back to school/college is a normal time to prepare and do normal purchase whether it is for school uniforms or books or even any other school items.  However, for those who are struggling to make ends meet, back-to-school time could be a very challenging moment as they may not always have enough financial resources or support to cope with the requirements of the start of the new school year.  Yet, education is a basic human right and a deserving need for children and all society.

Back to school/college for the poor is characterised by the following:

 

∝ The struggle to afford the educational costs linked to school/college

∝ The inability to meet basic life-sustaining needs (including of education, food, fuel, shelter, skills development, etc.)

∝ Deprivation of cleaning and disinfecting household items

∝ The lack of resources to deal with hygiene poverty

∝ The lack of or poor access to internet broadband

Etc.

 

This year’s back to school/college is still painful as the cost-of-living crisis is posing problems to many low-income or poor families and households.  Already, many of them have been struggling to come out of the legacies of the coronavirus.  Now, this struggle has increased with the cost-of-living crisis, which has even complicated and disrupted the back-to-school organisation as well as the start of academic year for most of these families and households.

 

• • Back to school disrupted by the cost-of-living crisis

 

The rise in the prices of food, energy, water, rent and other basic necessities of life can only bring a lot of pain for those who are already struggling to make ends meet.  Back-to-school preparation and delivery are not exempted by this pain.

Back to school has been disrupted in many aspects and respects because educational life is linked to the satisfaction of other life-sustaining needs.  This is because without food, energy, water, home, hygiene and health; all operation of back to school and even afterwards can be jeopardised.

If there is any help to cover some of the costs of back to school, it would be great if this help could make up the difference linked to the cost-of-living crisis.  Otherwise, the needs relating to back to school would not be met.  Failing to meet those needs could even be worse where there is a situation of back-to-school poverty.

 

• • Back-to-school poverty

 

As we defined it in our last post (6), Back-to-school poverty is the inability to afford the educational requirements of the start of the new school year.  But how do we measure it?

 

 

• • • Indicators of back-to-school poverty

 

The following cases can indicate that there could be a situation of back-to-school poverty and hardships:

 

∝ If parents or carers of children going back to school do not have enough money or support to cover the expenses linked to back to school

∝ If households spend more than a certain percentage (let say 40 to 50 percent) of their incomes in back-to-school preparation and delivery compared to other items in their budget

∝ If households borrow money to cover expenses relating to back-to-school preparation and delivery

∝ If back-to-school expenses fiercely competing against other living expenses in household budgets.

 

Not having enough money, spending more in back-to-school expenses compared to other household expenses and borrowing money to prepare back to school for children are all indicators of back-to-school poverty and hardships.  There could be more indicators than the above mentioned.

These indicators (like household expenditure on back-to-school preparations), if they are not good, can express the inability for parents and carers to meet the basic life-sustaining needs of education for their children in terms of purchasing school items (such as uniforms, clothes, books, electronics, etc.) and providing the basic infrastructures and necessities (whether it is at home or outside) to support the education of their children.

This incapacity can include other expenses that compete against or with educational materials; expenses that are school fees, living expenses to start a new school year, transport cost to travel to schools, food, a place to study at home, family relocation, adequate meal to study, a proper bed to sleep well, basic healthcare and hygiene at home, etc.

 

• • • Back to school for families and parents living in poverty

 

Families and parents living in poverty or on a tight family budget may not be able to afford these additional expenses budget.  They are forced to currently deal with two types of poverty: back-to-school poverty and hygiene poverty.

The first type of poverty is related to the start of the new school year whereas the second is caused by the lack of hygiene.

Since we have already considered back-to-school poverty, we are going to only explain hygiene poverty.

 

• • • • Explaining hygiene poverty

 

To elucidate hygiene poverty, we are referring to what ‘povertyimpactnetwork.com’ (7) argues about that which is:

“Hygiene poverty is an inability to afford everyday hygiene products, such as shampoo, toilet paper, grooming products, dish soap, etc.”

On the website ‘povertyimpactnetwork.com’, it is further stated that

“Children who grow up in hygiene poverty households can struggle to end the cycle of poverty through successful employment after starting life on rocky ground”.

There could be support for them for some of the vital educational and hygiene needs to be met; just as there is no support for others.

 

 

 

• • Back-to-school support at CENFACS

 

Any type of poverty needs response.  As far as CENFACS is concerned, we can support those falling into back-to-school poverty trap by providing advice through our advisory package under the back-to-relief programme.  This package includes activities such as advice, advocacy, information, guidance, signposting, etc.

During the coronavirus pandemic, we enhanced health and safety aspects in this programme.  To support the community during this challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis, we have included in this programme the advice service for the impacted of the cost-of-living crisis.

Although our support to fight both back-to-school poverty and the cost-of-living poverty is small and limited, it can nevertheless help beneficiaries to get something and keep moving towards of a BIG relief.

Our Back-to-school support can be accessed as follows:

 

√ Virtually and in-person on a one-to-one basis or as a group

√ Over phone 

√ Via e-mail 

√ and by filing the contact form on our website saying the type of support you need.

 

Where beneficiaries have access to video technology, we can arrange a meeting via a video scream.

Where in-person meeting with beneficiaries is the preferred or unavoidable option, an appointment needs to be made for this meeting to happen.  Also, extra precautionary health and safety measures will be taken before the advice can happen.

To seek advice or support regarding your back-to-school poverty or hardships, please contact CENFACS.

 

• • Back-to-school budget adjusted for inflation 

 

The 2022/2023 Back-to-school Budget would include the cost-of-living crisis for many parents and families as they have to cost and integrate the rise in the costs of living into the educational budget of their children.  They are forced to do so since many of them have been told that inflation will continue to rise in 2023.  It is also a budget of building forward from the coronavirus to deal with the lingering effects of the coronavirus.

For those parents and families who are struggling to write their back-to-school budget, we can help them to do that.  We can as well advise on some of the aspects related to the back-to-school budget preparation and delivery.  Furthermore, we can lead them to specific advice services related to back-to-school matters.

To seek advice or support regarding your back-to-school budget, please contact CENFACS.

 

• • Extra Investment Linked to Back-to-school Preparation and Children’s Education 

 

There are some levels of investment that parents and families may have to do to keep the education of their children to an internationally agreed standard.  They may have to proceed with the following initiatives:

∝ Invest in distance learning technologies (such as tablets, laptops, mobile phones, etc.)

∝ Improve their access to internet and broadband supplies

∝ Reorganise space at home to create an office-like desk environment for remote learning and video calling for the educational purpose of their children

∝ Improve or upgrade existing home infrastructures for e-education.

 

All these types of investment will create additional costs in the back-to-school plans, although some of these costs will not be at the start of the school.  Unfortunately, many poor families would struggle to meet this extra investment.

 

• • Back to school is NOT a one-day event 

 

Back to school is not a one-day event of the day children go back to school.  Back-to-school expenses and needs can last longer until parents and carers are able to complete the expenses relating to the return of their children to school and their stay at school.

For poor families and parents, it is even more difficult for them to keep the educational level of their children to a good standard unless they get financial support to their back-to-school budget.  Only a few of them are able to complete the requirements of back to school on time.  Many of them would not have other choice than to spread back-to-school expenses over months in order to complete the back-to-school plan.

 

• • Go net zero in your back-to-school approach

  

Back to school in 2022 is also subject to the requirements of greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and targets as well as clean environment.  It means that for parents and children whether well-off or less well-off, they need to make sure they take an eco-friendly path in the back-to-school preparation and delivery.

In climate terms, it connotes going net zero.  What is net zero?

The Institute for Government (8) argues that

“Net zero refers to achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. There are two different routes to achieving net zero, which work in tandem: reducing existing emissions and actively removing greenhouse gases”.

In practical terms, it signifies that in parents’ and carers’ preparation and delivery of back to school, there should be a zero-waste consumption, recycling items, following the principles of circular economic model, avoiding depleting the environment, etc.  Likewise, in their approach to reduce back-to-school poverty, it is better for them to adopt nature-based solutions to back-to-school poverty; solutions that do not adversely affect the nature and environment.

To support CENFACS’ back-to-school initiative, please also contact CENFACS.

_________

 

• References

 

(1) https://eachother.org.uk/tackling-socio-eoconomic-inequality-in-the-uk-is-an-urgent-human-rights-issue/ (Accessed in September 2022)

(2) Stiglitz, J. E. (2013), Price of Inequality, Penguin Books, London, England

(3) https://www.quicken.com/what-financial-security (Accessed in September 2022)

(4) https://unfccc.int/event/cop-27 (Accessed in September 2022)

(5) https://unfccc.int/ACW2022 (Accessed in September 2022)

(6) cenfacs.org.uk/blog/september7, 2022 (Accessed in September 2022)

(7) https://www.povertyimpactnetwork.com/blog/hygiene-poverty/what-is-hygiene-poverty# (Accessed in September 2022)

(8) https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/net-zero-target (Accessed in September 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

07 September 2022

 

Post No. 264

 

 

Welcome back Message

 

Before starting the contents of the blog and post of this first Wednesday of September 2022, we would like to welcome back all those who are returning this month.

We are welcoming back the following:

∝ Our users, supporters, audiences and other stakeholders who came back from Summer break and holiday

∝ Those who are or have been working during the Summertime

∝ Those who lost touch with us for various reasons and would like to come back again.

This welcoming back message also applies to those using or helping or supporting our UK and Africa Development programmes.

Welcome back to all of you for a happy and healthy return! 

 

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Back-to-relief Programme: Programme for Pre-autumn Season 2022

• September: Advice-giving Month

• Goal of the Month: Reduction of Back-to-school Poverty

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

The key message from our weekly communication and menu, which is often made of three courses, is as follows.

 

• Back-to-relief Programme: Programme for Pre-autumn Season 2022

 

Back-to-relief Programme is a set of related activities and services with an aim of reducing poverty (particularly back-to-school poverty but not exclusively) amongst multi-dimensional poor children, young and families (MDPCYPFs) by working with them to meet their needs after summer break and/or holiday so that they can start September 2022 without or with less hardship.

The programme is made of a number of supportive elements like the following:

Capacity and skills development, advice, advocacy, translation, information, guidance, support to child educational needs in Africa, signposting, etc. 

The programme is generally run around September and can be extended to October depending on the needs in the community and available resources.

 

• • The particularity of this year’s programme

 

The Back-to-relief 2022 programme is designed to include the needs of these returnees.  It is also conceptualised to anticipate any changes of situation due to any potential hikes in the cost of living or any other events (like the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate, etc.).

This year’s programme will be influenced by the current cost-of-living crisis which is causing many problems to many people, especially those in need.  The cost-of-living crisis has been throughout the all Summer 2022.

 

• • Types of returnees who may need this year’s programme

 

At the end of this Summer 2022 and during this September, we may have three types of returnees, who are:

✔ MDPCYPFs who already planned what they want to do and how they will continue to manage the cost-of-living crisis and their other aspects of life

✔ MDPCYPFs who already planned their start of September and the end of Summer 2022, but they may need some help to carry on with their plan or family project

✔ MDPCYPFs who could not plan because they could be overwhelmed by the impact of the cost-of-living crisis or poverty and may need advice in terms of coping strategies during this September.

 

• • What these returnees may need

 

Because we are dealing with MDPCYPFs, who are supposed to be poor or in need, they could ask for some support in the form of information, advice and guidance to cope or manage their problems.

They could even require further advisory support during this September as many of them would face the pressure linked to the end of Summer and the start of Autumn, in particular those families having to deal with the financial pressure of the start of the new academic year for their children.

They need advice to cope with poverty in which they are already, to deal with the on-going cost-of-living crisis and the financial pressure to send back to school their children for those having children at schooling age.  This is why we have assembled activities and services (that is; the Back-to-relief Programme) to work with them.

