Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

28 July 2021

 

Post No. 206

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Key Briefs on Happiness and Healthiness Projects in a Changing Climate and Enduring COVID-19

• July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment (Level 3): Impact Feedback of XX236.3 F Programme

• Happiness and Healthiness Budgets 2021 – Holiday Budget Deficit: How to Sustainably Manage Budget Deficit in a Changing Climate and Enduring COVID-19

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Key Briefs on Happiness and Healthiness Projects in a Changing Climate and Enduring COVID-19

 

Our summer campaign about finding health relief and happy fulfilment continues this week with key summaries about Happiness and Healthiness Projects 2021.  These summaries are about projects to keep children, young people and families happy and healthy over Summer under the conditions of mutating COVID-19 and changing climate. 

These key briefs can be found under the Main Development section of this post.  The full details of these projects are also available on request from CENFACS, including ways of accessing and using them.

To access and or support them, just contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment (Level 3): Impact Feedback of XX236.3 F Programme

 

Unlike Impact Feedback of our 2020-2021 Programmes and Projects given by Users and Stakeholders, Impact Feedback of XX236.3 F Programme is provided by CENFACS to inform its audience (including users and stakeholders) about the progress it is making in terms of this programme.

 

• • What is this Impact Feedback from CENFACS about?

 

CENFACS’ Impact Feedback of XX236.3 F (2020 to 2030 to 2063 Follow up) Programme is about the observation on the following four key components of this follow-up programme: 

(a) The Paris Treaty

(b) The Istanbul Declaration (although Turkey withdrew from this declaration)

(c) The United Nations 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals

(d) Africa’s Agenda 2063 

This feedback also provides our feelings and what we would like (if we could) to be different regarding these four pieces frameworks of work.  

Our observation, feelings and need of difference will be in terms of progress made so far concerning these frameworks.  Our observation, feelings and need of difference are indeed in relation to the kind of work of poverty reduction we do since these global and international frameworks/initiatives greatly impact us.  Our feedback is not an evaluation of these frameworks of work.  What are our observation, feelings and need of difference?

 

• • Feedback about XX236.3 F Programme

 

The following summarises our feedback for XX236.3 F Programme.

 

(a) Implementation of the International Climate Change Agreement (or the Paris Treaty)

 

Although some progress has been made, the following are still holding the pace and speed of negotiations:

∝ The carbon market and non-market mechanisms

∝ Transparent communication on climate action

∝ The mobilisation of 100 billion dollars annually

∝ The phasing out of coal for energy

∝ The elimination of coal from power generation

∝ The Blue Congo Basin Fund for Africa to raise ambition on emission reduction

Etc.

The above is a list of some of the issues that are stumbling-blocks in the climate negotiations. 

For the issues relating to CENFACS‘ climate advocacy and demand, one needs to refer to CENFACS’ Compendium of Climate Advocacy, which details them and which is available on request.

One can hope that the incoming 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), scheduled to be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021, will be an ideal rendezvous to alleviate some of these long running discussed issues.  One can as well expect that the opposing views will be aligned by then in order to deliver on the Paris Treaty.

 

(b) The Istanbul Declaration

 

The 10^th Anniversary of the Istanbul Convention (1) shows that implementation of the Istanbul Convention has impacted the lives of women and men, girls and boys in all diversity.  It has helped to raise awareness of gender-based violence in society.  This is despite some opposition to this convention.  One can hope that the positive elements of this convention will prevail despite criticisms and oppositions.

As far as CENFACS is concerned, we continue to work on the issues that matter most for this convention so that gender poverty can be reduced and possibly eliminated within the community and the area of Africa we serve. 

 

“Climate change is directly impacting Africa’s ability to realise its Sustainable Development Goals and its aspirations of Agenda 2063” (2)

 

(c) The United Nations 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals

 

Before the coronavirus pandemic broke out, there was some noticeable progress regarding some of the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets in many regions of the world including in Africa, even though this progress was uneven and not enough.  Some goals and targets were on track and others off track; but the general pre-COVID-19 trend analysis was the Agenda 2030 was moving in a slightly right direction.  Since the coronavirus pandemic stroke, there has been some doubt about the successful attainment of the 17 Goals and 169 targets of the United Nations 2030 Agenda by the 2030. 

For example, the United Nations’ Children Fund and the World Health Organisation (3) have reported that childhood vaccination fall behind due to COVID-19.  They have reported it in those terms:

“23 million children missed out on basic childhood vaccines through routine health services in 2020, the highest number since 2009 and 3.7 million more than in 2019”

 

Despite this gloomy statement, CENFACS shall continue to work with its Africa-based Sister Organisations in order to help reduce COVID-19 induced poverty that is hampering the realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. 

 

(d) Africa’s Agenda 2063

 

There has been noticeable progress regarding the 15 flagship projects of this Agenda.  For example, the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area is now operational. 

Despite this progress, there is still a need to transform well-thought array of intentions into concrete actions in order to meet most of the stated goals of Africa’s Agenda 2063, such as economic development (including the eradication of poverty within one generation) within the planned time frame.   

For example, in the executive summary of their publication entitled as ‘Africa 2030: Sustainable Development Goals within Social Boundaries’, the Sustainable Development Goals Centre for Africa (4) argues that

“COVID-19 adjusted forecasts reveal that nearly 460 million Africans are projected to remain poor in 2030.  This translates into 8 in 10 of the world’s poor will be living on the African continent… 33 of the 36 countries in the low human development category are in Africa” (p. xi)

The above observation and feelings about Africa are important to CENFACS since most of its Africa-based Sister Organisations operate in Africa and are likely to be affected by any of the above developments.  They are also important since their end-users are based in Africa.  More than that we can only help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development if we work together with local people and if these global and African frameworks facilitate our work in addressing some of the above mentioned issues.

 

 

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Budgets 2021 – Holiday Budget Deficit: How to Sustainably Manage Budget Deficit in a Changing Climate and Enduring COVID-19

 

We are continuing our tips and hints on Happiness Budget by looking at holiday budget deficit.

A deficit is generally defined as the amount by which expenditure is greater than real income.  In terms of holiday budget deficit, it simply means that one’s holiday expenditure is more than holiday income.  It is a negative balance which could suggest that there could be a need to finance it (here holiday budget deficit). 

Yet, speaking about holiday budget deficit could seem bizarre since we are talking about poor people or those in need.  These are the people who often struggle to make ends meet.   They are the ones who often are short of money to tie the knots of the two ends of the month.  Despite that any sensible humans should do some budgeting, here holiday budgeting. 

Budgeting is forward thinking process that can help to coordinate the different areas of household life while defining responsibility and delegating powers within the same household.  It is indeed an instrument for household control as well as a basis for decision making process and changing plans where there is a need to do so.

We will be working on the budgeting process with those who are struggling to make ends meet.  We will be working on how to avoid and sustainably manage holiday budget in a Summer of Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19.

For those who are familiar with online tools, they can find countless examples of family or household budgets sometimes in the form of Microsoft Application Spread sheets.  For those who are not familiar with these free available online resources, they can use CENFACS’ line of financial advisory support.

With the particularity of this Summer during which the Coronavirus is still threatening lives, there is a need to take into account the COVID-19 in dealing with budget deficit.  In this need, one should not also forget the effects of changing climate. 

So, we will be checking with them on which part of this deficit is attributable or not attributable to COVID-19 or climate change or both.  This exercise enables to take into consideration the way in which COVID-19 and climate change are affecting their holiday budget in what they eat, drink, cover or uncover their body, entertain, shelter, etc.

To learn or seek support on how to avoid and sustainably manage holiday budget deficit or negative budget balance in Summer of changing climate and enduring COVID-19, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Feedback on Summer Festival 2021 (the Seven Days of Development in July 2021 Festival): with a Focus on Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management

How to reduce and/or cancel debts and deficits for the poor to make ends meet

 

The 13^th Edition of our Summer Festival of Thoughts and Actions will end today.

Any contribution in the form of thoughts and comments to be provided need to be done by the 5^th of August 2021.  Please mail them to CENFACS at facs@cenfacs.org.uk and or by completing the comment form on our website by 05/08/2021. 

Thank you for your support.

 

 

 

• All-in-one Impact Feedback: Only Three Days to Go!

 

Supporters’ and Users’ Experiences, and Africa-based Sister Organisations’ Voices

 

Our Analytics month of bringing light to what worked, what did not work and of measuring what we achieved in our last financial year is coming to an end in three days.  We are therefore appealing again to you to tell us in your own words, numbers and info-graphics your perceptions, feelings and experiences about the programmes and projects we ran in the last 345 days preceding the beginning of July 2021.

Although we have selected 12 initiatives for Impact Feedback One and 9 ones for Impact Feedback Two for monitoring and evaluation purposes, we are not expecting people to provide feedback on all of them.  People can only feedback on the project(s) and programme(s) they benefited from, supported, recommended users to us or interacted within.  We again suggest picking up ONLY 1 or 2 initiatives for feedback.

Please feel free to say what you experienced. 

Again, thank you for your experiential support!

 

 

 

• E-Workshop: Run Project and Olympic Athletics

How to do analytics and integrate data patterns from the Olympic Athletics into your Run Project

 

As part of CENFACS’ All Year Round Run Project (that is, Run to Reduce Poverty in Africa in 2021), we can work together to support those who are or would like to run or organise a run activity to help reduce poverty in 2021.  We can do it while referring to the data from the Olympic Athletics (e.g. the currently held Tokyo 2020 Olympics) and integrate their data and other information into your model of running to reduce poverty. 

The e-workshop will include the following:

∝ Research and development activity (i.e. investigation leading to the discovery of techniques and products to apply your Run project)

∝ Organisation of an event (e.g. a run or race event)

∝ Other things to consider in the organisation of your event such as location, engagement in activities, prizes (rewards for participants), COVID-19 health and safety issues, child protection policy if children are involved , insurance cover, budget, etc.)

∝ Analyse and interpretation of data patterns

∝ Miscellaneous support (e.g. how to integrate COVID-19 restrictions and climate change constraint; how to choose run themes; running options including running alone or as a group, running for fun or fundraising or raising awareness, etc.)

∝ Report activity (including visualisation of your Run project)

 

At the end of this analytics process, one will have enough tools and techniques at their disposal to enable them in their decision about the Best African Global Games Runners and Agents of Poverty Reduction 2021.

For further details about this analytics e-workshop, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Key Briefs on Happiness and Healthiness Projects in a Changing Climate and Enduring COVID-19

 

• • 2021 Edition of Summer of Happiness, Healthiness, Peace, Vulnerability-free, Protection and Sustainability

 

This 2021 Edition is out now and trending.  In this edition, the 2021 Happiness and Healthiness Projects may have kept the same names for some of these projects like in the previous Summers, but their contents reflect this year’s themes of happiness and healthiness in a changing climate and mutating/enduring COVID-19.