For more on CENFACS’ Back-to-relief Programme, please read the details under Main Development section of this post.

 

 

 

• September: Advice-giving Month

 

We run Advice service as part of our activities throughout the year.  However, Advice is CENFACS’ main theme in September.  Because that, it is more pronounced in September compared to other months of the year.  In other words, we invest more resources in advice in September than at any other times of the year.

We provide generalist advice to both individuals and organisations as mentioned above.  We also give specialist advice on matters relating to the fields of poverty reduction and international development.  We can as well signpost beneficiaries to other organisations/individuals providing specialist advice if beneficiaries’ request for advice is beyond or outside our advice capacity and resources.

Advice can be given in the context of Back-to-Relief Programme and outside this context.  When Advice is given in the context of Back-to-Relief Programme, it becomes constituent part of this programme like other elements making this programme.

Under the Main Development section of this post, there is much more information about this year’s advisory support.

 

 

 

• Goal of the Month: Reduction of Back-to-school Poverty

 

Our goal for the month of September 2022 is the reduction of back-to-school poverty.  To deliver this goal, we need to understand it and work with those who may likely experience back-to-school poverty.

 

• • What is back-to-school poverty?

 

Back-to-school poverty is the inability to afford the educational requirements of the start of the new school year.  It is the inability for parents and carers to meet the basic life-sustaining needs of education for their children in terms of purchasing school items (such as uniforms, clothes, books, electronics, etc.) and providing the basic infrastructures and necessities (whether it is at home or outside) to support the education of their children.

This incapacity can include other expenses that compete against or with educational materials; expenses that are school fees, living expenses to start a new school year, transport cost to travel to schools, food, a place to study at home, family relocation, adequate meal to study, a proper bed to sleep well, coronavirus costs, basic healthcare and hygiene at home, etc.

Back-to-school poverty can be tackled.  This is why during this September we will be working with those suffering or may suffer from back-to-school poverty so that they can find the tools and means to navigate their way out of this type of poverty.

 

• • Working with the community to tackle back-to-school poverty

 

CENFACS does not provide money to tackle back-to-school poverty; CENFACS can however work with the community through its advice service so that the members of its community can find their way out of this type of poverty.  Particularly and specifically, CENFACS can work with them on the following:

 

✔ Reducing the competition between living expenses and educational expenses within the household budget coverage

✔ Exploring potential supporters to help them with educational costs for their children education

✔ Budgeting with them their living expenses for a better start of the academic year

✔ Examining together any issues relating to transport cost to travel to schools or places of education while advising them on net zero CO2 emitting means of transport

✔ Discussing ways of saving on energy use, food and meals relating to educational purposes

✔ Looking into school catchment area for those looking for a place to study

✔ Work on a feasible and realistic plan when studying at home

✔ Supporting family relocation matters (e.g., accommodation in the vicinity of schools and working places for parents)

✔ Working with them to tackle hygiene poverty to keep children better engaged with their education and learning

Etc.

The above is our poverty reduction goal for this month, which we are asking to our audiences and supporters to help or promote.

 

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Activity/Task 9 of the Knowledge (‘K’) Year and Project: Give Opinions, Not Advice

 

The 9th Activity or Task of our ‘K’ Year and Project is about giving your opinions or saying what you know about the issue those in need are experiencing or would like to hear other people’s views.  It is about giving your opinions without advising (that is, without counselling or suggesting or recommending or offering) them what they can do to resolve the problems.  It is also about empowering people to lead their lives without telling them what to do.

Sometimes, people in need would like to listen to others so that they can find ways forward about their problems.  They do not necessarily need to be told what to do.  However, your knowledge of their problems and similar problems when expressed through your opinion can sometimes provide them some clues without necessarily advising them.

The above is the Activity or Task no. 9 for the ‘K’ Year/Project for those who are interested in carrying it out.  For those who want any clarification of any aspects of the activity or task, they can contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Journal –

It is time to share the contents of your creative activity

 

After six weeks of journaling, it is time to start sharing the contents of your journal.  Indeed, during the last six weeks of Summer, some of you have been journaling on one of the six predictors that explain happiness and healthiness, which are: income, social support, healthy life expectancy, generosity, freedom to choose and trust.

As previously said, the contents of these journals could be shared with the community at the end of Summer 2022 as a Summer memory.  Although Summer is not yet over, those who have created their Happiness and Healthiness Journal can start to share with the community.

Please share with the community your experience of happy and healthy Summer through the contents of your journal to help build a better Summer holiday experience and memory.

 

 

 

• Unlock your Summer Holiday Data and Tell your Story

 

Throughout our July and August 2022 communications, we have been asking everybody to store and keep their Summer data so that when we all return, we can report back or share parts of our Summer experiences that are shareable and spreadable.

Now some of you are back, we can try to feedback our poverty-reduction and development experiences of using Happiness and Healthiness projects and of any other similar activities over the Summer period.

One can also feedback any creations, any experiences with natural capital assets, any community practices and any volunteering stories, if they volunteered, they had over the last two months.

One can report back a personal Summer experience as well.

Likewise, one can combine their Summer journal (about predictors that explain happiness and healthiness) and this reporting back exercise into a single or all-in-one Summer report.

For those who managed to store their Summer data and who would like to share their experiences, this is the time to start unlocking their Summer data and preparing to tell their Summer story.

Sharing your experiences with us in this way helps to keep the CENFACS Community active, engaged, connected and grow together.  It also contributes in carrying out prescriptive analytics that enables to use smart data discovery capabilities to predict market developments and trends to help relieve or possibly end poverty and hardships within our community and beyond.

Please share your poverty-relieving and development experiences and contents with us; parts of your experiences and contents that you think are shareable.

Should anyone have any concern about data protection issues regarding the sharing of their information, please let CENFACS know.  We will be able to assist.

 

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

Déverrouillez vos données de vacances d’été et racontez votre histoire

Tout au long de nos communications de juillet et août 2022, nous avons demandé à tout le monde de stocker et de conserver ses données estivales afin que, lorsque nous reviendrons tous et toutes, nous puissions rendre compte ou partager des parties de nos expériences estivales qui sont partageables et diffusables.

Maintenant que certain(e)s d’entre vous sont de retour, nous pouvons essayer de faire part de nos expériences de réduction de la pauvreté et de développement de l’utilisation des projets ‘Bonheur et santé’ et de toute autre activité similaire au cours de la période estivale.

On peut également faire la rétroaction sur toutes les créations, toutes les expériences avec les actifs en capital naturel, toutes les pratiques communautaires et toutes les histoires de bénévolat, s’ils/elles ont fait du bénévolat, ils/elles ont eu au cours des deux derniers mois.  On peut également rapporter une expérience estivale personnelle.

Pour ceux/celles qui ont réussi à stocker leurs données d’été et qui souhaitent partager leurs expériences, c’est le moment de commencer à déverrouiller leurs données d’été et de se préparer à raconter leur histoire d’été.

Partager vos expériences avec nous de cette manière aide à garder la communauté CENFACS active, engagée, connectée et à grandir ensemble.

Il contribue également à la réalisation d’analyses prescriptives qui permettent d’utiliser des capacités de découverte de données intelligentes pour prédire les développements et les tendances du marché afin d’aider à soulager ou éventuellement à mettre fin à la pauvreté et aux difficultés au sein de notre communauté et au-delà.

S’il vous plaît, partagez avec nous vos expériences et vos contenus de lutte contre la pauvreté et de développement; des parties de vos expériences et contenus que vous pensez être partageables.

Si quelqu’un a des préoccupations concernant des questions de protection des données concernant le partage de ses informations, veuillez en informer le CENFACS.  Nous serons en mesure de vous aider.

 

 

Main Development

 

• Back-to-relief Programme: Programme for Pre-autumn Season 2022

 

The following covers our programme for this pre-autumnal season:

 

∝ Back-to-relief Projects

∝ Open Days under Back-to-Relief Programme

∝ Support for Crisis-impacted Children in Africa 

∝ Back to the Upkeep of the Nature this September 2022

∝ Back to Advisory Support this September 2022

∝ Back to the Upkeep of the Nature with the Theme of “Green Spaces”

∝ Green spaces-focused Note for Week Beginning 05/09/2022

 

 

• • Back-to-relief Projects 

 

As previously mentioned, most of our projects and programmes are organised to take into account the lives and needs of our beneficiaries, supporters as well.  Some of them will be back this week after Summer break.  They are back for the New Academic Year and New Relief, year for which we have prepared projects and programmes to work with them so that they can meet their existing, challenging, changing and emerging needs – the back-to-relief projects and programmes.

Amongst the back-to-relief projects and programmes, there are these two ones:  Open Days and Support to Children. 

 

• • Open Days under Back-to-Relief Programme

 

Since we set up hybrid way of delivering service as a legacy of the coronavirus, we continue to operate virtually/online and in-person.  There are reasons we operate both ways.

One of these reasons is that it is not always easy for people, especially those who have some physical handicaps and parents with small kids, to in-person move and meet service providers if this service provision cannot physically come to them even if the need is pressing.

Where we are in a position to in-person organise the service requested, users can in-person access the given service prior to arranging an appointment.

So, our open days will be both virtual and in-person.  They are virtual days to enable those in need but cannot move physically to access services.  They are in-person for those who prefer in-person open days.  For the latter ones, they need to book an appointment for in-person open day to happen.

 

• • • What are virtual and in-person open days?

 

Virtual and In-person Open Days (VIODs) are a back-to-relief initiative organised by CENFACS during this September 2022 to enable people in need to access our advice service and other similar services in order to reduce or end poverty linked to their situations or conditions of life.

 

• • • How VIODs work

 

Our Virtual Open Day, which will be every Fridays of September 2022, will be held from 10 am to 2 pm.

You can access VODs by contacting CENFACS.

You do not need to register with us.

Every Fridays, you can either email or phone or even text between 10 am and 2 pm.

Our In-person Open Day, which will also be every Fridays of September 2022, will be held from 10 am to 2 pm.   An appointment needs to be booked to have in-person open day.

For more on CENFACS’ Virtual and In-person Open Hours and Days as well as how they work, please contact us.

 

• • Support for Crisis-impacted Children in Africa 

 

Another back-to-relief initiative for this September 2022 is Support for Crisis-impacted Children in Africa, particularly the Children of Conflict-stricken and Climate Change-affected Areas of Africa in this September and beyond.  This initiative relates to the humanitarian appeals we launched this year, which are:

 

✔ Appeal to End Food Insecurity in the Eastern Horn of Africa

✔ The Children of Chad Need Your Support at the Moment

✔ The Internally Displaced People of Rutshuru Need Help

✔ The People of Lake Chad Still Need Support.

 

These appeals were launched under the Light projects.

The people on whose behalf these appeals were made include children. Children were amongst displaced persons, the victims of conflict and food insecure as part of appeal beneficiaries.

While one can still ask the progress made to save and rebuild these crisis-impacted lives, one can also question about the support that the children affected by these crises are receiving and/or received, especially at this challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis.

This questioning is relevant as we are in September when a new school or academic year starts in many parts of the world and of Africa.  This questioning is even founded at this time when many parents will struggle to provide school uniforms and equipment to send their children back to school.

Parents and children have another battle where school infrastructures and buildings were destroyed because of events like wars and natural disasters, or simply occupied as refuges by the war victims.

For example, in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (in Rutshuru), the return to school for children has been disrupted this September as school buildings have been occupied by those who fled or displaced by wars.  This is let alone the lingering effects of the coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis on educational systems in many countries, including in those places relating to our appeals.

These negative effects are even greater for children from poor places in developing countries (like of Africa) where educational opportunities have been denied to many of them regardless of the current global cost-of-living crisis.

So, during this September we will be working on this back-to-relief initiative to explore ways of keeping education alive for these unfortunate children living in those parts of Africa in crisis.  Through this initiative, we will help get education and learning back on track for these children.

For further details about this initiative, please contact CENFACS.

 

• • Back to the Upkeep of the Nature this September 2022

 

September is also the month we resume our advocacy work on the upkeep of the nature.  Normally, this advocacy starts from the protection and care of animals in Africa from illegal killings, extinction and poaching.  In the last week of September 2022, we shall focus on saving endangered bird species through our new initiative called ‘Mbulu’. 

‘Mbulu’ (that is; Mobilising for Birds’ Useful Life for Us) is a new advocacy project planned by CENFACS to help protect critically endangered bird species in Africa.  Birds like African Grey Parrots, Congo Peafowl, African Green Broadhill, etc. are endangered species.  The ‘Mbulu’ project, which has already kicked off, will help us to advocate for a safe life for birds.

Another initiative featuring this September 2022 is our advocacy on lands which will be conducted under the theme of “Green Spaces“.  Green Spaces take stock of the advocacy on waters which we worked on since September 2019.

In September 2019, we worked on the Protection of the Oceans (particularly the waters surrounding Africa and the rivers and lakes in Africa).  In September 2020, we carried on with the advocacy on waters through the theme of “Blue Spaces”.  In September 2021, we had a 3-week work on sea level rise as notes for the “Blue Spaces”.

This September, we shall have three weeks and five days of advocacy work on safe, inclusive and accessible green spaces.  The notes for this advocacy which are on “Green Spaces” started from the 5^th of September 2022.

To conclude the month, we will have some e-discussions on circular economy.

Briefly, Back to the Upkeep of the Nature this September 2022 will include the “Mbulu” advocacy project, access to natural spaces with the theme of “Green Spaces” and an e-discussion on circular economy.

 

• • Back to Advisory Support this September 2022

 

As above mentioned, Advice is CENFACS’ main theme for September.  We provide advice to both individuals and organisations.

 

 

• • • Advice Service for Individuals

 

Some of you are aware that most of CENFACS services in the UK are designed to support multi-dimensional poor children, young people and families (CYPFs).  After the summer break, many of them will come back to start their life again.  From September onward, they will go back to school for CYPs and to work and training for parents and guardians. 

They may need or ask for support to restart or look for occupational opportunity or even just resume their routine activity in September.  Their needs could include the following:

 

∝ Finding a new school or a nursery for children

∝ Registration to health services

∝ Finding accommodation or relocating

∝ Accessing training opportunity or employment

∝ Looking for a new occupation to deal with the economic effects of the cost-of-living crisis

∝ Finding help to adjust their life after Summer break or any period of inactivity

∝ Looking for direction to overcome the cost-of-living crisis 

Etc.

 

We can provide advisory support to them. Where our capacity is limited, we can refer and/or signpost them to relevant specialist services and organisations to help them meet their needs.

We do it under CENFACS’ Capacity Advice Service which was established since 2003 (through CENFACS’ Capacity Advice and Development project for Croydon’s African and Minority Ethnic People) to help individuals gain various types of help.

 

The types of help we provide include:

 

✔ Translation (English to French and vice versa)

✔ Interpreting

✔ Generalist advice

✔ Guidance

✔ Signposting

✔ Referral

✔ Advocacy

Etc.

 

As we are in a digital era, we adapted the provision of the above listed help while still retaining its essence.  Last year, we introduced leaves in this service to make it Leaves-based Advice Service.

You can contact CENFACS for the range of issues included in this service and to find out if your problem can be dealt with.

Regarding Translation service, we would like to remind everybody that the 30th of September 2022 is the International Translation Day.  For those who need a translation service, they can contact us on the day for translation.  But they need to let us know at least three days before so that we can include their request in our plan.

 

 

• • • Advice Service for Organisations 

 

The same advice service applies to overseas and Africa-based Sister Organisations. 

Under our international advice service, we can advise them on the following matters:

 

✔ Capacity building and development

✔ Project planning and development

✔ Poverty reduction within the context of Africa Continental Free Trade Area

✔ Not-for-profit investment and development

✔ Absorption capacity development

✔ Fundraising and grant-seeking leads

✔ Income generation and streams

✔ Sustainable development

✔ Monitoring and evaluation

Etc. 

 

Again, where our capacity to advise is limited, we can refer and or signpost them to relevant international services and organisations. This advisory support for Africa-based Sister Organisations is throughout the year and constituent part of our work with them.  However, they can take advantage of our advice-giving month to seek further advice on any of the above matters.

To access advice services, please contact CENFACS.  To register for or enquire about advice services, go to www.cenfacs.org.uk/services-activities.

 

 

• • Back to the Upkeep of the Nature with the Theme of “Green Spaces”

  

The following will help deal with this theme: theme statement and key notes covering this theme.

 

• • • Theme statement 

 

The theme of “Green Spaces” under the back to the upkeep of the nature (which is part of our back-to-relief programme) is about making safe, inclusive and accessible green spaces to those in need; while using these spaces to help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.  There are two aspects in this statement. 

The first aspect of this statement is about access for all to green spaces.  The second aspect of this statement is what we called green poverty reduction and green sustainable development.

In labelling poverty reduction and sustainable development green, we are trying to look at the extent to which the “Green Spaces” together with the green economy are helping people in Africa and elsewhere to alleviate or escape from poverty.   This is what one can call “green poverty reduction “.

We are as well revisiting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (1), particularly Goal 11 and target 7 of this goal, by re-exploring the role and place that the “Green Spaces” are playing in capacitating poor people’s sustainable development.  This is what one can term as “green sustainable development “.

 

• • • Four key notes to work on Green Spaces

 

To materialise what we have said above, we have planned four key notes or topics (as shown on the above figure relating to green space theme) which include:

1) The impacts of Green Spaces on Health and Well-being

2) Green Spaces and Socio-economic Inequalities

3) Green Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development

4) Interaction between Green Spaces and Blue Spaces in the Process of Poverty Reduction

The notes or topics will be the vehicle by which we shall illustrate the central theme or message of Green Spaces.   Through these notes, we hope users in their journey with us to undergo change in the long term in the way they approach Green Spaces.

Let’s now summarise the first note or topic of our September 2022 work on Green Spaces; note which started from 05 September 2022.

 

 

• • Green Spaces-focused Note for Week beginning 05/09/2022: The impacts of Green Spaces on Health and Well-being

 

Before looking at this impact, let us first understand Green Spaces.

 

• • • Basic understanding of Green Spaces

 

According to Greenspace Scotland (2), greenspace is

“Any vegetated land or water within an urban area; this includes:

• parks, gardens, playing fields, children’s play areas, woods and other natural areas, grassed areas, cemeteries and allotments
• green corridors like paths, disused railway lines, rivers and canals
• derelict, vacant and contaminated land which has the potential to be transformed”.

Greenspace Scotland also argues that Greenspaces are often multi-functional and are used in many different ways.

Although we have given the definition of Green Spaces, this first note is not about writing theories about Green Spaces; theories that one can easily find within the literature review about them.  The above-mentioned definition is mostly a working tool to enable us to approach the theme of Green Spaces.

This note is about what Green Spaces can do for people, particularly for those in need like some of the members of CENFACS Community.  For example, through this note and the work with the community we can try to answer the following questions:

∝ Are our community members using enough Green Spaces to help them reduce poverty and enhance the quality of their life?

∝ Are Green Spaces safe, inclusive and accessible for them?

∝ Are Green Spaces adversely or beneficially impacting their health and well-being?  In other words, are Green Spaces are contributing to our users’ realisation of life satisfaction via six predictors that explain happiness and healthiness?  These predictors are income, social support, healthy life expectancy, generosity, freedom to choose and trust.

 

To be able to answer these questions, it could be better to assess the Impacts of Green Spaces on Health and Well-being.

 

• • • The Impact assessment of Green Spaces on health and well-being

 

Without elaborating too much on theories of impact assessment, let us refer to what the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) argues about impact assessment.  In its impact analysis, the OECD differentiates ex ante impact analysis from ex post impact assessment.  OECD (3) contends that

“An impact assessment, which is a theory-based activity, focuses on the effects of the intervention”.

In the context of this first note, our focus will be on the effects of Green Spaces on the poor.  One way to look at these effects could be through the opportunities that Green Spaces can create for them.

To explain these opportunities, ASEFEdu of ‘medium.com’ (4) argues that

“Open and green spaces offer opportunities to advance wellbeing and a sense of personal satisfaction for all individuals living in urban areas.  Improving our physical and mental wellbeing, fortifying our networks, and causing our urban areas and neighbourhoods to become progressively alluring spots to live in and work are some of the advantages”.

Because of the number of opportunities that Green Spaces offered, there could be a need to increase their number and quality to match needs.  It is not a surprise if the United Nations (5) argue that

“Increasing the number and quality of green spaces has the potential to mitigate short-lived climate pollutants that produce a strong global warming effect and contribute significantly to more than 7 million premature air-pollution related deaths annually”.

There is more to argue and prove about impacts of Green Spaces in Africa and elsewhere.  However, what we are interested here is how these spaces impact the health and well-being of our community members.  We are as well interested in the experience that our members had with Green Spaces in terms of poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Through these interests, this note helps us to identify areas of unmet needs within our community and generate projects or activities to help satisfy those unmet needs.  This note will also help us to work together with the community on safe, inclusive and accessible Green Spaces.

For those of our members who would like to work with us on how they can integrate Green Spaces in their life, they are welcome to work with us. 

For those members whose Green Spaces are part of their life and would like to share their experience of them in terms of safety, inclusivity and accessibility; they are also invited to share it with us.

For those who would like to further discuss with us any other matters relating to Green Spaces, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

 

________

 

• References

 

(1) https://sdgs.un.org/goals (accessed in September 2022)

(2) https://www.greenspacescotlan.org.uk/what-is-greenspace (accessed in September 2022)

(3) https://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/what-is-impact-assessment-OECDimpact.pdf (Accessed in September 2022)

(4) https://medium.com/asefedu/sdg-11-inclusive-and-accessible-green-and-public-spaces-cfd491db7565 (Accessed in September 2022)

(5) https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/green-spaces-invaluable-resource-delivering-sustainable-urban-health (Accessed in September 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

31 August 2022

 

Post No. 263

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• CENFACS Annual Review 2021/2022

• Following the Direction of Poverty Reduction this Summer via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests – Trending Topic in Focus from 29 to 31/08/2022: Impact Monitoring and Evaluation

• Happiness and Healthiness Journal – Creative Activity No. 6: Create Your Journal of Freedom to Choose

 

… And much more!

 

 

Coming This September 2022:

 

 

 

Key Messages 

 

• CENFACS Annual Review 2021/2022

 

CENFACS Annual Review 2021/2022 is a snapshot of what we did between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022.  As it is stated, it is neither a statutory annual report nor an annual return.

It is a summary of the year 2021/2022 in the life of CENFACS that reports back to our supporters, users and other stakeholders the impact we have made; impact through stories, quantitative and qualitative data.

The review highlights accomplishments made and recollects milestones for the above stated year. It uncovers trends and insights about the changes that affected our noble cause of poverty reduction.

It outlines some highlights from our 2021 Year-in-review Report while including our achievements from 2022.

It is as well a performance review and annual review story of our finances. 

It is finally the impact story of building forward better together cleaner, greener and safer in the post-pandemic era.

For more on this review, please read under the Main Development section of this post.

 

 

• Following the Direction of Poverty Reduction this Summer via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests – Trending Topic in Focus from 29 to 31/08/2022: Impact Monitoring and Evaluation

 

It is the impact monitoring and evaluation of August 2022 Trending Activities or Programme conducted.