These projects are as follows:

1) Build Forward Happy and Healthy Summer Break

2) Holiday with Relief with a focus on ‘Restricted Holiday’

3) Summer Harmony with Nature

4) Hot Barriers to Build Forward Better

5) Networking for Protection and Safeguarding against COVID-19

6) Build Forward Better Community Care and Health Responsibility

 

They are the combination of skills, knowledge, resources, tools, fixers, enhancements, boosters and tasters for poverty relief.  They consist of

Two resource projects (Family Happiness and Healthiness Mini-Guide, and Holiday Information Manager)

One communication-protection project (Networking Platform for Happiness and Healthiness)

One environmental campaign (Summer Harmony with Nature)

One barrier-gesture project (Hot Barriers to Build Forward Better)

One Personal/Family Healthcare Plan (Build Forward Better Community Care and Health Responsibility)

We have considered the effects of climate change all over our Summer 2021 Programme.  In other words, all the six Happiness and Healthiness Projects will have green, sustainable and climate changing contents.  They will be aligned with greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and targets.  The consideration of the effects of climate change all across is what makes Summer 2021 of a zero or neutral carbon one.   

This is done to help improve life evaluation while taking actions to enhance the same life in a changing climate.  In this way, Summer can be a season of Happiness and Healthiness NOT of Misery for un-served and under-served children, young people and families who are at the same time the victims of the adverse effects of climate change. 

They are the victims of adverse effects of climate change because climate change affects the way they dress, eat, house, educate, entertain, care for their health, and above all the way they pass Summer holiday.

We can briefly present these projects one by one as follows.

 

• • Key Briefs on Happiness and Healthiness Projects

  

Here are the key briefs on the Happiness and Healthiness Projects making the 2021 Summer Programme Part II.  As said previously, these projects can help in achieving some happy, helpful, healthful and hopeful Summer plans, goals and outcomes. 

 

••• 1) Build Forward Happy and Healthy Summer Break (Family Happiness and Healthiness Mini-Guide)

 

Happiness comes when one experiences a feeling of enjoyment or positivity.  As to healthiness, let us argue that being healthy means running a healthful lifestyle to reduce the possibility or risk of getting disease.  Having a good rest over Summer can help achieve both happiness and healthiness.

Happy and Healthy Summer Break (HHSB), which is CENFACS’ Family Happiness and Healthiness Mini-Guide, is designed to this joyful and disease-free healthful lifestyle to happen.  HHSB is an effort to keep our diet, lifestyle, and ways of consuming goods and using services happy and healthy.  It means happy and healthy life in foods, drinks, hobbies, entertainment, etc.

To build forward happy and healthy Summer break, and or get this Family Happiness and Healthiness Mini-Guide, please contact CENFACS.

 

••• 2) Holiday with Relief with a focus on ‘Restricted Holiday’ (Holiday and COVID-19 Information Manager)

 

One of the concerns for many people and families is how to pass this Summer under the restrictions of COVID-19, climate change and other restrictions.

Holiday with Relief with a focus on ‘Restricted Holiday’ (or Holiday & COVID-19 Information Manager) is the awareness, preparedness and solutions-focused Resource to Manage Information for the Summer holiday of restrictions.  It contains a set of tips and tricks to help and enable vulnerable unaware people to plan their holiday or break with confidence, in taking into account all aspects of life and by making sure that key areas of those life aspects are not adversely affected.

Holiday and COVID-19 Information Manager is CENFACS’ resource that adds value to the health and hygienic support to the already known World Health Organisation guidelines, the UK Government’s rules and the National Health Service guidance on the protection against the coronavirus pandemic.

This health section of Holiday and COVID-19 Information Manager helps to practise, comply and reinforce the exiting anti-coronavirus restrictions and measures in a user-friendly manner.  It is a COVID-19 compliant support in a user-friendly way.

For further details about this Holiday and COVID-19 Information Manager, please contact CENFACS.

 

••• 3) Summer Harmony with Nature (Summer Campaign over Nature)

 

Summer of Happiness and Healthiness is also of accord with nature with its creatures.  Keeping a harmonious relationship with leaves, plants, animals, landscapes and surrounding natural species (like trees, plants, waters, parks, etc.) and resources adds a great value to our happiness and healthiness. In other words, it is about equating our needs of happiness and healthiness to those of the nature.

Living in harmony with nature means that we do not need another spike of COVID-19 outbreak or a lockdown to happen in order to be silent by the nature.  Humans can preemptively take the lead by keeping their relationships as harmonious as possible for future viruses or lockdowns not to happen.

Need to keep harmony with nature, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS’ Summer Campaign over Nature.

 

••• 4) Hot Barriers to Build Forward Better (“Barrier-gesture” Project)

 

Although most people got their two jabs of COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, the coronavirus pandemic is still mutating or enduring.  Because of that, it is important to keep tight control of fences or barriers to stop or prevent the circulation of COVID-19 and of the new COVID-19 variants. 

Removing our elevated barriers against Covid-19 can open up the possibility of COVID-19 spikes within any community.  If we want to build forward better, then we need to keep those sensible and life-saving barriers for as long as COVID-19 and its new variants are posing threats to or endangering our lives.

Hot Barriers to Build Forward Better against COVID-19 or “Barrier-gesture” Project is a life-saving and sustaining gesture for our own and public interest and goods.  Barrier-gestures (like physical and social distancing) must be kept elevated during this Summer as the threat of COVID-19 and its new variants are real and still around.

To find out further about this Happiness and Healthiness Project, please contact CENFACS.

 

••• 5) Networking for Protection and Safeguarding against COVID-19 (COVID-19 Social Media Platform)

 

Networking for Protection and Safeguarding against COVID-19 is a CENFACS Media Platform to facilitate the flows of information and communication in order to keep local children, young people and families (CYPFs) out of the threats, troubles, attacks and challenges of everyday life and during the Summertime of changing climate and mutating COVID-19. 

Networking for Protection and Safeguarding against COVID-19 is about improving the Flow of Information over the Summertime amongst us and other stakeholders by gaining access to mutual support, facilities, services and resources in order to protect and safeguard multi-dimensional deprived CYPFs.

It is not enough to carry out our individual actions against COVID-19 unless we sum up them by coming together in the form of social connections as human chains.  Such connections or network will help to exchange information and data for the mutual interest and collective defence.

Networking for Protection and Safeguarding against COVID-19 or COVID-19 Social Media Platform is a means to access and facilitate the flows of information about the protection and safeguarding against COVID-19.  Through this means, one can receive and pass on protective and safeguarding information about COVID-19 within a networked community.

To network for protection and safeguarding against COVID-19, please let CENFACS know.

 

••• 6) Build Forward Better Community Care and Health Responsibility (Personal/Family Healthcare Plan)

  

Build Forward Better Community Care and Health Responsibility is a combination of the support to people to live with care and dignity in our community on the one hand, and our shared responsibility for the public health on the other.

Through this Personal/Family Healthcare Plan, we will try to reduce lifestyle-induced diseases for ourselves and others while promoting our own health without adversely impacting the health of others and future generations.  Community care and responsibility imply as well whatever we do we must comply with COVID-19 restrictions.  For example, when we do physical exercising we must maintain COVID-19 restrictions.

We can use this Happiness and Healthiness initiative to create a COVID-19 Proof Wellness or Healthcare Plan.  Such a plan will include the following: health vision and goals, lifestyles habits, follow-up tips and checks.

For further details about Build Forward Better Community Care and Health Responsibility, please contact CENFACS.

The above six interlinked ways/projects of creating and sustaining Happiness and Healthiness in a Summer of changing climate and mutating/enduring COVID-19 do not replace any good advice and practice (like the ones produced by statutory health organisations on COVID-19 matters).  They just add value to what it is already in place.  They are to be used in conjunction with the existing other measures to bring happiness as well as health and safety measures.

For further details about any of these projects, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

We would like to wish all multi-dimensionally Poor Children, Young People and Families Happy, Healthy, Vulnerability-free, Peaceful, Safe and Sustainable Summer Days. 

 

_________

 

References

 

(1) https://www.politica-en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/10/istanbul-convention-op-ed-final.pdf (accessed July 2021)

(2) https://www.uneca.org/stories/africa-day-2021-for-nature-and-for-african-people (accessed July 2021)

(3) COVID-19 pandemic leads to major backsliding on childhood vaccinations, new WHO, UNICEF data shows (accessed July 2021)

(4) The Sustainable Development Goals Centre for Africa (2021), Africa 2030: Sustainable Development Goals within Social Boundaries, Leave No One Behind Outlook (https://sdgafrica.org)

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

21 July 2021

 

Post No. 205

 

 

 

The Week’s Contents

  

• Happiness and Healthiness Projects in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19 

• July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment (Level 2): Impact Assessment of Changes brought from Actions against COVID-19 

• Summer 2021 Festival of Thoughts and Actions with a Focus on Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management

 

 

… And much more!

 

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Projects in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19

 

Climate change and COVID-19 mutation continue to affect the state of our happiness and healthiness.  The second part of our Summer Programme 2021, which is made of Happiness and Healthiness Projects, takes into account these two factors or realities.  The first part of the same programme deals with Humanitarian Appeal.

We have put together Happiness and Healthiness as we thought that each of the six Summer projects making the second part of the Summer Programme 2021 will have a bit of happiness and healthiness contents in them.  So, the 2021 version of the second part of our Summer Programme will be Happiness and Healthiness Projects.

For any further information on the 2021 version of the second part of our Summer Programme (that is Happiness and Healthiness Projects), please read under the Main Development section of this post.

 

 

 

• July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment (Level 2): Impact Assessment of Changes brought from Actions against COVID-19

  

Our work on this year’s All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment has moved to level 2 which is about assessing the changes that may have occurred as result of a series of actions and intervention we put in place in order to counteract the life-threatening and –destroying effects of the coronavirus during the financial year 2020-2021. 

To conduct this assessment, we are going to refer to what theories say about impact assessment, and to apply or experiment these theories in the context of CENFACS.

 

• • What do theories say about impact assessment?

 

Intrac (1) summarises some of the positions around impact assessment by giving two definitions (from the OECD and Roche) of impact within social development, which are as follows: an impact is

 

“The positive and negative, primary and secondary, long-term effects produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended” (OECD, 2010)

 

“Lasting or significant change – positive or negative, intended or not – in people’s lives brought about by an action or a series of actions” (Roche, 1999)

 

• • How we are going to apply these definitions

 

We are going to use both definitions in these ways:

(a) The Roche’s definition to capture short-term and meaningful changes in terms of life-changing benefits such as saved lives from the health and humanitarian appeals we made (e.g. The African Sahel 2020 Humanitarian Corridors Appeal).

(b) The OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) definition to include long-term changes in CENFACS’ capacity and system of poverty reduction (e.g. the e-advice that we set up as a result of lockdown will continue in the future). 

To conclude, we are still carrying out impact assessment or assessing change on an on-going basis (or impact monitoring) while doing another impact assessment or assessing actual change for some of our 2020-2021 programmes and projects affected by COVID-19 that have reached the end of their lives. 

The results of these impact assessments will be published in our end-of-year 2020-2021 accounts and other financial statements in due course.

 

 

 

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Budgets 2021 – 

Budgeting and Delivering Happiness and Healthiness in a Summer of Mutating/Enduring Covid-19 and Changing Climate

 

In our project planning process of Summer of Happiness and Healthiness Projects, we started a few weeks ago by budgeting Summer Holidays with what we call Happiness Budget.  In that process, we included the Covid-19 effects into a family budget.  We publicised two examples of budget planning: a Covid-19 Family Protection Expenses Budget, and a Covid-19 Secure and Happiness Budget for an Ordinary Family.

This week, we are continuing the budgeting process with happiness impacts of COVID-19 while starting to deliver on other parts of the Happiness and Healthiness Projects as Summer Holiday is beginning this week end for most children, young people and families.  In this continuing process, we are going to take into account other economic factors (like inflation, currency price, the effect of economic downturn, purchasing power parity, etc.) when constructing your Happiness and Healthiness budgets.  By taking these other factors, this will enable to better measure the happiness and healthiness effects.

We understand that not everybody does understand financial numeracy, some of the complex jargons and the mechanics of household financial statements like balance sheet, profit and loss account, budgets, etc.  Likewise, we appreciate that not everyone can grasp all the financial literacy and information on the other financial documents they receive (such as bills, receipts, bank statements, etc.).  To the above, one should add the digital financial information for those handling their accounts online (e.g. online banking, financial payments and transfers).

This is why we are available to discuss people’s Happiness and/or Healthiness or Summer Holiday Budgets for those who want us to do so.  For those who are struggling with their Happiness or Healthiness Budgets, especially the numerical and digital aspects of these budgets, CENFACS is prepared to look into their Summer Budgets.

We can handle all of the areas or items of their Happiness Budget.  However, we will put a particular emphasis on the following six areas of Happiness Budget which are: income, health, lifeline support, giving or recycling, credit payments and refunds, and unrestricted (freedom) payments and receipts.

The above six accounts cover the six items of happiness and healthiness which make our Season of Happiness and Healthiness. Where possible, the effects of climate change will be included to reflect a budget of a changing climate as well.  We shall also align both aspects of the summer budget to greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and targets. 

Those who would like to discuss with us their Happiness and/or Healthiness Budgets, please feel free to contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

  

• Summer 2021 Festival, Seven Days of Development in July (7DDJ) with a Focus on Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management

How to reduce and/or cancel debts and deficits for the poor to make ends meet

 

The 13^th Edition of our Summer Festival of Thoughts and Actions will start from Thursday the 22^nd of July 2021 as scheduled.

Although debt and deficit are someway linked to each other, we are going to dedicate the first three days of our Festival on debt and the following three days on deficit.  In the last day of our festival, we shall bring together debt and deficit in order to explain ways of working with the poor so that they can meet ends.

For those who will be making any contributions in the form of thoughts and/or comments, it will be good to stick to the daily themes as planned.  Likewise, it makes easy for the good running of the festival to be short and precise in making thoughts or comments.

This will allow capture the impact they are making.   In this way, this will as well enable us to meet the Festival’s aim and get the difference that it will make to the lives of coronavirus-indebted and income deficit families.

 

THINK • ACT • SHARE • ADD VALUE  •  SPREAD

 

• • Event Guide and Programme

 

The following is the make-up of Summer 2021 Festival.

 

• • • 7DDJ Registration: FREE!

 

The entry to the 7DDJ2021 is FREE.

For those who are busy and who can remotely, directly respond to the daily themes from their technological devices (e.g. laptop, desktop PC, tablet, phone, etc.) without having to attend any online sessions, there is no need to register.

For those who will have the opportunity to join our online sessions (or video conference), they may be notified about the days and times these sessions may happen.  They will need to sign into their Google accounts to join if everything remains the same.

 

• • • Daily Themes

 

Daily Themes (DTs) provide a daily opening thought or starting point of the broad topic/issue of Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management.  Each DT will last all day and the only day it is planned.

 

• • • Responses to 7DDJ Contributors

 

Each respondent will receive a reply to their contribution in the form of either an acknowledgement of their participation or a reaction expressed as an argument to their responses or even both.  Also, they will be entitled to receive the summary report on this annual event.

 

• • • Lead Thoughts

 

Lead thoughts, which will be introduced on the day of festival, are a general idea on the thought of the day.  There are designed to lead to or generate more thoughts, potential research paths or investigative grounds that can be further explored to shade some lights to our Summer Thoughts and Actions.  They are not an end for themselves.

 

MAKE YOUR IDEAS AND COMMENTS COUNT!

 

• • • 7 Daily Themes

 

Day 1: Political economy of private debt re-negotiation

Day 2: Debt management plan

Day 3: Help and aid for poor people’s debts

Day 4: Managing COVID-19 induced income surplus decreases  

Day 5: Dealing with the excess of poverty line over a family’s income

Day 6: Managing budget deficit to control income deficit 

Day 7: Sustainable Solutions to Poor’s and Families’ Debts and Deficits  

 

• • Supporting the 7DDJ2021 event

 

• • • 7 Ways of Supporting 7DDJ2021

 

You could

√ Post your thoughts, comments and views on any themes and topics of the event directly to CENFACS

√ Pass the message onto interested persons

√ Feedback on previous 7DDJF events

√ Promote the event around you and/or by using other means available to you and at your convenience

√ Help us re-cover the expenses of the event specifically and/or the running cost of CENFACS’ work generally

√ Support CENFACS on a regular basis to enable us to continue our work

√ Support our new initiative about Capacity-based Solutions to Debt and Deficit Servicing

 

• • • 7 Ways of Proceeding with your Wish

 

Please choose below the kind of support you want to provide and let us know

√ Promote the event

√ Feedback CENFACS on previous events

√ Circulate the news about the event

√ Help in the recovery of 7DDJ 2021 expenses

√ Fund CENFACS for its deserving work and causes

√ Provide helpful and supportive comments/views

√ Support CENFACS in your own way

Please mail your intent to support and or support to CENFACS

Closing date for reply: 05/08/2021 

Please read the above event supporting information and mail us your comments and views (on the themes of your interest) to facs@cenfacs.org.uk

Thank you for your continued support.

With best wishes and full of inspiration and creativity throughout our dedicated days of Festival of Thoughts and Actions on: Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management

The 7DDJ2021 Events Team,

Thank you.

 

 

 

• Impact Monitoring and Evaluation of 2020-2021 Programmes, Projects and Activities: Only 10 Days to Go!

 

We have ten days left for our Analytics month.  We are again appealing to you to tell us (in your own words, numbers and info-graphics) your perceptions, feelings and experiences about the programmes and projects we ran in the last 345 days preceding the beginning of July 2021.

Although we have selected 12 initiatives for Impact Feedback and Assessment One and 9 ones for Impact Feedback and Assessment Two for monitoring and evaluation purposes, we are not expecting people to provide feedback on all of them.  People can only feedback on the project(s) and programme(s) they benefited from, supported, recommended users to us or interacted within.  We again suggest picking up ONLY 1 or 2 initiatives for feedback.

Please feel free to say what you experienced.

Again, thank you for your experiential support!

 

 

 

 

• Distress-free Life from Enduring Coronavirus for Children, Young People and Families in Africa

  

This Summer 2021 Humanitarian Appeal, which is one of the Summer Appeal projects making the first part of our Summer Programme, is still running.

The appeal is about supporting children, young people and families (CYPFs) in places in Africa where healthcare systems are extremely vulnerable and weak, and cannot cope with the mounting pressure and damaging effects of the Covid-19.

Supporting this appeal means helping CYPFs to minimise and mitigate the life-threatening and –destroying impacts of Covid-19 on these CYPFs. Your support will help to reduce the risks stemming from the economic and health threats that have been caused by Covid-19.  One can think of a child or young person without any dreams and expectations.  What will be his/her future?

We hope you are keeping in mind these CYPFs who desperately need help and support.

To support, just contact CENFACS on this website.

 

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Projects in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19

 

•  •  Understanding CENFACS’ Happiness and Healthiness Projects

 

Covid-19 has challenged our perception of happiness and healthiness.  It has shaken the fabric of our poverty-relieving systems.  Happiness and healthiness can have different meanings for those in most in need and poverty in today’s prevailing conditions of Covid-19.

Despite that, it is possible to find health relief and happy fulfilment while still controlling the Covid-19 factor this Summer 2021.  It is possible to make the conditions of being physically, mentally and socially sound better this Summer.

This Summer, we are going to focus on ways of finding this health relief and happy fulfilment in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19.  In other words, our centre of interest is on what will keep children, young people and families happy (or unhappy) and healthy (or unhealthy) over Summer under the conditions of Covid-19 and climate change.  In order to keep them happy and healthy, there is a need to budget and deliver Happiness and Healthiness Projects.

 

• • • What are Happiness and Healthiness Projects?

 

CENFACS’ Happiness Projects are poverty-relieving responses to bring joyful lives while reducing misery for poor children, young people and families over the summer period and beyond it. 

CENFACS’ Healthiness Projects are poverty-relieving responses to bring freedoms from diseases (including epidemics, virus like Covid-19) while reducing misery for poor children, young people and families over the summer period and beyond it.

 

• • Determining factors or indicators of happiness and healthiness

 

The underlying principles or philosophy of these life evaluation projects are in line with the main factors or indicators that define happiness as both a social and personal concept as explained in successive World Happiness Reports edited by Helliwell et al. (2).

These editors distinguish the social foundations of happiness from personal happiness, although the two are complementary.  They argue that the science of measuring and understanding subjective well-being and happiness indicates that to be happy, one needs to meet the following six key variables or predictors that explain happiness differences among countries which include: 

income (Gross Domestic Product per capita), healthy life expectancy at birth, social support (having someone to count on in times of trouble), generosity, freedom to make life choices and trust (perceptions of corruption). 

For example, Helliwell et al. (3) argued in their 2020 World Happiness Report that

“Sub-Saharan Africa is not only the areas in the world with low happiness scores, but also a region in which happiness differences between the city and countryside are most pronounced in favour of city life” (p. 40)

The report went on in explaining that African countries with most pronounced urban-rural differences in life evaluation include: Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Benin, Central African Republic, South Africa, Gambia, Niger, Liberia and Egypt.

In their World Happiness Report 2021, Helliwell at al. (4) note that

“Life expectancy has much improved in Sub-Saharan Africa… Life expectancy has become much more equal, and has increased in Sub-Saharan Africa for seven years” (p. 194)

When talking about key determinants of happiness and misery, they again argue that happiness is caused by factors such as income, employment, health and family life.

 

• • • Happiness is about ending poverty and misery

 

CENFACS Happines Projects address the issues encapsulated inside the above variables and factors while keeping in mind first the needs of the CENFACS Community.  This is because we think the way to keep people happier is to reduce as much as possible poverty and misery among them.   Happiness is about ending poverty and misery. 