Any activity or action to be successful needs monitoring and evaluation to know that it has been executed as planned and the changes that may happen over time as a result of this activity or action.

To monitor our Trending Activity, we have been routinely gathering information on all aspects when we have been following the Direction of Poverty Reduction via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests.  We are now examining what these follow-up actions have achieved or will achieve in relation to the aims and objectives we set up for them.  This monitoring has enabled us to keep an eye on the progress made so far.  In our approach to monitoring and evaluation, we included the four actions took in relation to Services provided by Forest Ecosystems; services which are: Provisioning, Regulating, Cultural and Supporting Services.

Besides this monitoring activity, we are as well conducting evaluation for learning purpose.  This evaluation will help us to learn something from these actions.  It will also assist to check the actual outcomes against the objectives we set up for trending activities.  When this evaluation for learning is completed, we shall carry out an impact evaluation to find out how working with the community would have some influences in the long term on them in using the above mentioned services in order to reduce poverty and or get more results on poverty reduction.

One of the monitoring and evaluation indicators/tools we are using is to collect the views from those who have been acting with us and/or those who have been following us.  In this respect, we would like to ask them to tell us their feelings about the four actions taken relating to the four services as highlighted in the following simple questions.  They can provide their feelings in the form of a review or feedback or testimony.  The results of their feelings will help to improve future trending activities.

 

 

Those participating to this survey can tick one box (ranging from 0 to 10) for each trending activity.  Ticking the box will indicate to us how satisfied they are with the delivery experience about each action taken.  All the completed survey forms should be sent to CENFACS by mid-September 2022.

Those who want to provide feelings and would like to request the details about these activities prior to their response, they are free to make their request to CENFACS.

Thank you for considering our demand of feelings and for your support.

It will be good that those who would like to provide their feelings to do them by mid-September 2022.

 

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Journal, Creative Activity No. 6: Create Your Journal of Freedom to Choose

 

The last episode of our Summer series of Journal of Happiness and Healthiness is about Freedom to Choose.

Indeed, the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic, extreme temperatures and the cost-of-living crisis have restricted or limited the choice one can make about their happiness and healthiness over Summer 2022.  To reflect these restrictions or limitations, one can create or write a journal of freedom or the lack of freedom for the things that have made them to feel happy, healthy and free during this Summer 2022.  Alternatively, one can consider journaling the things that have made them unhappy, unhealthy and confined this Summer 2022.

Since, the work of CENFACS is on poverty reduction, one can as well think of writing a journal that explains the freedom and ability they have to choose solutions to reduce or end poverty and hardships.  Such a journal can include things like being able to choose items within the basic necessities of life (e.g. kinds of food, shelter, education, information, health, etc.).

You can create your journal for any aspects of Summertime linked to freedom to choose.  You can explain your experiences, feelings and thoughts in terms of happiness and healthiness about freedom to choose over this Summer of the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate and the cost-of-living crisis.

In short, you can create or write a journal of the following:

∝ Things that have made you to feel happy, healthy and free over this Summer 2022

∝ Things that have made you unhappy, unhealthy and confined over this Summer 2022

∝ Explaining the freedom and ability you have to choose solutions to reduce or end poverty and hardships over this Summer 2022.

You can share with the community your experience of happiness and healthiness regarding the freedom to choose.  This can be recorded in your journal and be shared by the end of Summer 2022.

To share the contents of your happiness and healthiness journal relating to happy, healthy and free livelihoods during this Summer 2022 as well as to help build a better Summer holiday experience, you can contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Combination of Goals of the Season and the Month –

Reduction of Poverty Linked to the Lack of Happiness and Reduction of Poverty as a State of Being in the Wrong Side of the Tracks

 

Our Goal of the Season (Summer Season of Happiness) can be combined with our Goal of the Month of August 2022.  They do not need to be separately treated.

Indeed, during this Season of Happiness at CENFACS, we have been trying to explore together steps and ways of helping our members to find happiness and wellness.  This has been done through Happiness Projects and other Summer initiatives we planned so that they could navigate their way to happiness.

During this month of August which is ending today, we have been helping to reduce the different types of hardship experienced by the members of our community where they live or if it happens that they are in the wrong side of the tracks.

The two works (for the season and this month) can be combined to help reduce a two-dimensional poverty.  It is possible to simultaneously reduce poverty linked to the Lack of Happiness and poverty as a State of Being in the Wrong Side of the Tracks.

The above is our combined poverty reduction goal for the season and this month, which we are asking to our audiences and supporters to help or promote.

 

 

• Support Distress-free Life from the Cost-of-living Crisis in Africa

 

Distress-free Life from the Cost-of-living Crisis in Africa, which is one of our Summer 2022 Humanitarian Appeal Projects,  is still trending.

You can help combat distress that many children, young people and families (CYPFs) in Africa are experiencing because of the legacies of the coronavirus pandemic and the current cost-of-living crisis.

You can help these poor CYPFs who are struggling with rising prices of food, energy and other essential goods and services.

You can donate £7 or any other amount you can afford to help alleviate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis in Africa.  Your donation can relieve poverty and distress amongst these CYPFs.

Your £7 could help to buy learning, development and educational essentials such as books, educational toys, school uniforms, tuition, etc.  Any other amount donated could contribute to the access of water, fuel to cook food, and medicine to keep CYPFs healthy.

Your £7 or any other amount given will improve CYPFs’ social and emotional wellbeing while boosting children’s and youth’s educational engagement.

You can help stop the cost-of-living crisis to have a lifelong impact on CYPFs.

You can give chance to these CYPFs.

You can assist in avoiding the lost generation of the cost-of-living crisis to happen in Africa.

Please remember, this fundraising campaign will end by 22 September 2022.

CENFACS will accept any support given during and beyond the duration of this campaign.

Please do not wait to donate as the needs are pressing and urgent NOW.

We look forward to your generous support to make helpful difference to the Distress-free Life from the Cost-of-living Crisis in Africa

Thank you for your generosity.

 

 

 

• Support for the Impacted of the Cost-of-living Crisis

How to avoid negative coping strategies during this time of cost-of-living crisis

 

There are positive and negative coping strategies to deal with stressful situations like the cost-of-living crisis.   Some of our users know this distinction between the two.  Others are not aware.

Those who are not aware and would like to work with CENFACS, we can support them so that they find the right coping strategies linked to their situation during this challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis.  Before going further about our work with users on coping strategies, let us re-explain these strategies.

 

• • Coping Strategies or Mechanisms

 

Coping strategies or mechanisms are defined by the World Health Organisation Department of Emergency and Humanitarian Action (1) as

“Remedial actions undertaken by people whose survival and livelihood are compromised or threatened”.

For example, during the current cost-of-living crisis, many people including CENFACS‘ users are resorting to remedial actions in order to mitigate the adverse effects of the cost-of-living crisis.  However, not all these actions or strategies could be positive.  Some of them could be negative.

 

• • Negative Coping Strategies or Mechanisms

 

They are negative activities that people can use to obtain the means of livelihood (e.g. income, food, energy, water, shelter, etc.) during the time of crisis, disruption or disturbance like the cost-of-living crisis.  These negative activities can temporarily enable them to access basic life-sustaining needs.

Examples of such negative activities could include: taking out loans from informal moneylenders, distress sale of household assets, child labour, contracting disproportional loans compared to earning capacity, gambling, secrecy of information on your financial hardship, etc.

Many users of these negative strategies do not realise that negative coping strategies can lead to further financial stress and possibly to further poverty in the long term.  They can make the crisis to settle in the longer term.  To avoid the settlement of the crisis in the long term, CENFACS  is offering a pre-autumn advisory service to those who would like to tackle the  cost-of-living crisis.

 

• • Pre-autumn Advisory Service for the Impacted of the Cost-of-living Crisis

 

The service designed to support and enable the community to deal with or withstand stressful situations like the current cost-of-living crisis.  Through this service, CENFACS will…

 

∝ Conduct a needs assessment of users’ needs to cover the cost of living

∝ Review any unsuccessful or negative coping strategy or mechanisms that users have taken so far to deal with the cost-of-living crisis

∝ Evaluate the results of these strategies

∝ Explore and identify the appropriate positive coping strategies for the applicants to the service

∝ Develop plan for a revised or new coping strategy

∝ Develop a monitoring and evaluation plan for the revised or new coping strategy

∝ Work with them and effectively help them to avoid negative coping strategies during this time of cost-of-living crisis.

 

For those members of our community who have been impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and who are struggling with their coping strategies or mechanisms relating to the cost-of-living crisis, they are welcome to contact CENFACS with their queries or enquiries.  Our service on this matter covers various aspects of cost (e.g. rising costs and prices of food, energy, fuel, accommodation, transport, etc.) forming the cost-of-living crisis.

If you are impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and needs support, CENFACS would be happy to work with you via its advisory service.

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

Revue annuelle 2021/2022 du CENFACS

L’examen annuel 2021/2022 du CENFACS est un instantané de ce que nous avons fait entre le 1er juillet 2021 et le 30 juin 2022.  Comme il est dit, il ne s’agit ni d’un rapport annuel prévu par la loi ni d’un compte rendu annuel.

Il s’agit d’un résumé de l’année 2021/2022 dans la vie du CENFACS qui rend compte à nos soutiens, usagers/bénéficiaires et autres parties prenantes de l’impact de notre travail; impact à travers des histoires, des données quantitatives et qualitatives.

L’examen met en évidence les réalisations accomplies et rappelle les jalons de l’année susmentionnée. Il révèle des tendances et des idées sur les changements qui ont affecté notre noble cause de réduction de la pauvreté.

Il présente quelques faits saillants de notre rapport d’examen de l’année 2021 tout en incluant nos réalisations de 2022.

Il s’agit également d’un examen du rendement et d’un récit de l’examen annuel de nos finances.

C’est enfin l’histoire de l’impact de construire mieux ensemble plus propre, plus vert et plus sûr dans l’ère post-pandémique.

Pour en savoir plus sur cette revue, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.

 

Coming This Autumn 2022:

 

Main Development

 

• CENFACS Annual Review 2021/2022

 

This review aims at those who are interested in the work CENFACS does to get a glimpse of what happened during the financial year 2021/2022.  It is a summary of our activities, performance, achievements and accounts for the financial year 2021/2022.

However, before starting this review we would like to mention three factors which were at play during the above stated period and which made the context of our poverty relief work.

 

• • The Contexts of Poverty Reduction of the 2021/2022 Financial Year

 

The contexts in which we operated during the 2021/2022 financial year were of the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate and the cost-of-living crisis.  Poverty reduction work was delivered under these three constraints or  factors.  Likewise, the theme of this review, which is building forward better together, has been contextualised by these events or factors as the following annual review summary shows.

 

• • Annual Review Summary 2021/2022

 

The summary of our annual review 2021/2022 is presented under the following three headings:

∝ Activities Review

∝ Achievements of the Year

∝ Financial Performance Review

 

Let us review the activities, achievements and financial performance of the year.

 

 

• • • Activities Review

 

The Activities Review highlights what we did via the following undertakings:

 

nature or natural capital accounting, debt sustainability for highly indebted poor households, counting the economic costs of building forward, net zero consumption, generational impact analysis of the coronavirus on children, humanitarian relief, urban poverty in Africa, and protection and security.

 

Let us look back each of these activities we did.

 

∝ 2021-2022 as another year of service to the community through nature or natural capital accounts

 

We started the year by looking at the relationship between humans and the nature, particularly how to keep harmony with the nature and the principles to build forward better together greener and cleaner from the side effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

To keep this harmony, it did require a better management of natural capital accounts at household level.  This management helped to ensure that natural assets could continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which households’ well-being relied upon.