As we have brought in the concepts of changing climate into our happiness projects, happiness is finally about ending poverty and misery amongst children, young people and families in an era of changing climate.

 

• • • Healthiness is about ending poor health and poor sanitation

 

CENFACS Healthiness Projects address the issues enclosed in the above variables and factors, particularly healthy life expectancy in this Summer 2021.  The projects will help to keep in mind the needs of the CENFACS Community in terms of healthiness.

Keeping people healthier is to reduce as much as possible health and sanitation poverty and misery among them.   Healthiness is about ending health poverty and misery.   As we have brought in the exceptional sanitary circumstances the world is facing with Covid-19, Healthiness is finally about ending poor health and poor sanitation amongst children, young people and families in an era of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

 

• • Delivering Healthiness and Healthiness with 6 Projects for 3 Beneficiaries

 

6 Projects to bring Happiness and Healthiness to 3 beneficiaries: Poor Children, Young People and Families

 

Summer is a holiday season of the year during which most of the schools are closed and families with small children and young people in much needed help are forced to stay with them and or use this time of the year to take holiday.  The usual routine of educational/academic establishments with their recreational activities is scaled down.

This Summer is even restricted since many children, young people and families (CYPFs) may be forced to stay home if COVID-19 restrictions continue due to the threats of Covid-19 new variants.  Yet, these CYPFs are in need of seasonal and recreational activities and programmes for improving their well-being, healthiness and happiness.

There are ways of ensuring that summer stays an interesting and enjoyable period for Multi-dimensionally Poor Children, Young People and Families.  There are things that can be done to make summertime a season of Happiness, Peace, Vulnerability-free, Healthiness, Protection and Sustainability.  There should be projects that can help them to adapt and mitigate the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the side effects of lockdowns.  There should be projects that can help them to adapt and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

 

• • • Summer 2021 Happiness and Healthiness Projects

 

The following CENFACS suite of summer 2021 initiatives can help in achieving some joyful, healthful and helpful summer plans, goals and outcomes in the new Age of Covid-19 and changing climate.

CENFACS Happiness and Healthiness Projects include:

 

1) Holiday with Relief a focus on ‘Restricted Holiday’

2) Build Forward Better Summer Break 

3) Summer Harmony with Nature

4) Hot Barriers to Build Forward Better

5) Networking for Protection and Safeguarding in the Post-Covid-19 Era

6) Build Forward Community Care and Health Responsibility

 

There is a link between these six initiatives.  For example, in order to build forward better Summer break that is within coronavirus restrictions one may need to keep COVID-19 barriers and be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, build harmonious relationships with the nature, network for protection and safeguarding, and act in a responsible way in the interest of their own happiness and public healthiness.

These projects are the combination of skills, knowledge, resources, tools, tactics, fixers, enhancements, boosters and tasters for the relief from Covid-19-induced poverty and poverty due to the lack of happiness.  In the preparation of our Summer 2021 programme for CYPFs, we have considered the continuing happiness and healthiness effects of Covid-19 and climate change.

All the six Happiness and Healthiness Projects will be Covid-19 Secure and Compliant; just as they take into account the happiness and healthiness effects of changing climate.  This will be done to help improve life evaluation while taking actions to enhance the same life in the context and under the constraint of Covid-19 dominance and changing climate. 

In this way, Summer can be a season of Happiness and Healthiness NOT of Misery for un-served and under-served children, young people and families who are at the same time victims of the adverse and far-reaching effects of Covid-19 and climate change.

They are the victims of adverse and far-reaching effects of Covid-19 because Covid-19 is an economic and health threat.  It has taken them economically and healthily in hostage by affecting the way they dress, eat, house, educate, entertain, enjoy, care for their health and body, look after their homes, and above all the way they pass their Summer holiday.  They are also suffering from the consequences of changing climate, which is transforming the way they consume, produce and entertain themselves.

For details about CENFACS Happiness and Healthiness Projects 2021 and to access them, please contact CENFACS.

 

_________

 

References

  

(1) https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Impact-Assessment.pdf (accessed July 2021)

 (2) Helliwell, J., Layard, R., Sachs, J. (2017, 2018 & 2019), World Happiness Reports (2017, 2018 & 2019), New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network

(3) Helliwell, J., Layard, R., Sachs, J. & De Neve J. E. (2020), World Happiness Report (2020), New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network

(4) Helliwell, John F., Richard Layard, Jeffrey Sachs, and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, eds. 2021, World Happiness Report 2021, New York, Sustainable Development Solutions Network

http://worldhappiness.report/ (accessed July 2021)

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

14 July 2021

 

Post No. 204

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment (Level 1): Impact Monitoring and Evaluation of 2020-2021 Programmes, Projects and Activities

• Data Analytics of User-generated Content

• Coming this July 2021: Summer Festival of Thoughts and Actions with a Focus on Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment (Level 1): Impact Monitoring and Evaluation of 2020-2021 Programmes, Projects and Activities

 

Our Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Review, Assurance and Analytics for July 2021  have already started with Impact Feedbacks.  These feedbacks are about carrying out activities in order to get the early results or impacts of the programmes and projects we ran during the financial year 2020-2021. They are part of the level one of our July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment. 

We are holding two types of feedback: one from individuals as project supporters and users; and another one from organisations, particularly Africa-based Sister Organisations. 

 

(1) Project Supporters’ and Users’ Experiences (Feedback I)

 

This week’s Say by Project Supporters and Users will continue our Analytics Month.  Project Supporters and Users can start to tell us the experiences they have had with the programmes and projects we have selected to conduct monitoring, evaluation, review, assurance and analytics.

We are asking Project Supporters, Users and other stakeholders to provide their views using their own words rather than we asking them to respond to open or close questions.

To ease the feedback process, we have singled out 12 initiatives from which they can pick and choose to provide their feedback.

They can give us feedbacks (responses and reactions) in the form of rating (numbers), statement (words) and information graphics (infographics like charts, graphs, etc.).  This Say is about how they perceived and interacted with the products and services we presented to them over the last 345 days.

 

(2) Africa-based Sister Organisations’ Voices (Feedback II)

 

These are too initiatives that we ran in the last financial year; initiatives that directly or indirectly aimed at supporting Africa-based Organisations or just advancing poverty reduction and sustainable development agendas in Africa.  These initiatives were in the form of humanitarian appeals, fundraising and Covid-19 campaigns, advocacy work, project planning and advice, etc. 

We would like to hear the voices of Africa-based Organisations so that we can know where things went well and where they did not.  This will enable us to reflect their needs in future programmes and projects development, while improving the way in which we are working with them in general and tackling the poverty issue in Africa in particular. 

Their voices are important to us since we can only help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development unless those who are concerned with these issues own the process by telling us what they want and how they perceive their own problems rather than we telling them what is good for them.

Like for individuals responding to our request, organisations do not need specific questions to provide their feelings about our work.  They can freely give their feedback in numerical, textual and information graphic statements.

To facilitate this feedback process, we have selected 9 initiatives from which they can pick and choose to provide their feedback.

The selected 2020-2021 programmes and projects for the purpose of feedback making our Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Review, Assurance and Analytics are given in the Main Development section of this post.

 

 

• Data Analytics of User-generated Content

 

This is about the analysis of raw and semi-structured data provided or generated by users and other vested parties involved in the delivery of 2020-201 programmes and projects.  This type of analytics requires the use of data literacy and methodology as well as analytical skills.  As scheduled, this analytics started on 12 July 2021.  Before going any further in this presentation, let us briefly explain user-generated content, data analytics and what we are going to do or are doing in this respect.

 

• • Brief understanding of User-generated Content

 

To explain User-generated Content (UGC), we are going to refer to Jose Angelo Gallagos’ online article.  Gallagos (1) argues that

“User-generated content is any content that has been created, published and/or submitted by users of a brand”.

The content that Gallagos is arguing about can be in the form of images, tweets, videos, text, audio, social media posts, reviews, comments, blog posts, testimonials, feedback, etc.

As far as CENFACS is concerned, we are going to carry out the analytics of user-generated content during their journey to poverty reduction with us.  In this respect, we are going to analytically process the content provided by CENFACS’ users, fans, enthusiasts and audience to support CENFACS‘ brand or as they navigate the road to poverty reduction.

 

• • Meaning of data analytics

 

To make things easily understandable for our readers and supporters, we have selected the following online definition from investopedia.com (3) which states that

“Data analytics is the science of analysing raw data in order to make conclusions about that information”

We are going to turn to this definition and other notions read within the literature survey about the concept of ‘data analytics’ in order to conduct the analytics of data or content generated by users of our programmes, projects and activities.

 

• • Data analytics in practice and progress

 

We are going to combine information technology, statistics and the life of CENFACS over 2020-2021 to discover patterns in data.  In doing so, this will help us to improve performance in terms of the kind of work we do in order to help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.

In our data analytics process, we are going to undertake the following tasks:

(a) Data mining: extraction of data from unstructured data sources

(b) Data management: creation and management of databases

(c) Statistical analysis: creation of insights from data

(d) Data presentation: sharing of insights with stakeholders through data visualisation. 

Where necessary and possible, we may involve online affordable analytics programmes to help in this exercise. 

For those users who did not yet respond to our previous requests regarding any of the projects or events they took part or came across, this is the opportunity to share their content and provide their SAY or content or even  data so that we can fit it into our analytics work. 

For example, the users of Triple Value Initiatives (or All Year Round Projects) can inform us about the progress they have made so far.  They can as well share results of collaborations and synergies across these projects.  This information or data can be fitted into our Data Analytics Dashboard.

To sum up user-generated content or data analytics will help to provide actionable insights and user trend analysis.  It will help to review deliveries and analyse the end-of-financial year performance regarding work undertaken with users.  The result of this analytics will feed and align with the contents of our annual review 2020-2021. 

To give and share your SAY or content or even data to help us in this analytics, please contact CENFACS. 

 

 

 

• Coming this July 2021: Summer Festival of Thoughts and Actions with…

Seven Days of Development in July (7DDJ)

In focus for this year’s 7DDJ: Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management

How to reduce or cancel financial debts and deficits for the poor to make ends meet

 

One of the legacies of the coronavirus pandemic is that many people and families, especially those in most need, have become poorer than before the coronavirus crisis began.  Many of the ordinary families are in serious financial/income deficit.  Those who managed to take a loan; they are also suffering from the burden of loan repayment despite all the talks about the coronavirus financial help.

In these circumstances, there is a need to rethink the financial fate of these poor families on how financial debts and deficits can be reduced or cancelled so that they can make ends meet.  There is also a need to ensure that the debts and deficits they hold do not lead to another type of poverty like intergenerational poverty. 

To help and work with these COVID-19-indebted and income deficit families to navigate their way out of this problem, we will be holding our seven days of thoughts on this matter.  Through these seven days of thoughts, we are going to think ways forward for them to build back and forward their financial position.  We shall as well reconsider the already globally known proposition of COVID-19 debt cancellation.  