Following the activity we conducted on capturing information relating to nature, it was interesting to hear from our users how many of them were trying to include information linked to natural resources into their household accounts or financial statements.

 

∝ 2021-2022 as a year of debt sustainability for highly indebted poor households

 

To build forward better together greener and cleaner from the side effects of the coronavirus meant dealing with the legacies of the coronavirus crisis.  One of these legacies was many ordinary families, including our users, became poorer and serious financial/income deficit.

So, how to reduce or cancel financial debts and deficits for the poor (e.g. COVID-19-indebted and income deficit families from our community) to make ends meet, clearly became a preoccupation to avoid intergenerational poverty among our users.  Many of them were not aware of the importance of keeping records of debt payments.

Thanks to the work we did together via worksheet we provided for debtor’s payment records keeping, they were able to restore track on their debt payments.

 

∝ 2021-2022 as a year of counting the economic costs of building forward

 

Building forward from the coronavirus also implied accounting for the cost of that building exercise; that is working out the economic costs of building forward from the coronavirus.  In this respect, the Cost Centre Project became the obvious idea for many of our Africa-based Sister Organisations, as part of our international advice service.

 

∝ 2021-2022 as a year of net zero consumption

 

Building forward from the coronavirus is as well about making sure that our trajectory in the process of building forward is net zero consumption; that is consumption that does not add extra greenhouse gas emissions to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

One of the ways to go net zero we thought was to smooth the way to energy transition.  Another way was to keep nature up via the safeguard of crop wild relatives.

As part of net zero consumption campaign, some of our beneficiaries used the example of CENFACS’ net zero consumption shopping bad as an idea for them to budget for net zero consumer goods and services in the context of the overall household budget.

 

∝ 2021-2022 as a year of generational impact analysis of the coronavirus on children

 

In the process of building forward, we further considered the fact that COVID-19 put or held back a generation of children for what they supposed to do.  We worked and analysed with users the generational impact of the coronavirus on children.  This work or analysis included, but was not limited to, their children and African children.

 

 

∝ 2021-2022 as another humanitarian relief year 

 

We could not stay silent or untouched as human life was endangered and in some circumstances destroyed as the events below were unfolding in the following places and regions:

≡ Civil insecurity in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu of the Republic Democratic of Congo

≡ Children living on the street in Africa

≡ Hunger and food insecurity in Grand Sud of Madagascar, Central African Republic, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Cameroon, Horn of Africa and Chad

≡ and Internal displacement of people of Rutshuru in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With the support of the community in terms of data and stories from these places/regions of CENFACS‘ operation, we had to appeal so that lives could be saved from civil violence, attacks, gender-based violence, severe climate conditions, other life-threatening and destroying conditions (such as the coronavirus) and the cost-of-living crisis. 

In total, we launched eight humanitarian relief appeals.  As a result of these appeals, there have been some support to the sufferers of these events while there is still much to be done. 

 

∝ 2021-2022 as a year of tackling urban poverty in Africa

 

Besides humanitarian issues caused by events such as civil insecurity, armed conflicts, natural disaster, health crisis, etc.; there were economic difficulties experienced by urban poor due to rising urban population in Africa.  Many of our Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) working in urban areas of Africa tried to address urban poverty.

As a result of their work together with our support, ASOs explained poor city-residents how the distribution of city-wide services work, provided them with digital support where these services could only be accessible digitally, informed them about their rights and obligations as city-residents in terms of these services, etc.

 

∝ 2021 -2022 as a year of keeping our network of protection and security alive

 

With rising bills and prices of goods and services which fed or transformed themselves into the cost-of-living crisis, the need for high level of security and protection against these rises became a priority.  So, working with the CENFACS community and Africa-based Sister Organisations through our support network and advice to find ways of tackle soaring prices of energy, food and money was a worthwhile engagement taken.

As a result of the advice given and of an discussion on bills and prices with users, one of the advisees was grateful by seeing the following:

“Your advisory support was a great relief as it helped me to avoid psychological and mental breakdown.  I have bills to pay, but I did not know what to do.  You helped me stop loosing income through high bills and prices to pay.  I feel now self confident and have hope for a new way of surviving.  Thank you very much!“

From what we did, there is something else which connects to CENFACS for this reviewing year.  It is what we produced or achieved.

 

 

• • • Produce or Achievements of the Year

 

We would be indebted if we end this review without mentioning or adding to the above summary of work carried out these three achievements: Guide for the Not-for-profit Investors in Africa, Leaves-based Advice Service and CENFACS’ All-in-Development Stories Library.

 

• • • • Guide for the Not-for-profit Investors in Africa

 

Many not-for-profit investors with whom we discussed the guide positively reacted about this project as it helped potential altruist investors to explore the options they could consider in terms of African not-for-profit organisations and asset classes. 

Many of them thought that it was a positive direction towards the definition of clear investment goals and objectives while supporting them to weigh both the risks and benefits of investing in Africa.

 

• • • • Leaves-based Advice Service

 

The introduction of leaves with some exciting features into our advice service enabled to improve advice and advisees’ feelings toward the goal they would like to achieve and made their goal became problems-solving and solvable. 

It helped address users’ problems in a creative and innovative way via the image of leaves and what leaves could bring and enhance life. 

Thanks to this feature, many advisees told us how happy they did feel in mind and body to deal with their problems.

 

• • • • CENFACS’ All-in-Development Stories Library

 

Most of those who volunteered their stories were not sure if they stories were properly kept or stored.  They were very happy to learn that their stories or tales donated or captured were deposited in our  Stories Library. 

The Stories Library inspired and motived them for spreading the news within the community for future story donations.

 

• • •  Financial Performance Review

 

The following is our summary of our receipts and payments for the year ending 30 June 2022.

After the drop of almost 89% of cash funds last financial year (2020/2021), they started to pick up in the first six months of this financial year.  The return to the road of growth in cash funds was mostly explained by the fact that we were in a position to make savings on payments accounts on items such as in-person networking and meetings, transport and travel, postage stamps, outreach, printing and photocopying, and overseas budget.

We continued to invest in online and virtual means of working to deliver efficiencies across CENFACS.  The additional investment made started to gradually and shyly appear, amid the enduring effects of the coronavirus.  However, since the start of energy and food crises, crises which spilled over into the cost-of-living crisis, we experienced a struggle in the running of our activities.  This was combined with the lingering effects of the coronavirus that appeared later than we thought.

On the receipts side, we were still facing a challenge to raise the funds needed to meet the level of needs in the community.  This could be partly explained by the cumulative effect of the lingering effects of the coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis which drove uncertainty to many individual donors.  There is additional factor, which is: many of the coronavirus funding schemes and programmes were not adapted to the energy and food crises or simply their criteria did not match with our users’ needs and the need of CENFACS.  Our post-coronavirus restructuring and build forward better programmes, which we set up last year, were moving to slow pace.

Despite these hampering factors, our cash funds have regained their ascending trends.   They grew nearly 6 times.  In accounting terms, we managed to increase our receipts.  This increase and the savings made on payments resulted in a positive net balance of our receipts and payments account for the year.

We hope that the fruits of the above mentioned programmes will more appear in the new financial year (2022/2023) than they did last year (2021/2022).  We can also expect that the rebound of our cash funds will continue and be further pronounced in the financial year 2022/2023.

 

• • Thank you

 

The work of CENFACS is a collective endeavour that relies upon the voluntary contribution of others, a key to our success.  As such, there is a number of people and organisations who contributed to the realisation of our financial year 2021-2022.

We would like to indiscriminately acknowledge them.  Without their helpful and altruist support, we would not be able to achieve the above.  We are grateful to our volunteers, users, website/blog readers and supporters.

We would like to thank all of them for their unwavering commitment and impactful support for helping us to voice and bring once again our poverty reduction message into the world in development, especially at the very daunting time of the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

Many thanks for making 2021-2022 another deservingly memorable year at CENFACS.

More details about CENFACS Annual Review 2021/2022 can be requested.

_________

 

• Reference

 

(1) https://apps.who.int/disasters/repo/5517.pdf (accessed in August 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

24 August 2022

 

Post No. 262

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• All Poor, Poor Children, Young Carers and Families Need Your Support!

• Following the Direction of Poverty Reduction this Summer via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests – Trending Topic in Focus from Week Beginning  22/08/2022: Supporting Services 

• Happiness and Healthiness Journal – Creative Activity No. 5: Create Your Journal of Trust

 

… And much more!

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

• All Poor, Poor Children, Young Carers and Families Need Your Support!

 

All poor, children who need networking to protect them, young carers and poor families with children trying to tackle poverty via sports in Africa need your donations and gifts.  Their requests are summarised inside the 2022 Edition of CENFACS’ Summer Humanitarian Appeal Projects.

The projects making this appeal include the following:

 

√ Distress-free Life from the Cost-of-living Crisis in Africa

√ All Gifts for All Poor 

√ International Networking and Protection against the Cost-of-living Crisis

√ Iconic Young Carer 

√ ELCLASSICO International.

 

Except CENFACS’ Distress-free Life from the Cost-of-living Crisis in Africa, the other four projects have been highlighted under the Main Development section of this post.  The highlight about CENFACS’ Distress-free Life from the Cost-of-living Crisis in Africa can be found at cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

The above five projects require donation or funding.

The fundraising campaign for them will end by 22 September 2022.

To support and or enquire about these humanitarian appeal projects, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

• Following the Direction of Poverty Reduction this Summer via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests – Trending Topic in Focus from Week Beginning  22/08/2022: Supporting Services 

 

The last episode of our trending series in following the direction of poverty reduction via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests will be on Supporting Services. 

We are going to try to understand these supporting services and to explain the way by which we will be following the direction of poverty reduction via supporting services.

 

• • Understanding supporting ecosystem services

 

Supporting ecosystem services can be understood in a way in which one tries to define them.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (1) argues that

“Providing living spaces for plants or animals and maintaining a diversity of plants and animals are supporting services and the basis of all ecosystems and their services”.

The ‘biodiversitya-z.org’ (2) contends that

“Supporting ecosystem services are ecosystem services that are necessary for the maintenance of all other ecosystem services.  Some examples include biomass production, production of atmospheric oxygen, soil formation and retention, nutrient cycling, water cycling, and provisioning of habitat”.

Regardless of the way in which one tries to approach supporting ecosystem services, the commonality in these definitions is that supporting ecosystem services are services that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services.  In other words, they underpin or support other services to function.

However, our understanding of supporting ecosystem services should not limit to the support they give to other ecosystem services.  Our understanding needs to go deeper in trying to explore what else they can, particularly what they can do for poverty reduction. 

We can go deeper by following the direction of poverty reduction with or via supporting ecosystem services.  It is our in-depth understanding of how supporting ecosystem services can contribute to poverty reduction.

 

• • Following the direction of poverty reduction via supporting ecosystem services

 

It is well knowing that supporting ecosystem services have indirect benefits to humans since humans benefit from them by way of the other types of ecosystem services.  For example, through primary production, humans can benefit from food production and products like timber, biofuels, fibre, etc.

Because we are interested in poverty reduction, one can use an ecosystem service-based approach or modelling to help reduce poverty.  For example, one can tackle local poverty by increasing agriculture productivity, strengthening community cohesion and building resilience of natural resource base.

The above is our way of following the direction of poverty reduction via supporting ecosystem services.

To conclude this Summer series of trending work, let us argue that Following the Direction of Poverty Reduction via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests is about meeting three outcomes, which are:

(1) Exploring ways of improving the management of forest resource base to achieve more and better results in terms of poverty reduction  

(2) Reducing ecosystem disservices that can adversely affect poverty reduction

(3) Supporting the role of forests in reducing poverty and enhancing the quality of life for humans.

To enquire about this trending activity and/or to follow the direction of poverty reduction with us, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Journal – Creative Activity No. 5: Create Your Journal of Trust

 

The lingering effects of coronavirus, extreme weather and the cost-of-living crisis may have perhaps made some people to be sceptical or lose trust in poverty reduction.  Yet, there is a need or reason to keep faith in the reduction and end of poverty.

You can create your journal for any aspects of Summertime linked to trust.  You can explain your experiences, feelings and thoughts in terms of happiness and healthiness about trust over this Summer.

Your journal of trust can cover any of the following three areas: trust in poverty reduction, trust in people/communities and initiatives that build and sustain trust.  Let us give some examples of what one can include in each of these journals.

 

• • Journal of trust in poverty reduction

 

You can record your thoughts, feelings, experiences and memories about the following:

promoting trust where trust is lost, dealing with disinformation and distrust about poverty reduction, struggling to cope with trust in poverty reduction, etc.

 

• • Journal of trust in people and communities

 

You can record your thoughts, feelings, experiences and memories about the following:

correcting inaccuracies and misinformation, stopping the spread of false information/news within your community/network, building trust with people through transparency, speaking about the most trusted person in your community, etc.

 

• • Journal of initiatives to build trust

 

You can record your thoughts, feelings, experiences and memories about the following:

building and protecting standards of trust, rebuilding trust in each other, explaining interactive initiatives you have taken to protect trust, etc.

The above three areas are just an example of the many about trust and journals of trust.  If you have a different area of interest in trust that you would like to write for your Summer journal, please feel free to do it.

Briefly, you can share with the community your experience of happiness and healthiness with or through trust.  This can be recorded in your journal and be shared by the end of Summer 2022.

To share the contents of your happiness and healthiness journal relating to happy, healthy and trustful Summer 2022; as well as to help build a better Summer holiday experience, you can contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• All-in-one Impact Feedbacks: Report on Reports

 

Last month was our Analytics month.  As part of the Analytics month, we asked some of you to report or give some feedback in your words, numbers and infographics on the experiences you had about the projects and programmes we delivered in the last financial year.

We asked for two feedbacks: feedback from individuals as programme and project supporters and users, as well as feedback from organisations (Africa-based Sister Organisations).  Some of you responded and others did not.  We would like to thank those who responded.

For those who responded and gave us their mailing address, they will be contacted and will receive a copy of the above mentioned report.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank them again for their testimonial and experiential support.

 

 

• Survey, E-questionnaire and Focus Group about Food Security

 

We are continuing to work in details about some of matters we raised in the 76th Issue of FACS, in particular we are working on the survey, e-questionnaire and focus group on food security.  Any of these three matters will provide you the opportunity to communicate what you want to share as experience or story of food security.  Let us look at each of them.

 

• • Food Security Survey

 

This survey aims to support those who are struggling to have food security and avoid food poverty at this time of rising costs and prices of food.

As part of the survey, we are running a questionnaire.  One of the questions is:

How are you coping with food security (that is food availability, access, utilisation and stability) at this challenging time of rising costs and prices of food?

You can directly send your answer to CENFACS.

To help people respond, they can think of any coping strategies or mechanisms to achieve the aim of food security.  Coping strategies or mechanisms are defined by the World Health Organisation Department of Emergency and Humanitarian Action (3) as

“Remedial actions undertaken by people whose survival and livelihood are compromised or threatened”.

You can refer to this working definition and respond by explaining the remedial actions you are taking to mitigate food security crisis.  In your response, it could be good to share your experience of obtaining food, income and essential goods and services to overcome the disruption or disturbance caused by the rise in prices of food.  Your response can help motivate others and shape our campaign about Making Zero Hunger Africa.

 

• • E-questionnaire on Actionable Food Security Information

 

Do you have enough information on food security?

 

If your answer is NO, CENFACS can work with you via its Information and Guidance on Food Security to help you find the information you need on food security.

 

• • Focus Group on Food Insecurity

 

You can take part in our focus group on widening inequality in access to and consumption of healthy foods since the cost-of-living crisis began.  You could seize this opportunity to tell your experience with livelihood distress and asset depletion shortages which handicap you to have food security.

To take part in the focus group, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

• Support, Information and Guidance and Booster on Food Security Matters

 

CENFACS does not only ask you to share your experience.  CENFACS can as well support you, inform and guide you, provide you tools and work with you to boost your knowledge/skills about food security.

 

• • Ask CENFACS for Food Security Support

 

Under CENFACS’ Advisory Support for the Impacted of the Cost-of-Living Crisis, you can ask for support to deal with the struggle you are having to meet rising costs of food.

 

• •  Information and Guidance on Food Security

 

You can request from CENFACS a list of organisations and services providing help and support in the area of food security.  Likewise, we can inform and direct or guide you to find organisations that provide food at prices and conditions that match your food security level.

To make your request, please contact CENFACS with your name and contact details.

 

• • Mini-Workshops

 

You can boost your knowledge and skills about food security via CENFACS.

For example, you can take part in our Summer Food Security Enhancing Skills Activity on how to use food security risk index to work out your own household food security risk.

The index is a good tool to help you find out your risk-aversion and vulnerability to rising prices of food.

You can as well participate in our Summer Food Security Enhancing Skills Activity on the indicator that links livelihood coping strategies and food security.

The indicator will help you to know if you are using positive or negative coping strategies to respond to the lack of food or lack of money to buy food and overcome the challenges brought by rising prices of food and the cost-of-living crisis.

To take part in any of these activities or enquire about the boost, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

Don/financement nécessaire pour les projets d’appel humanitaire de l’été 2022!

L’édition 2022 de notre Appel humanitaire d’été continue d’être disponible pour obtenir de l’aide.

Les projets faisant l’objet de cet appel sont les suivants :

√ Une vie sans détresse face à la crise du coût de la vie en Afrique

√ Tous les dons pour tous les pauvres

√ Réseau international et protection contre la crise du coût de la vie

√ Jeune soignant emblématique 

√ ELCLASSICO International.

Les cinq projets ci-dessus nécessitent un don ou un financement.

La campagne de collecte de fonds pour les cinq projets prendra fin d’ici le 22 septembre 2022.

Pour soutenir et/ou vous renseigner sur ces projets d’appel, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• All Poor, Poor Children, Young Carers and Families Need Your Support!

 

The following Summer 2022 Humanitarian Appeal Projects summarise the needs of All Poor, Poor Children, Young Carers and Families who Need your donation or funding:

 

∝ All Gifts for All Poor 

∝ International Networking and Protection against the Cost-of-living Crisis

∝ Iconic Young Carer 

∝ ELCLASSICO International.

 

Let us briefly summarise these projects and the request of each potential beneficiaries relating to them.

 

• • Summer 2022 Humanitarian Appeal Projects

 

They are as highlighted below.

 

• • • All Gifts for All Poor  (AG4AP)

 

AG4AP, which stands for All Gifts for All Poor, is the holiday makers’ and travellers’ free and voluntary contribution to poverty relief in Africa via CENFACS.  It is an appeal to indiscriminately give a gift to the poor people in Africa, who are currently affected by the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate and the cost-of-living crisis.

Donors/funders can support this project by giving a ‘COVID-19 secure’ gift in kind or money to support those poor people suffering from the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate and the cost-of-living crisis.  The feature of this project is that donations or funding are done without making any distinctions between the poor.

For example, a donor/funder can donate £7 or any amount of money they can afford to help provide water and sanitation services.  This amount can contribute to safe water for drinking and cooking for a poor family.  

Their gift will enable this poor family to reduce the probability of catching waterborne diseases; in doing so the family will improve its health and hygiene while surviving against the above mentioned effects.

 

• • • International Networking and Protection against the Cost-of-living Crisis (INPCC)

 

INPCC is designed to help and support vulnerably poor children to escape from HARMS, THREATS, ATTACKS, EXTREMISM, RADICALISATION and RISKS of any forms of exploitation, neglect and abuse in Africa.  At this time of the cost-of-living crisis, the threats and risks are higher than ever before.

To win the fight against the forces of exploitation and destruction of children and over the dangers children in Africa and elsewhere are facing, it requires winning the battle of communication via a reliable flow of information and connections.

Likewise, the fight against the cost-of-living crisis requires an international collaboration and exchange of information between all those who are working on poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Furthermore, if defence against harms, danger and threats from COVID-19 was done globally; the fight against the cost-of-living crisis can also be conducted internationally.

You can support this appeal by helping in networking and protection equipment or gift of communication to enable Africa-based Sister Organisations to speak loud and better access information about the cost-of-living crisis to protect people and communities. particularly vulnerably poor and unprotected children.

For example, a donor/funder can give £10 to contribute to the cost of running internet to work remotely and collaborate with Africa-based Sister Organisations as way of exchange information on child protection. 

Your support will help to raise awareness and take action against the forces of exploitation and destruction of children and young generation.

 

• • • Iconic Young Carer  (IYC)

 

IYC, which is a deserving cause that supports poor children and young people who prematurely become Africa caregivers and labourers because of poverty, aims at improving the quality of life of young caregivers and labourers by responding to their basic needs and human rights.

In times of lingering effects of the coronavirus, extreme weather and the cost-of-living crisis; young carers have been forced to take caregiving and labouring role side by side with adults.  They are often doing it for free and without any financial help.  These young carers deserve support as well.

So, supporting these young carers could mean mitigating the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate and cost-of-living crisis on them.  Your support can help preserve the lives of future generations.

You can donate whatever you can to support these iconic young carers to end these effects.

For example, a donor/funder can provide material or £5 to buy distance learning materials to help these young carers to access e-reading and digital books or to buy new books (including the cost of shipping) to support these young carers in need and suffering from digital divide.

Your donation will help to pay for the educational and development costs of these poor children who prematurely become young caregivers and labourers.

 

• • • ELCLASSICO International (EI)

 

EI is a CENFACS combined Sports Development, Child Protection and Sustainable Development initiative that aims at reducing child and youth poverty, while protecting children and bringing a better change to impoverished people, communities, children, young people and future generations in Africa.

To organise any sports development activity and sustainability activity for children, these activities must be safe and child protected.  It means that in the preparation of these activities, some health (e.g. COVID-19 secure) and child protection tests must be conducted.  They also need to be sustainable, that is meeting the three dimensions of sustainable development (that is economic, social and environmental).  So, integrating health and safety rules as well as the three dimensions of sustainable development will help to protect these activities and everybody involves in them.

You can support this project to reduce poverty for families whose children would like to engage with sports and sustainable development.  You support will enable the three aspects of this project to stick together; aspects which are: child protection, physical and sustainability aspects.

For example, a donor/funder can give less than £10 to help provide food packages to feed a family of five to seven.  The food package will enable any of children benefiting from it to take part in sports development as ELCLASSICO International helps to tackle child poverty through sports development, child protection and sustainable development activities.

Your giving will have a triple effect:

√ Protection of children, young people and their families

√ Sensitisation about climate change and environmental issues

√ Support of their development through sporting activities and other events.

 

• • Donation or Giving in Kind regarding these four Summer 2022 Humanitarian Relief Appeal Projects

 

Those who would like to support the above mentioned beneficiaries can donate money and / or give in kind.

 

• • • Money donation

 

At this challenging time of the cost-of-living crisis, we know that it is difficult for some people to donate.  For those who are in position to donate, there is no limit in terms of minimum and maximum amount to donate, despite the examples of amount we have given above.

You can donate and or support the way it suits you and your affordability.

CENFACS will accept any amount to be given or donated.

 

• • • Giving in kind

 

For those who would like to make a donation in kind, it will be a good idea to check with us that what they are giving will help to meet the above stated needs.  This will help to save time, money and the environment for both sides.  Also, any donation in kind must be COVID-19 secure and health proof.