As usual, they will be seven themes for thoughts for seven days, one theme per day, starting from the 22nd to the 28th of July 2021.

The seven days of development in July are the days of thoughts and actions against poverty; in this case against financial or income poverty.  The seven themes will be the entry points in order to stimulate thoughts and actions.

We shall soon publish the daily themes and supporting information regarding this year’s Summer Festival of Thoughts and Actions.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Reduction of Urban Poverty in Africa

 

Africa is working on a new urban agenda.  As way of supporting CENFACS’ Africa-based Sister Organisations working in urban areas of Africa, we are dealing with urban poverty, particularly its root causes and ways of tackling it.  However, what is urban poverty?

 

• • Defining urban poverty

 

There are many ways in which urban poverty can be conceptualised.  One way of conceptualising it has been given by Ana Belén Cano-Hila (4) who argues that

“Urban poverty refers to the set of economic and social difficulties that are found in industrialised cities and that are the result of a combination of processes such as the establishment of comfortable living standards, the increase in individualism, processes of social fragmentation, and the dualization of the labour market, which translates into social dualization”.   

These economic and social hardships can also be found in developing cities and towns like those of Africa.  At this time of the coronavirus, these difficulties have worsened for the urban poor in some of the cities in Africa.  It is not a surprise if the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and others (2) recently argue that

“In many urban and peri-urban areas, poverty and inequality prevent the most vulnerable from accessing nutritious foods,…” (p. 199)

This argument or statement applies to many urban areas of Africa.

 

• • Urban poverty in the era of COVID-19

 

At this era of COVID-19, urban poor could be amongst the most suffering from poverty since most towns and cities in Africa have been under draconian rules or simply closed to control and contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.  As some of urban poor have their survival dependant on street life, many of them find themselves in even deeper poverty during this COVID-19 time. 

So, we are working on the reduction of urban poverty.  This work falls within the scope of CENFACS’ 2020s Development Agenda and Poverty Reduction Programme.  As part of this work, we are supporting our Africa-based Sister Organisations; organisations tirelessly working to tackle the causes of urban poverty such as migration from rural to urban area, lack of opportunities and skills development, lack of affordability and quality education, etc. 

For those who would like to add their input to our work, they are welcome to contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Holiday with Relief

 

In focus for 2021 Edition: Restricted Holiday

 

Holiday with Relief is one of CENFACS useful and helpful ICDP (individual Capacity Development Programme) resources for holiday makers and travellers.  The resource, which is published during Spring of every year, can also be used during Summer holiday or any holiday.

It is a wealth of contents as it provides tips, hints, tricks, fixes, enhancements, information, guidance and support in terms of passing holiday for multi-dimensional poor children, young people and families; especially at this time of the coronavirus pandemic.  During this time, human happiness and freedom to take and enjoy holiday have been restricted by the requirements of COVID-19 containment of measures. 

This year’s Holiday with Relief with its theme of Restricted Holiday is designed to help those in need by having happy and healthy holiday (e.g. Summer holiday) within the old measures of human protection and newly mounted boundaries of the COVID-19 containment measures and restrictions. 

Indeed, the way in which everybody passes their holiday has been restricted by a number of factors such as COVID-19, various lockdowns, COVID-19 vaccine, the state of the global economy, climate change requirements, protection of the nature, the exit from the EU, etc.

If any one of these multi-dimensional poor children, young people and families is contemplating a happy and healthy Summer holiday under the constraint of COVID-19 rules; then CENFACS’ Holiday with Relief is the resource to consider in their holiday planning.

The resource is free to order.  However, CENFACS would not mind any voluntary donation to help the enormous amount of effort and cost put in by its volunteers to produce it.  Your contribution will help to keep it running and update, as well as help the community in need.

To enquire about this resource, just contact CENFACS.  

  

• Impact Monitoring and Evaluation from the perspective of Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs)

 

This week, we are as well looking at the way in which our Africa-based Sister Organisations perceive impact monitoring and evaluation.  It is pointless to mention that theories of monitoring and evaluation used can be the same.  But, the context in which these theories can be applied and the perception of the impact monitoring and evaluation could be slightly different. 

Because of these differences in perceptions and theory applications, it is a great idea to exchange views with our ASOs on impact monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects in the African context.  This is an enriched and technically valuable exercise which will enable both sides to align works, cement their partnership and continue to develop sustainable initiatives.

We are therefore inviting ASOs that have stories or case studies about their own impact monitoring and evaluation to share with us.  Likewise, we are asking to those ASOs that need advisory support in the area of impact monitoring and evaluation to let us know.  This is an opportunity to learn and develop best practices and policies in this area.

Need to share your work or experience in terms of impact monitoring and evaluation for the programmes and projects you are running, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

 

 

Main Development

 

• July 2021 All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment (Level 1): Impact Monitoring and Evaluation of 2020-2021 Programmes, Projects and Activities

 

Last week, we said that the name of the July game at CENFACS is Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Review and Analytics.  In other words, July is the tracking month during which we conduct our Impact monitoring, evaluation, review and analytics of the projects and programmes we delivered during almost last 11 months and 2 weeks.

 

• • Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Review, Assurance and Analytics in progress

 

We are still routinely gathering information on all aspects of these programmes and projects related to the above named period.  Likewise, we are assessing what these programmes and projects have achieved in relation to the overall objectives we set up for them.  Also, we are critically examining, reappraising or reconsidering our objectives and policies to achievements, and figuring out whether there is any progress or set back.  Furthermore, we are making sure that the impact process is independently carried out and can help us to assess the health and viability of programmes and projects delivered.

Besides the above four activities (monitoring, evaluation, assurance and review), we are working to find out, interpret and communicate patterns in data in a meaningful way to the work of CENFACS, as part of the analytics activity.

Once we have completed the July Impact monitoring, evaluation, review and analytics; we shall communicate the findings to our respondents and any vested interested parties.

In meantime, we are inviting supporters and users as well as Africa-based Sister Organisations to engage with us in responding and reacting to our poverty relief work in their own words and numbers.  They can rate and or provide a statement about these programmes and projects.  Where possible, they can provide information graphics (such as charts, graphs, images, etc.).

 

• • All-in-One Impact Feedbacks: Tell it in your own words, numbers and info-graphics!

 

There are many types or models of feedback.  In this exercise of feedback about the 2020-2021 programmes and projects, we are referring to impact feedback.  The latter is about giving feedback from the perspectives of users and African organisations by describing the programmes and projects delivered by CENFACS from their points of view.  It is an observation, but not an evaluation from their part.  They could describe the impact these programmes and projects have on them and what they like to be different. 

The exercise is meant to enable Supporters and Users (you might be one of them) as well as Africa-based Sister Organisations to share with us and others the outcomes and learning experiences resulting from the use or application of the projects we have chosen from our Programmes for feedback purpose.

Please seize this opportunity to provide your own lines of thought for improvement, adjustment and development by sharing with us and others the outcomes and/or experiences resulting from the communications we have had with you and or your use/application or participation/support concerning the programmes and projects below.

We would like to know how effective and efficient did you find in these programmes and projects, and what lessons, experiences did you learn and development for the future of our poverty relief work in coming years.

 

• • Summer Selection and Collection of 12 Initiatives for Feedback One and 9 for Feedback Two

 

We would like to inform you that some of the projects selected may have the same title like the year before.  However, the focus and contents for this year and each year are completely different.  In other words, what matters is not the title of the project or programme, but what is inside them or their insight.

We have selected the following programmes and projects for Feedback I and II.

 

 

• • • Feedback I: Projects and Programmes for Feedback from Individuals (Supporters and Users’ Experiences)

 

There are 12 selected initiatives for Feedback I as follows:

 

√ The Great Beasts Campaign 2020 

√ “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature) Campaign 2020

√ COVID-19 Campaign (The Campaign for Resilience against the Coronavirus Pandemic)

√ Zero Income Deficit Campaign

√ Digital and Social Media campaign

√ CENFACS’ 2020s Development Agenda and Poverty Reduction Programme

√ Climate Action 2021

√ Build Back and Forward Better Programmes

√ Advice-giving Service

√ All-in-Development Story Telling Series/Programme 2021

√ Arts and Design Project 2021

√ Translation Service

 

 

 

• • • Feedback II: Projects and Programmes for Feedback from Organisations (Africa-based Sister Organisations’ Voices)

 

We have selected 9 initiatives for Feedback II as follows:

 

√ The African Sahel 2020 Humanitarian Corridors Appeal

√ The African Sahel and Lake Chad Basin Appeal against Extreme Poverty

√ 2020 Peace Appeal for the Horn of Africa Region

√ Making Zero Hunger Africa Campaign with a focus on Agriculturalists and Pastoralists

√ Halving Poverty in Africa’s Central Sahel; Halving Poverty for and with Children in Emergency in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

√ Ituri Peace Appeal (Peace Appeal for Ituri Region of the North-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo)

√ Tigray Peace Appeal and Re-appeal

√ Protection of the Acutely Food-insecure People in the Central African Sahel and Lake Chad Basin

√ Tigray Food Appeal and Re-appeal  

 

The above selected 2020-2021 programmes and projects may seem a lot for a feedback purpose. However, what we have done is to give to people and organisations the opportunity to choose or pick the one (s) they know or associate with to feedback.  For the effectiveness of the feedback, we suggest that people or organisations to pick only 1 or 2 initiatives to give their feedback.  Also, it is better to be concise when making your feedback.

 

• • • How do you provide your feedback?

 

There are online feedback collection tools (such as survey monkey, visual feedback, type form, online review, etc.).  For the simplicity of our Impact Feedback, we would very much appreciate if you could provide us your feedback…

(a) via e-mail, text, phone, web comments or reviews

(b) in your own words, numbers and information graphics (info-graphics).

Please do it by saying the way in which the above named programmes and projects have affected you or the people you recommended to use them or your organisation or sister organisation.

You could rate (by using numbers or percentages or ratios) these programmes and projects or provide a statement (by using words) or even give a chart or table (as information graphics). This is aptly up to you.

Remember, we can only help reduce poverty and do the changes we all want if you tell us what you think; not us only telling you what we do.

Please consider our request for feedback and for your testimonial support.

 

• • • Need further information about the above programmes and projects before your feedback 

 

Those who have been following the work CENFACS does will be familiar with the above mentioned projects and programmes.  They may not need further details about them.

Those who want to provide feedback and would like to request the details or summaries of the above selected programmes and projects prior to their feedback, they are free to make their request to us.

Thank you for considering our request of feedback and for your testimonial support.

This feedback is due by the END OF JULY 2021.

_________

 

References

(1) Jose Angelo Gallegos (2016), What is User Generated Content: Complete Guide to UGC & Why you need it  

https://www.tinup.com/blog/user-generated-content-definition (accessed July 2021)

(2) FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WEP and WHO (2021), The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021: Transforming food systems for food security, improved nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all, Rome, FAO.

https;//doi.org/10.4060/cb4474en

(3) https://www.investopia.com/terms/d/data-analytics.asp (accessed July 2021)

(4) Cano, Ana Belén (2019), “Urban Poverty”, In the Wiley Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Urban and Regional Studies, edited by A. M. Orum, 1-7, Hoboken, N.J. Wiley-Blackwell

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

07 July 2021

 

Post No. 203

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Analytics Month

• The Next Issue of Summer Financial Updates (Summer 2021 Edition) will be entitled: Managing Nature and Build-forward-better Accounts 

• Leafy Year and Analytics Month

 

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Analytics Month

 

July is CENFACS’ Analytics month as it is the time of the year during which we conduct the impact monitoring, evaluation, review and analytics of our programmes and projects.  Through this exercise, we analyse what we did over the last 345 days, seize the outputs and, if possible, capture the early impacts made.

It is the time we review what worked well, what badly worked and what did not work at all.  We do it by bringing all together the programmes and projects as well as activities that made the preceding financial year.  This is what we usually call All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment. 

It is a feedback because we ask all our stakeholders to give their opinions about our work.  We expect them to provide us with their unbiased, independent, true and fair views and feelings about our work.  From what they feedback and what we have collected as data, we can assess or judge our performance against aims, goals and targets of poverty reduction and sustainable development we set up at the beginning of the financial year.  This also guides us to adjust and redevelop our programmes and projects.  In doing so, this gives us the opportunity to predict and plan future activities while rebuilding and reconnecting with stakeholders.

For more information about All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment or CENFACS’ Analytics Month, please read under the Main Development section of this post.

 

 

 

• The Next Issue of Summer Financial Updates (Summer 2021 Edition) will be entitled: Managing Nature and Build-forward-better Accounts

 How to capture financial information linked to the nature and build forward better into your household accounts

 

The 2021 Edition of Summer Financial Updates (SFIs), which takes stock of the 2020 Edition of SFIs, is a good insight that builds on the relationship between human harmony with the nature and the principles to build forward better together greener and cleaner from the side effects of the coronavirus pandemic.  It deals with two types of accounts at household level which are: natural capital accounts and build-forward-better accounts.

 

• • Nature or natural capital accounts

 

Nature or natural capital accounts are related to the management and preservation of the nature at the level of household.  They can be expressed in terms of expenses, income and saving related to natural resources and environmental assets management like water, soil, air, plants, animals and minerals.  They can be translated into expenses and incomes to cover these expenses which can help to build financial statements such as household balance sheets, profit and loss account, etc. 

They are interesting since many people and families are adopting nature-based solutions to consume and produce.  Also, natural assets are not infinitely substitute.  Therefore, better managing their accounts at household level can help to ensure that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which households’ well-being relies upon.

 

• • Build-forward-better accounts

 

These are a set of accounts helping to ensure that the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic sits on sound and sustainable foundations that both build back better and move forward households greener and cleaner.  The accounts to build forward better will be those adversely affected by the coronavirus and accidental/unintended damages caused by the containment measures meant to deal with the coronavirus.  In this respect, there is not a ‘one-size-fits-all approach’.  All depends on each household’s accounts and budget. 

However, on average most ordinary households have seen their health and house cleaning budgets affected during the coronavirus pandemic.  This is because we all have been recommended to often wash our hands, disinfect our home and its contents, wear personal protective equipment against the coronavirus, etc.  They are the accounts linked to the protection against the coronavirus pandemic that include items dealing with personal hygiene, cleaning, sanitation, personal protective equipment, etc. to protect and save lives from the life-threatening and destroying impacts of the Covid-19.  Spending on these items and accounts has dramatically increased for many of the ordinary households.   They need to be built forward.

The 2021 Edition of SFIs is more than a foundation for households to familiarise with the kinds of good accounting and management practice about their relationship with nature while including Covid-19 effects into their family accounts and budgets.  They help to build a frame or structure in the process of moving forward better greener and cleaner from the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Issue does not stop there as it contains some examples of nature and build-forward-better accounts and financial statements while providing some good leads for good management and control of household budgets in terms of comparative approach between ratios.

Finally, the 2021 Edition of SFIs facilitates our understanding of the complex information surrounding the current economic situation which is still dominated by the legacies of Covid-19, while providing some tips and hints to adapt, mitigate and build forward better household economics.  In this respect the Issue is both an update to the current economic situation and a scenario analysis in terms of what this situation means for the poor and disadvantaged people.

To find out more about this resource, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Leafy Year and Analytics Month

 

• • What Leafy Year and Analytics Month are about

 

Leafy Year is our dedication of 2021 as a leafy year or a year of leaves of poverty reduction.  As we are in a global situation of a challenging pain brought by the coronavirus pandemic, leaves can be a way of relieving us from pains brought by the coronavirus and of building forward better lives. 

Analytics Month is the month of the discovery, interpretation and communication of meaningful patterns and trends in data.  It is the month during which we try to gain insight of the meaning of data from the preceding financial in terms of poverty reduction and sustainable development.  

 

• • Possible links between Leafy Year and Analytics Month

 

This month, we are doing some analytics via leaves.  We are looking at how leaves can help us in discovering, interpreting and communicating meaningful patterns in data about poverty reduction and sustainable development.   In doing so, this will enable us to identify the linking elements or connectors that will enable to establish some relationships between our Leafy Year and Analytics Month.

The findings of this exercise will be summarised and published in our different documents (e.g. annual and quarterly reports, project reports, other financial statements, etc.).  They will as well be presented or showcased during eventful occasions such as exhibitions, fairs, expositions, festivals, markets, etc.  These presentations can be physical or online or both.  

To enquire or make query about CENFACS’ Leafy Year and Analytics Month, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Happiness and Healthiness Budgets for Poor Children, Young People and Families

 

It is always hard to ask those (like poor children, young people and families) who experience poverty and literally have no income or income below the poverty line, to write a budget about anything, especially for their happiness or healthiness or even holidays.

Whether or not a poor person is happy or healthy or takes holidays; they need happiness, healthiness, holiday budget or simply a budget to plan their sources of income and ways of meeting their expenses over a particular time of the year (e.g. Summer holiday).  The same person needs to plan how they are going to meet basic life-sustaining health costs.

Although we have the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, there are other health costs which are not covered by the NHS.  These additional and basic life-sustaining health costs may include: personal hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting costs related to the protection against the Covid-19 and other bacteria.  These additional costs can be included into the happiness and healthiness budgets.

One can as well integrate other items of happiness (like health and life satisfaction) and the metrics of healthiness and well-being into their budget.  They can do it by putting together the items of income per capita (or monetary income) and non-monetary ones into happiness or well-being budget.

The happiness and healthiness budgets, or put it simply holiday and basic health accounts, help to assess where and how much help is needed.  Therefore, poor people and families need to do their income sums and build them into their happiness, holiday and basic health expenses budgets and accounts or simply Summer expenses budgets or accounts.

To discuss your happiness, healthiness and Summer holiday budgets, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Tigray Food Re-appeal

 

This is a continuous appeal regarding the food crisis and hunger situation in Tigray.  We are carrying on in appealing because the critical situation in Tigray does not show any signs of abating.

According to local sources, more than 400,000 people in Tigray are now suffering from famine, 1.8 million others on the brink and 33,000 children are severely malnourished.  Acute food insecurity and hunger continue to claim their victims there.

The data from the various sources of information tell the same story and speak for the appalling condition of the peoples of Tigray.  We know that at this challenging time, it is not easy to support many causes even deserving ones.  However, this is despicable situation that deserves serious attention and help.

Therefore, CENFACS would like to re-appeal to you to help reduce the drivers of food crisis in Tigray, which are conflict and insecurity.

CENFACS hopes you will without hesitation act upon this food re-appeal to create and innovate so that the food sufferers in Ethiopia’s Tigray can get access to humanitarian support, which has been extremely restricted so far, and to food as well as navigate their way to sustainable and inclusive peace. 

You can directly help the peoples of Tigray without contacting CENFACS.  However, to discuss this re-appeal and the previous ones, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Help CENFACS’ Charity e-Store to Help Reduce Poverty

 

CENFACS’ Charity e-Store is still opened since the easing of non-essential retail restrictions and the unlocking of the charity retail sector restarted.

We are following the strict restrictions and guidance regarding the control and surveillance of Covid-19 and its variants, as well as the protection and saving of lives.

For the health and safety of everybody, all goods donations will be quarantined for at least 72 hours.

Our enhanced sanitation and cleaning methods and practices are firmly in place and constantly reviewed depending on the latest information received on the COVID-19 matter. 

We hope you are doing the same in the interest of public health and safety.

Please do not hesitate to donate goods or purchase what is available at CENFACS’ Charity e-Store.

Many lives have been threatened and destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic.  The coronavirus pandemic variants continue to pose economic and health life-threatening and –destroying threats and damages.  Those who managed to survive this health disaster, they need help.  We need help to help them come out poverty and hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

To donate or purchase goods, please go to: http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/

 

 

Main Development

 

• Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Review and Analytics

 

The name of the July game at CENFACS is Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Review and Analytics.  July is the month during which we conduct our impact monitoring, evaluation, review and analytics of the projects and programmes we delivered during almost last 11 months and 2 weeks. 

Before giving the contents of the Analytics Month, let us re-explain the key words we are using for the purpose of this Analytics month.

 

• • Key Words for the Analytics Month

 

There are five key words we are using which are: impact, monitoring, evaluation, review and analytics.

 

=> Impact

 

Normally, it takes a considerable amount of time to get the real impact of any intervention, project and programme.  However, because we are talking about finding out what projects and programmes have achieved, it makes sense to clarify what we mean by impact. 

To do that, we are going to borrow the definition of impact from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  The OECD (1) differentiates ex ante impact from ex post impact.  This is what it argues.

“Ex ante impact analysis is the needs analysis and planning activity of the policy cycle.  It is a prospective analysis of what the impact of an intervention might be, so as to inform policy making”.

“Ex post impact assessment is the evaluation and management of the policy cycle.  Evaluation aims to understand to what extent and how a policy intervention corrects the problem it was intended to address.  Impact assessment focuses on the effects of the intervention, whereas evaluation is likely to cover a wider range of issues such as the appropriateness of the intervention design, the cost and the efficiency of the intervention, its unintended effects and how to use the experience from this intervention to improve the design of future generations”.

The above definitions help to understand the scope and scale of the impact of most interventions. 

As far as CENFACS is concerned, we will be doing evaluation activities for some programmes and projects; and impact assessments for others.  This is because impact assessment is mostly a theory-based activity and has a narrow and tightly-defined focus.  Where we need to design evaluation questions and use evaluation techniques, we will do evaluation.  Where there is a need for a tightly-defined focus, we will do impact assessment. 

We are as well considering that the initiative for change comes from project users or beneficiaries not from CENFACS or CENFACS’ projects or programmes.  This is because the impact analysis model of change we are using is a non-linear one.  Despite this non-linearity of the theory of change used, our impact analysis will still be based on causality and attribution approach. 