Thank you in anticipation for your willingness to make helpful difference to All Poor, Poor children, Young People and Families at this difficult time of the lingering effects of COVID-19, changing climate and the cost-of-living crisis.

For more details about ways of supporting the above initiatives and other ones, please contact CENFACS.

Please remember, the fundraising campaign about the above mentioned projects will end by 22 September 2022.

CENFACS will accept any support given during and beyond the duration of this campaign.

Please do not wait to donate as the needs are pressing and urgent NOW.

We look forward to your generous support to make helpful difference for the All Poor, Poor children, Young People and Families  in Africa

Thank you for your generosity.

 

__________

 

• References

 

(1) https://www.fao.org/ecosystem-services-biodiversity/background/supporting-services/en/ (accessed in August 2022)

(2) https://www.biodiversitya-z.org/content/supporting-ecosystem-services (accessed in August 2022)

(3) https://apps.who.int/disasters/repo/5517.pdf (accessed in August 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.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

17 August 2022

 

Post No. 261

 

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Financial Updates – In Focus for 2022 Edition: Financial Management of Crises

• Following the Direction of Poverty Reduction this Summer via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests – Trending Topic in Focus from Week Beginning 015/08/2022: Cultural Services 

• Happiness and Healthiness Journal – Creative Activity No. 4: Create Your Journal of Income

 

... And much more!

 

 

 

 

Key Messages 

 

• Financial Updates – In Focus for 2022 Edition: Financial Management of Crises

How to financially manage crises (e.g. cost-of-living crisis) using your household financial accounts

 

In this year’s edition of Summer Financial Updates (SFU), we provide advice, tips and hints about the processes of planning, organising, directing and monitoring the financial activities and resources of households with a view to working with them to achieve the goal of poverty reduction.

The 2022 Edition of SFU, which is about applying the general management principles to financial resources of our users’ households in order to reduce poverty, also highlights ways of handling the cost-of-living crisis using the financial tools that are at households’ disposal.

Many of our users do not know these tools exist for them.  The 2022 Edition of SFU provides  us an opportunity to share with them these tools and how they can effectively and efficiently handle them in order to reduce poverty, the cost-of-living poverty.

It is important to financially better manage households, especially at this time of the cost-of-living crisis.  At this challenging time, the prices of many goods (e.g. food) and services (e.g. utilities) are rising while incomes are falling because of the rise in inflation.  In this kind of tough economic situation, being able to better manage the cost-of-living crisis via a skilful use of financial accounts can help to reduce the harmful impact of the crisis.

Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided key highlights making the contents of the 2022 Edition of SFU.  For those members of our community who may be interested in the 2022 Edition of SFU and who have any queries to raise, they are welcome to contact CENFACS.

 

 

• Following the Direction of Poverty Reduction this Summer via Terrestrial Ecosystem Services provided by Forests – Trending Topic in Focus from Week Beginning 015/08/2022: Cultural Services 

 

Following the direction of poverty reduction via cultural ecosystem services provided by forests is this week’s episode of our Summer series of trending activity.  In this week’s episode, let us try to understand cultural ecosystem services and briefly explain the way in which we shall follow the direction of poverty reduction with or via these services.

 

• • What are cultural ecosystem services?

 

From the literature review of cultural ecosystem services, we have retained the following two definitions which respectively come from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Forest Research.

According to the FAO (1),

“Cultural services are non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems.  They include aesthetic inspiration, cultural identity, sense of home, and spiritual experience related to the natural environment”.

As to the definition given by Forest Research (2), it states that

“Cultural ecosystem services are identified as the benefits people gain from their interactions with different environmental spaces, such as woods or parks, and the activities, such as walking and cycling, they undertake in these spaces. Those interactions give rise to a variety of wellbeing benefits that are wide ranging and can be valued in numerous ways, via monetary, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.  Cultural ecosystem services and benefits can include health, learning, social connections, sensory experiences, cultural and symbolic importance and identity”.

These two definitions share in common what people gain as benefits via cultural benefits.

Besides the above stated benefits, there is also the benefit of poverty reduction via cultural ecosystem services.  This is the kind of benefit we are looking at in our Summer series of trending activity.

 

• • Following the direction of poverty reduction via Cultural Services

 

One thing is to interact with the environmental space or to undertake activities (such as running or walking or even cycling in this space or park) for fun or as leisure without any poverty reduction goal or need.  Another thing is to do it as a way of reducing poverty linked to poor health, the lack of social connections, deprivation in learning, the absence of contact with nature, etc.

If poor health, lack of social connections, deprivation in learning and the absence of contact with nature are the kinds of poverty people are experiencing and cultural services can succeed in reducing or ending these types of poverty; then it makes sense to follow the direction of poverty reduction via cultural ecosystem services provided by forests.

By following the direction of poverty reduction via cultural services, it is possible to identify cases that can be considered as compelling evidences on how terrestrial ecosystem services like the cultural ones are providing poverty reduction benefits besides other wellbeing advantages.

The above is CENFACS‘ way of following the direction of poverty reduction via cultural services provided by forests.  To follow this direction with us, just contact CENFACS.

 

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Journal – Creative Activity No. 4: Create Your Journal of Income

 

With the lingering effects of the coronavirus and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis many people’s incomes and income-generating capacity and opportunities have been changed or simply destroyed.  Despite that one can create a journal that explains their experiences, feelings and thoughts in terms of happiness and healthiness about income over this Summer 2022.

For example, one can explain how with restricted or limited income they have been able to meet Summer 2022 holiday expenses or simply do the things they wanted or planned to do with happiness and healthiness.  They can as well include in their journal the effort they undertook to make extra income to meet their Summer living costs.  They could finally share their story if they received or given any financial help.

They can record their thoughts, feelings, experiences and memories in relation to income and income-generating capacity or opportunities.  They can share with the community their experience of happiness and healthiness with income.  This can be recorded in their journal and be shared by the end of Summer 2022.

To share the contents of their happiness and healthiness journal relating to income and income-generation, to happy and healthy financial life via income, and help build a better Summer holiday experience; they can contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Summer 2022 Activities, Projects and Programmes: Help and Advice are AVAILABLE!

 

We believe that everybody is enjoying their Summer break wherever they are and whatever they are doing, despite the lingering effects of the coronavirus, extreme temperatures and the cost-of-living crisis.

We also hope that those who are working over this Summer are getting on well with their work while finding some space to accommodate and enjoy the good weather of Summer.

We finally trust that Summer 2022 Happiness and Healthiness Projects, including other Summer activities and programmes we have offered so far, are helping the community to happily and healthily pass this Summer.

For those who need any help or advice regarding any of the aspects of the Happiness and Healthiness Projects or any other Summer activities or programmes which are on offer, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

We would like to reiterate our wish to all multi-dimensional Poor Children, Young People and Families of Happy, Healthy, Vulnerability-free, Peaceful, Safe and Sustainable Summer Days.

 

 

 

 

• Summer Triple Pack is Still Running

 

Our Summer Triple Pack made of Track, Trip and Trending continues this week.  The key message we would like to get across this Triple Pack is to try to help reduce poverty by undertaking any of these three activities: running, visiting projects and analysing trends.  Let us make some reminding points about each of them.

 

• • COVID-19 Secure track to help reduce the cost-of-living poverty

 

This activity (Activity 8.1) of the pack is about COVID-19 Secure Run 2.5 miles (nearly 4 km) with people in need to create user-generated information opportunity and to learn about their problems.

For those who have completed their 2.5 miles of running with people, please do not hesitate to share with us your experience.  This activity is also performed under August 2022 Knowledge Year/Project (Activity 8.1).

For those who are deprived to physically run, they can virtually run to help reduce poverty with CENFACS.  Among them are people who may be experiencing handicap to do physical activity of running to help reduce poverty.  One could include the following in their list:

People or parents caring for very young children, pregnant women, elderly people, disable people, those who are not physically fit or mobile to run, those who do not have opportunity to physically run, etc. 

If you are organising this kind of virtual activity or event, let us know.  It is also better to advise us that the people participating in the virtual run are the physically deprived ones we have listed above or they have a serious handicap prohibiting them from undertaking any physical engagement.

 

• • Virtual or In-person Trips to Hybrid Running Projects and Local People

 

As part of Knowledge Year’s/Project Activities of the month and Activity 8.2, we have suggested to Undertake Virtual or In-person Visits or Tours of 3 knowledge-based projects or activities; projects or activities based on facts, information and skills acquired through experience or education, and which support people during this time of rising costs of living.

These virtual visits are not only online recreational activities.  They are also a learning and development opportunity in terms of understanding the following:

√ The way in which people or communities living with the lingering effects of the coronavirus, particularly those who are undertaking coping and survival strategies, are dealing with these effects as well as poverty and vulnerability induced by the cost-of-living crisis

√ What is needed to help them overcome the problems they have

√ What lessons that can be learnt and shared from their sensory experiences and knowledge-based projects to improve future actions, planning and decision-making processes

√ The demand in terms of policy development and response to meet similar needs in the future.

Furthermore, Virtual Trip as part of our Summer Triple Pack includes field work research in Africa and anywhere else in the context of poverty relief and sustainable development projects.

For those who are having or have had these experiences and results of field work research, please do not hesitate to share them.

 

• • Online Trending Activity by following the direction of poverty reduction via terrestrial ecosystem services provided by forests

 

As part of CENFACS’ Knowledge Year and Project and Activity 8.3, we have asked to those who can to Carry out online search to find 6 Trends in poverty reduction for projects that are based on the knowledge or practical understanding of needs; projects that use knowledge-based economy to support people to navigate their way out of poverty.

The above mentioned Summer Triple Pack  can be contextualised by considering the lingering effects of the coronavirus, changing climate (particularly but not exclusively extreme temperatures/weather) and the cost-of-living crisis.

 

 

 

• Food Security and Vulnerability Analyses of the Week: 

Effects of Rising Prices of Food on Daily Intake of Calories by CENFACS Members

 

We are continuing to work on matters raised in the 76th Issue of FACS, which is about Food Security in Africa.  As part of this continuity, we are trying to analyse the extent to which rising prices of food is affecting food consumption and the quantity of calories taken by the members of our community.

According to the National Health Service (3),

“An ideal daily intake of calories varies depending on age, metabolism and levels of physical activity, among other things.  Generally, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men”.

The findings of our analysis will help to determine whether the effects of rising prices of food are averagely or insignificantly or significantly impacting the daily intake of calories of the members of our community.  In other words, it will help to find out how food insecure and vulnerable some of our members are in terms of the consumption of daily calories.  The findings can also indicate how happy and healthy are our members.

To conduct and complete such analysis, it requires data.  Therefore, we need data.  For those of our members who would like to contribute to the analysis, they can provide us with information about their consumption of daily calories as well as their food availability, access, utilisation and stability over this period of rising prices of food.

To participate or donate data about your consumption of daily calories, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Message in French (Message en français)

 

Le Triple Paquet Estival est toujours en cours d’exécution

Notre triple paquet d’été composé de Piste, Voyage et Tendances se poursuit cette semaine.  Le message clé que nous aimerions faire passer à travers ce triple paquet est d’essayer d’aider à réduire la pauvreté en entreprenant l’une de ces trois activités: courir, visiter des projets et analyser les tendances.  Résumons chacune de ces activités.

∝ Piste sécurisée contre le COVID-19 pour aider à réduire la pauvreté liée au coût de la vie

Cette activité (activité 8.1) du paquet consiste  à courir 2,5 miles (près de 4 km) sur une Piste sécurisée contre le COVID-19 avec des personnes dans le besoin afin de créer des opportunités d’information générées par ces personnes et d’en apprendre davantage sur leurs problèmes.  Cette activité est également réalisée dans le cadre de l’Année/Projet de Connaissances 2022.