    

=> Monitoring and evaluation

 

We are going to use the definition of monitoring and evaluation as given by Kersty Hobson, Ruth Mayne and Jo Hamilton (2) in their “A Step by Step guide to Monitoring and Evaluation”.  They define monitoring as

“the collection and analysis of information about a project or programme undertaken while the project or programme is on-going”. (p. 5)

They also define evaluation as

“the periodic, retrospective assessment of an organisation, project or programme that might be conducted internally or by external independent evaluators”. (p. 5)

From these two definitions, it is understood that monitoring is an on-going process whereas evaluation is a periodic or discrete one.

 

=> Review

 

We have referred to an online source from method123.com (3) for the meaning of this fourth key word.  This online source defines review as

“an assessment of the status of a project at a particular point in time”. 

From this online perspective, we have been performing a project management review at the end of each phase of our projects and programmes.  We have been verifying whether or not we have met the objectives.  If so, then a decision needed to be approved to proceed to the next project or programme phase.

July is the month we put together all these project reviews conducted while doing the last reviews for those projects and programmes pending for a final review.

 

=> Analytics

 

There are many approaches to analytics.  In the context of our July work, we have selected an explanation from an online dictionary (4) which is as follows:

“the patterns and other meaningful information gathered from the analysis of data”.

This kind of analytics will help us to better deliver a user experience for our projects and programmes.

 

• • The analytical process within CENFACS

 

We have been continuously and at discrete points in time tracking what has been happening within our programmes and projects while using the data collected to inform programme and project implementation as well as day-to-day management and decisions during the above named period.  However, in July this monitoring exercise becomes more intense.  

Likewise, we have been periodically assessing objectives of our planned, on-going, or completed projects, programmes, or policies.  During these evaluation processes, we have tried to selectively answer specific questions related to the design, implementation, and results of our programmes and projects.

In July, these evaluation activities become further pronounced as we assess what these programmes and projects have achieved in relation to the overall objectives we set up for them.  The results of this evaluation are fed back to improve these programmes and projects, or alternatively to develop new ones.

Still in July, we critically examine, reappraise or reconsider our objectives and policies to achievements, and see if there is any progress or set back.  This review enables us to improve as well.

Throughout the year, we work to finding out, interpret and communicate patterns in data in a meaningful way to the work of CENFACS.  We apply those patterns in our decision making process.  In July, we put extra emphasis on this analytics which becomes very profound.

Briefly, July is the time we do our Summer tracking by reconsidering the value and relevancy of our work, let one the overall state of our charitable work.  It is in this period of the year that we carry out what we call All-in-One Impact Feedback and Assessment.  In other words, we try to listen to our stakeholders while tracking or capturing the early impacts of our work by considering all the pieces together as one.   

One of the key tools we use to do our impact analysis is CENFACS Analytics Dashboard.

 

 

• • What is CENFACS Analytics Dashboard?

 

CENFACS Analytics Dashboard is an information management tool that tracks, analyses and displays key performance indicators, poverty reduction diagnostics, poverty relief metrics/dashboards, results from CENFACS’ poverty relief league, etc. 

 

• • • What else does CENFACS Analytics Dashboard offer?

 

√ It monitors the health of CENFACS in terms of the relationships of support received to outputs and outcomes generated. 

√ It provides as well charts and summaries about some of the campaigns conducted. 

√ It enables to discover and identify poverty reduction problems from the examination of symptoms it helps find.

√ It assists in engineering analytical solutions to the problem of reducing poverty.

√ It finally helps to retrieve information from CENFACS repository about the resources to help users and supporters.

For example, during the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic, we used CENFACS Analytics Dashboard to check the health of CENFACS and state of running of CENFACS’ projects and programmes.  This checking enabled us to know the extent to which the coronavirus pandemic affected the running of CENFACS and its services.  Knowing the distributional effects of the coronavirus pandemic on our projects and programmes, this knowledge helped us to reorganise these projects and programmes differently.

For more on CENFACS Analytics Dashboard, please contact CENFACS.

 

• • Analytics of Leafy Year as an Example of Analytical Process within CENFACS

 

• • • What is the analytics of CENFACS’ Leafy Year?

 

The analytics or tracking of Leafy Year is the 6-month analysis and turning of raw data insight for making better decisions in terms of helping to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.  To make this possible, we have created a journal of creative activities carried out so far to mark 2021 as a Leafy Year.  This journal is also a record of data.

 

• • • Journal of 2021 activities as a Leafy Year: What leaves can do for those living in poverty

  

⇒ January 2021

 

Activity: Responsible consumption to help in keeping harmony between our consumption of leaves and nature

Analytics quantitative indicator: Quantity or percentage of wasted or conserved leaves during consumption

 

⇒ February 2021

 

Activity: Recycling fallen leaves to help to reduce pressure on the environment and to contribute to the circular economy 

Analytics quantitative indicator: Rate of recycling of fallen leaves

 

⇒ March 2021

 

Activity: Climate action to reverse new patterns and trends so that trees continue to draw carbon dioxide from the air and leaves can rediscover their seasonal course of cycle

Analytics quantitative indicator: Number of actions taken to reverse these patterns

 

⇒ April 2021

 

Activity: Protection of leaves so that their medical properties can continue to help human from and cure diseases 

Analytics quantitative indicator: Number of lives saved from leaves as medicine

 

⇒ May 2021

 

Activity: Use of leaves to tell and express stories of poverty reduction and sustainable development

Analytics qualitative indicator: Changes that happen to our users from stories via leaves

 

⇒ June 2021

 

Activity: Raising creative and productive capacities via leaves in the process of poverty reduction and sustainable development

Analytics quantitative indicator: Rate of conversion of the power of leaves into poverty reduction and the quality of life

 

One can quantify and gain insight of the meaning of the data about the last 6 months of Year of Leaves from this journal of creative activities and make good decision on how to better help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.  

 

• • All-in-one Impact Feedback and Assessment for July 2021

 

This month, we will be conducting three levels of Impact Assessment:

(a)  Impact monitoring and evaluation of the programmes and projects we ran in the last financial year

(b) Impact assessment of the enduring coronavirus pandemic on CENFACS

(c) Impact feedback about our XX236.3F Programme

This Impact Assessment will be ex post.  And the evaluation related to this exercise will aim to understand the extent to which and the way in which our projects and programmes corrected the problems of poverty and unsustainable development amongst our intended beneficiaries.

Let us briefly summarise the three levels of impact assessment to be conducted.

 

(a) Impact monitoring and evaluation of the programmes and projects we ran in the last financial year

 

As the title of impact indicates, it will about putting together in the form of one piece of work all the results of monitoring and evaluation activities we have conducted for programmes and projects we ran in the last financial year.

 

(b) Impact assessment of the enduring coronavirus pandemic on CENFACS

 

We shall continue to seize the impact of Covid-19 on CENFACS, particularly on CENFACS’ 2020s Poverty Reduction Tools and Programme and Development Agenda.  We shall as well examine how the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine has impacted on CENFACS.

 

(c) Impact feedback about our XX236.3F Programme

 

Like last year, this year’s All-in-One Impact Feedback and Assessment will be extended to include our XX236.3F programme as we are in the month of Monitoring and Evaluation.  

XX236.3F is our 2020 to 2030 to 2063 Follow up Programme.  We are following the implementation of the International Climate Change Agreement (or the Paris Treaty), the Istanbul Declaration, the United Nations 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, and Africa’s Agenda 2063.  The four of them make up our XX236.3F programme.

We need to acknowledge that Covid-19 has not made and is not making easier to get the impact feedback about our XX236.3F Programme.  Despite this difficulty, we are still conducting this impact feedback and assessment.

In brief, we shall conduct a follow-up and examination, look back and analyse data on the overall projects and programmes delivered during the above stated period, while keeping implementing our XX236.3F programme.

We shall soon publish the programmes and projects making this year’s Analytics.  In meantime, for any enquiries about the Analytics month, please contact CENFACS.

_________

 

References

(1) https://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/what-is-impact-assessment-OECDImpact.pdf (accessed July 2021)

(2) https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/technologies/projects/monitoringandevaluation.html (accessed July 2021)

(3) https://www.method123.com/initiation-phase-review.php (accessed July 2021)

(4) https://www.dictionary.com/browse/analytics (accessed July 2021)

 

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

30 June 2021

 

Post No. 202

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Season of Happiness 2021 in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19

• Digital and Social Media Campaign (Levels 2 and 3) – In Focus: Digital and Cyber-security Threats to Poverty Reduction

• Reduction of Poverty Linked to Desertification and Drought in Africa

 

…And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Season of Happiness 2021 in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19

 

CENFACS’ Season of Happiness is back with a focus on both happiness and healthiness.  Happiness as we are working on the process of returning some of our services to normal this Summer pending the conditions relating to COVID-19 containment measures. 

Healthiness (as healthy life expectancy as predicator of life evaluation) will be as well trending since COVID-19 continues to rage and changes its shape with the Indian and South African variants. 

In this focus, we should not forget climate change and its impacts as they continue to adversely affect the way in which we feel and pass the Season of Happiness.

Since we are working within the programme of building forward better together greener and cleaner, the Season of Happiness will be about building forward better happiness and healthiness.

Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided further details including the projects and programmes making the Season of Happiness.

 

 

• Digital and Social Media Campaign (Levels 2 and 3) – In Focus: Digital and Cyber-security Threats to Poverty Reduction

 

During this time of the coronavirus pandemic, like anybody else people in need have to rely on digital and online means in order to meet their basic life-sustaining needs and to survive.  However, what is required to safely run these digital and online means, most people in need cannot afford it.  They do not have enough money to spend on the security requirements (such as anti-virus software, subscription to online insurance policy, adaptation to new technologies, security camera, etc.) to mitigate any digital, online and cyber-security issues.  

 

• • The extent of cyber-security crimes and digital threats on the poor

 

Cyber criminals, online hackers and internet scammers are using the vulnerability and space created by the coronavirus pandemic and accidental damages caused by containment measures to launch any sorts of attacks to vulnerable online accounts and poor people.  These crimes and malpractices existed before the pandemic; however the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated or opened a window of opportunities for this behaviour. 

There are now pandemic malicious websites and scams that try to exploit poor people’s ignorance and lack of financial means that are engaged in all types of criminal activities such as identity theft, ransom ware, fake employment agencies/offers, dishonest credit card companies, copyright violators, fake coronavirus funding programmes and all sorts of fraud.

 

• • Advocating for the support of those in need of digital equipment and infrastructures

 

These cyber criminals and online fraudsters have complicated the work of poverty reduction.  The pandemic-related digital threats are now a BIG ISSUE for both our users in the UK and in Africa.  This is why we are re-activating the levels 2 and 3 of our Digital and Social Media Campaign.  The level 2 is about IT and Online Security while level 3 deals with Digital Infrastructures, Security and Defence. 