∝ Voyages virtuels ou en personne vers des projets hybrides en cours d’exécution et des populations locales

Dans le cadre des activités du mois de l’Année/Projet de Connaissances et de l’Activité 8.2, nous avons suggéré d’entreprendre des visites virtuelles ou en personne de 3 projets ou activités fondés sur le savoir; des projets ou des activités basés sur des faits, des informations et des compétences acquises par l’expérience ou l’éducation, et qui soutiennent les gens pendant cette période de hausse du coût de la vie.

∝ Tendances en ligne permettant de suivre la direction de la réduction de la pauvreté à travers les services écosystémiques terrestres fournis par les forêts

Dans le cadre de l’Année/Projet de Connaissances et de l’activité 8.3 du CENFACS, nous avons demandé à ceux/celles qui le peuvent d’effectuer une recherche en ligne pour trouver 6 tendances en matière de réduction de la pauvreté pour les projets basés sur la connaissance ou la compréhension pratique des besoins; des projets qui utilisent l’économie du savoir pour aider les gens à sortir de la pauvreté.

Le triple paquet d’été mentionné ci-dessus peut être contextualisé en tenant compte des effets persistants du coronavirus, du changement climatique (en particulier, mais pas exclusivement, des températures / conditions météorologiques extrêmes) et de la crise du coût de la vie.

Pour ceux/celles qui ont des problèmes dans la réalisation de ces activités, ils/elles peuvent contacter le CENFACS pour qu’ensemble nous trouvons une solution à ces problèmes.

 

 

 

Main Development 

 

• Financial Updates – In Focus for 2022 Edition: Financial Management of Crises

How to financially manage crises (e.g. cost-of-living crisis) using your household financial accounts

 

Any households, including those making the CENFACS Community, can earn income, receive transfer payments if their income is not enough to cover their expenses, hold assets, have liabilities, etc.  They try to save and invest if they can. They also spend on the basic necessities of life such as accommodation, food, education, health, transport and travel, communication, etc. in order to maintain their life.

They earn and spend in normal time and in time of crisis; just as they manage their finances in normal and crisis times.  However, in times of crisis they may need to use their financial accounts in a different way in order to financially  manage crises.  It is the use of their financial accounts in the way that respond to the challenge that crises can bring which is about in this year’s SFU and which has been highlighted below.

 

• • Key Highlights of this Summer Financial Updates

 

The following headings contain the main points highlighted in this Year’s SFU:

 

∝ What is crisis management?

∝ Financial management applying to household users’ financial resources

∝ How to financially manage crises using your household financial accounts

∝ Crisis management through household financial assets and liabilities

∝ Advice, tips and hints about households’ financial management

∝ Working with users/CENFACS Community via financial management tools to manage crises and achieve the goal of poverty reduction.

 

Let us unpack the above headings.

 

• • What is crisis management?

 

Many of our users manage crises (like the coronavirus crisis, the climate change crisis, the current cost-of-living crisis, etc.) without sometimes realising they are doing it.  Perhaps, if one understands crisis management this understanding can help them in better managing future crises.

Our understanding of crisis and crisis management come from what ‘managementstudyhq.com’ (4) argues, which is the following:

“Crisis refers to an unexpected unplanned situation or rather threat that suddenly dawns upon from a business out of nowhere. It means an event that threatens the very stability of a business. The process by which such events or threats are effectively managed and dealt with is known as Crisis Management”.

“Crisis management is the process through which an organisation tackles an unfavourable event that negatively affects organisation’s its stakeholders, or the general public”.

This definition of crisis management will be used whether it is about proactive or responsive or recovery crisis management.

Although these definitions relate to a business organisation, they can however be used for other types of organisation like households.  In this year’s SFU, we are referring to these two definitions in order to work with our users to help them manage crises (like economic crisis, energy crisis, food crisis, cost-of-living crisis, climate change or natural crisis, etc.).

 

• • Financial management applying to household users’ financial resources 

 

It will make easy for any of our users who would like to financially manage any crises to have some basic understanding of financial management and its principles that govern the use of financial resources and assets.

 

• • • What is financial management?

 

To define financial management, let us first explain the word management.

In their Collins Dictionary of Business, Christopher Pass et al. (5) define management as

“The process of organising and directing human and physical resources within an organisation so as to meet defined objectives.  The key management roles are: planning, control, coordination and motivation” (p. 350)

From this definition, one can then find out what is financial management.  In the website ‘Pfh-university.com’ (6), financial management is defined as

“Strategic planning, organising, directing, and controlling of financial undertakings in an organisation or an institute.  It also includes applying management principles of the financial assets of an organisation, while also playing an important part in fiscal management”.

So, financial managers in any of households of our users (e.g. parents or household heads) will proceed with the following:

 

√ Calculate the amount of capital their given household needs

√ Form the capital structure of that household

√ Invest the capital where there are opportunities to invest

√ Make decisions about savings the household needs

√ Allocate or distribute the capital to given needs/wants within the household

√ Effectively manage the money that household possesses and earns

√ and Control household’s finances.

 

To achieve their role as financial managers, household heads or parents (if there are children involved) need to work with or follow some basic principles.

 

• • • Principles that govern the use of financial resources and assets

 

There are many principles of financial management.  To make matter easy, we are going to refer to the 10 basic principles of financial management written by Kathryn Bergeron on the ‘quicken.com’ (7) website.  These principles are:

 

1) Organise your finances

2) Spend less than you earn

3) Put your money to work

4) Limit debt to income-producing assets

5) Continuously educate yourself

6) Understand risk

7) Diversification is not just for investments

8) Maximise your employment benefits

9) Pay attention to taxes

10) Plan for the unexpected.

 

From the above mentioned principles, Kathryn Bergeron’s 10th principle (i.e. Plan for the unexpected) advises anyone “to make sure unexpected financial exposure does not derail your [their] long-term goals and your [their] family’s financial security“.

Crises (like the coronavirus and the cost-of-living ones) can derail long-term goals and financial security.  This is why they need to be financially managed in better and sustainable way.

Financially managing crises in a better and sustainable way imply the application of financial management principles that govern the use of financial resources and assets.  In other words, the process of organising and directing resources can be applied to financial resources and to non business entities like households.  It is this theory of management that we are trying to apply within this year’s SFU.

In practical terms, it means that most of our sensible users would like to organise and direct their incomes and expenses.  They would like to strategically plan, control, coordinate and motivate their financial matters.   In times of crises (like the coronavirus disaster and the cost-of-living crisis), they would like very much to do it.  But, how can they effectively do it using their household financial accounts?

 

 

 

• • How to financially manage crises using your household financial accounts

 

Although there is not a such guideline documents to follow on aspects of the accounting treatment of household finances, household financial accounts will be regrouped under the following financial statements: household balance sheet, budget, surplus and loss account, cash flow projections, etc.  The accounts making these statements can help to financially and strategically manage crises.

For example, being able to better manage your accounts linked to utilities can help to reduce the detrimental effects of rising costs of energy, water and fuel on household finances and wellbeing.  This is concerned both joint and separate financial management of household finances.

It is not a surprise if Kendra Kinnison (8) argues that

“To live a happy and peaceful life with financial freedom, it’s very important to manage family finances properly”.

At this time of the cost-of-living crisis, it is even more relevant to wisely  manage household finances in order to sustain and come out of this crisis bold.  A better handling of household financial accounts can be a contributing factor.

 

• • Crisis management through household financial assets and liabilities

 

The wealth of households consists of many items.  One line of items is household financial assets which could be saving deposits, investments in equity, shares and bonds.  Besides that, it would be a major error to forget that households may also have liabilities.  Therefore, in their approach to managing crises, they need to include any liabilities they may have.  

Although most of users may not be having the kinds of assets described above, those who may have any little financial assets they can use them to manage crisis like the cost-of-living one or any other one.  They can as well convert their physical assets, if they have any at market value, into financial ones and use the finances generated to manage the crisis.  Of course, this is without ignoring any liabilities they may have.

 

• • Advice, tips and hints about households’ financial management

 

Not all user households making the CENFACS Community have the skills and capacity to financially manage crises using with confidence their financial accounts.  Some of them need advice, tips and hints to plan, organise, direct and monitor their financial activities and resources.

The good news for them is that this year’s SFU provides advice, tips and hints on financial management.  For example, there is a tip on how to adjust the food inflation into the food budget.  For those who would like to access the advice, tips and hints on financial management of crises, they are welcome to contact CENFACS.

 

 

• • Working with users via financial management tools to manage crises and achieve the goal of poverty reduction

 

The all purpose of SFU is not to provide theories or descriptions.  Instead, SFU as a resource is designed to capacitate the CENFACS Community to address challenging issues they face.  In this case the challenging issue is about how to financially manage crises (like the current cost-of-living crisis) via a good handling of financial accounts making any of our members’ household.

In this exercise of addressing challenges, our members are not let alone.  CENFACS can work with them.  CENFACS can work with them to accomplish the following tasks:

 

√ To develop a realistic crisis financial management plan or strategy

√ To improve their skills (financial literacy and numeracy skills) and techniques to financially manage crises like the cost-of-living crisis

√ To preserve their financial credibility and credit scores during crisis period and after crisis

√ To make financial management easier for them in time of crisis

√ To optimize their financial health using technology available on the market

√ To calculate their net worth even during the crisis time

Etc.

 

CENFACS can work with users via financial management tools to manage crises and help them achieve the goal of poverty reduction, particularly the reduction of the cost-of-living poverty during this Summer 2022.

In this respect, SFU provides some financial management tools to share, such as web-based financial services software for those who able to use them, shared spreadsheets, web apps, in brief the appropriate tools for managing household finances, etc.

Many of these financial management tools for household can be found online.  To help find them easily, SFU lists a number of websites and addresses that could be relevant to our users’ needs and that contain the following tools: household budget calculator and spreadsheets, budget worksheet printable, household budget planner, etc.

In brief, they include calculators, trackers, indicators, dashboards, estimators and planners to help households to financially manage their resources in normal and crisis times.

However, because crises can be of different types and various nature; therefore responses or ways of managing them could be distinct.  As a result, the pitch would be to customise financial management tools in order to meet the features of crisis and the need of users.

CENFACS can work with them to choose or select the appropriate financial management tools to manage crises they want to tackle.  This model of working together will help them not only to manage crises, but also to build a success story of crisis management and of poverty reduction.

The above highlights are just a selection of some of matters raised in this year’s SFU.  For those who would like to dive deep into how to financially manage crises using their household financial accounts, they are welcome to contact CENFACS.  Likewise, those who want to read this year’s resource of SFU beyond the aforementioned highlights, they can as well contact CENFACS.

_________

 

• References

 

(1) https://www.fao.org/ecosystem-services-biodiversity/background/cultural-services/en (accessed in August 2022)

(2) https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/cultural-ecosystem-services-values-and-benefits/ (accessed in August 2022)

(3) https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/what-should-my-daily-intake-of-caloriess-be/ (accessed in August 2022)

(4) https://www.managementstudyhq.com/what-is-crisis-and-different-types-of-crisis.html (accessed in August 2022)

(5) Pass, C., Lowes, B., Pendleton, A. & Chadwick, L., (1991), Collins Dictionary of Business, HarperCollins Manufacturing, Glasgow

(6) https://www.pfh-university.com/blog/financial-management-what-is-it-and-what-is-it-important.html (accessed in August in 2022)

(7) https://www.quicken.com/10-basic-principles-financial-management#(accessed in August 2022)

(8) Kinnison, K., How to Manage Family Finances at https://wikihow.com/Manage-Family-Finances (accessed in August 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.