In this re-activation of the two areas of our campaign, we are asking to our users to extremely stay vigilant when operating online and digitally (e.g. during remote work, filling digital applications, shopping online etc.). 

We are as well advocating for the support of those in need of digital equipment and infrastructures (such as anti-virus device or software, online cover policy, etc.) to be considered in any funding programme or policy. 

This is because one can notice that some of the funding programmes toward those in need simply ignore this problem of lack digital equipment and security for those in need to express their needs and effectively communicate without cyber-security threats and fear in order to resolve the issue of poverty they are facing.  In this respect, there is a need for cyber and online defences for the poor, those who cannot afford security items such as anti-virus, insurance cover against digital and cyber-security threats and attacks, etc.  The threat and crime levels we are talking about cannot be dealt with free or essential anti-virus software or device as such software or devices are limited in their scope to deal with the matter. 

 

• • Extra help and support

 

There are both print and online resources regarding digital and cyber-security threats which can be accessed.   For those who would like to further discuss cyber-security issues and digital defences, they can contact CENFACS.

For further information about CENFACS’ Digital and Social Media Campaign, please also contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Reduction of Poverty Linked to Desertification and Drought in Africa

 

As part of CENFACS’ 2020s Development Agenda and Poverty Reduction Programme, we are working on Goal 7 of this agenda and programme.  Goal 7 is about reducing climate-induced poverty or situational (or transitory) poverty amongst the victims of natural disasters and destructive wars.  Amongst natural conditions and events are desertification and drought in Africa, mostly in arid and semi-arid areas of Africa. 

There are various initiatives taken by and on behalf of people suffering from desertification in Africa.  These initiatives include: forest recovery, prevention of soil degradation, re-fertilisation of lands, replanting trees, afforestation, reduction of stress on food producing capacity, improvement in biodiversity, etc.  There are also projects carried out to reduce drought such as reduction in deficits in rainfall, river flow, soil moisture and food. 

Beyond these initiatives, we are as well going to look at projects set up and run by our Africa-based Sister Organisations to help their locals to come out poverty linked to desertification and drought in Africa.    An example of these initiatives include irrigation project in Chad with one of CENFACS’ sister organisations working on the ground.

To discuss the reduction of poverty linked to desertification and drought in Africa, please contact CENFACS. 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Report on COVID-19 Campaign

 

This week, we would like to share with our stakeholders the findings about CENFACS’ Campaign for Resilience against the Coronavirus Pandemic (or COVID-19 Campaign) since it began in 2020.  These findings are compiled in a report relating to this campaign.

 

• • What is the report on COVID-19 campaign?

 

The COVID-19 campaign report is a summary of actions carried out by CENFACS from March 2020 until now in the fight against the life-threatening and –destroying impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and its side effects.

 

• • The purpose of the report

 

The purpose of the report is to investigate CENFACS’ COVID-19 Campaign in order to identify outcomes achieved and recommend new direction or an end to this campaign in terms of the different phases undertaken so far.

 

• • Essential highlights

 

The investigation looks back the different episodes of the campaign and the actions and activities undertaken by CENFACS to support and work with the communities (here in the UK and Africa) on COVID-19 protection, to protect CENFACS’ services and the general public at a time ravaged by a global pandemic, economic downturn and the ever-worsening climate crisis.  

The report shows how CENFACS acted during this crisis in order to find a new, creative and innovative way of re-engaging with stakeholders, protecting and delivering services and liaising with other sustainable development partners. 

The report portrays how CENFACS went beyond and out its way to stay focus on poverty reduction and sustainable development despite the disruption and disturbance caused by the coronavirus and associated adverse impacts.

The report is finally a testimony about the contribution of CENFACS to the recipes of poverty reduction and enhancement of sustainable development during this challenging time.

For insight reading of the report including its findings and recommendations, please contact CENFACS with your mailing details.

 

 

• The Last Creative and Innovative Activity of the Creative Economic Development Month: Navigation of Human Development Index

 

In Focus: How to move up when living on the lower end of human development at this challenging time of enduring coronavirus

 

Human Development Index (HDI) is the United Nations Development Programme’s measure of development (1).  According to the United Nations Development Programme, the Human Development Index (HDI) is

“A composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.”

More details on how it is calculated can be found at hdr2020_technical_notes.pdf (undp.org)

As part of our last activity of June 2021, we are working on practical ways to move up for those who are currently living on the lower end of human development , especially those living in low human development countries making CENFACS’ area of our operation in Africa. 

These practical ways include solutions to the problem as well as infographics to help in this matter.  It is our way of conveying an extra message of hope and support to those who are in this situation, particularly at this time of enduring coronavirus.  Indeed, the coronavirus has challenged the three elements (healthy life, knowledge and standard of living) that make the architecture of the HDI for many people in need.

If you are one of those who have reached the lower end of the human development and wondering how to move up, CENFACS can work with you/your organisation to help you navigate your way to the upper end of human development.  All you need is to contact CENFACS on this site.

 

 

• The 30^th of June 2021 as our Last Day of Thanksgiving to Supporters

 

We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate of thoughts, expressions and feelings of gratitude to all our supporters.

For those of our supporters who will be missed by the end of today, we hope they will be a similar opportunity in the future during which we can together celebrate the achievement from their support while acknowledging the gifts they have made or make to our end users, our work and the work of our Africa-based Sister organisations.

Many thanks!

 

 

Main Development

 

• Season of Happiness 2021 in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19

 

• • Life Renewal Season to Happiness Season

 

Jmesci (June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Creative Initiatives) and Arts and Design Project are the projects that have made the last part of Spring 2021 programme.  Both projects make our Creative Economic Development month.

In practice, Jmesci is the project that is ending our Spring Relief or Life Renewal season to start Summer of Happiness.  After creating and innovating to build forward better together greener and cleaner as well as to help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development, we are now looking forward to enjoy the sunshine of Summer with Happiness and Healthiness.   We would forward to Summer, although the warm weather has already started.

 

•  •  What is Summer for CENFACS’ Users and Beneficiaries?

 

Summer is a period of the warm sunny weather that we would like to associate with it at CENFACS.  It is the time of happiness that we all expect, after a long period of full time work and education.  We look forward to a break after such a long time of routine working life, especially as most of CENFACS’ projects and programmes are framed around the school timetable to suit and reflect the needs and living patterns of our users and beneficiaries.  This is despite that the fact that during Summer people are still working to keep their households and the economy running.

 

•  •  In focus for this Summer: Happiness in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring COVID-19

 

Generally, it is expected Summer to be warm and sunny.  In recent times or decades, Summer is not all the time warmer and sunnier.  The climate (that is the average atmosphere conditions prevailing in a particular region) is now much variable to the extent that summers are now not always hot dry.

Yet, most people want warm, sunny and happy summers.  Those who can afford can plan to go to destinations in places and locations where they can enjoy the summer weather.  Those who cannot afford, like many of our users, may not be able to choose but to be subject of the changing climate.

 

•  •  Happy but restricted holidays

 

In addition to the changing climate, there is the coronavirus which is still there and taking other forms or variations (e.g. Indian, South African or other) despite the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine.  The coronavirus has led to many restrictions including those on travels and holidays.  The traditional way of passing holidays is now restricted to the coronavirus containment measures.  These are the restrictions on our holidays, restrictions from changing climate and from measures to control the coronavirus pandemic.  This is whether we take holidays or work or even study over the Summertime.

 

•  •  Happiness in a changing climate and enduring COVID-19

 

Since the coronavirus endures and the climate is still changing, this Summer 2021 will be affected by both changes (e.g. changing climate and mutating coronavirus).  So, the key note of our theme for Summer of Happiness will be how to create, enjoy and sustain happiness in a changing climate and a mutating/enduring coronavirus. 

To support those victims of changing climate and mutating/enduring coronavirus over Summer, we shall work with them so that they can navigate their way to happiness and healthiness in a changing climate and mutating/enduring coronavirus over Summer 2021. 

To do that, we shall provide Happiness and Healthiness Tips and Hints in a changing climate and mutating/enduring coronavirus.  We will provide them through the following Summer initiatives.

 

•  •  Preview of 2021 Summer-of-Happiness and Healthiness Programmes

 

Summer Programme at CENFACS is mainly made of two sets or broad areas of projects for and with Multi-dimensionally Poor Children, Young People and Families; which consists of:

 

(a) Happiness and Healthiness Projects (Part 1) and 

(b) Appeal Projects or Humanitarian Relief to Africa (Part 2). 

 

Besides this main Summer seasonal regular feature, we have also planned other initiatives as side menus.  We shall gradually release the contents of these Summer projects as we progress during Summer 2021. 

Our development calendar/planner already indicates what is planned for July and August 2021.  However, should anybody want to find out more, they are welcome to contact CENFACS. 

 

• • •  Summer 2021 Programmes, Projects and Activities (Summer calendar/planner)

 

 

How to Make this Summer 2021 as of Happiness in a Changing Climate and Mutating/Enduring Coronavirus

 

July 2021

  

∞ Financial Updates: Managing your Nature Accounts and Build Forward Better Accounts

 

The 2021 Edition of Financial Updates (a CENFACS’ Individual Capacity Building and Development resource for Summer) will focus on two sets of accounts: nature and build forward better accounts.

∞∞ Nature accounts (or natural capital accounting) are those any household can run in their budget to keep their relationships with nature in harmony.  One can integrate ecosystems and biodiversity into their household budgets.  This can enable them to take responsibility towards nature or natural resources.

∞∞ Build forward better accounts are any items of household budgets related to the process of building forward better from the Covid-19.  In this second type of accounts, we shall align them to the requirements of greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and targets.

Besides these two sets of accounts, the 2021 Financial Updates will update readers about the current financial and economic situation.  The updates will go further in terms of financial and economic advice to build forward better together greener and cleaner.

 

∞ All-in-one Impact Assessment

 

July, which is the Analytics month within CENFACS, is the month to be at CENFACS for those who are working on project and programme impacts. 

We will be doing two levels of impact assessment as follows:

Our usual July Impact Monitoring, Evaluation, Review and Analytics for projects and programmes that we run in the preceding financial year

Impact assessment of the Covid-19 Campaign, which will consider the initial findings of the COVID-19 report

 

∞ Virtual Summer Festival with Seven Days of Development in July

 

In focus for our Summer 2021 Festival will be: 

Coronavirus Debt and Deficit Management – How to reduce or cancel debts and deficits for the poor to make ends meet

Since the coronavirus pandemic has led to a high level of indebtedness for many ordinary and poor families, our Seven Days of Development in July (7DDJ) will explore ways of reducing and/or cancelling debts and deficits in the accounts of these families so that they can meet their basic life-sustaining needs.  Some of these debts and deficits were already there.  However, the coronavirus has made them worse to the extent these families cannot normally function as human family. 

 

July – August 2021

 

∞ Children, Young People and Families (CYPFs) Summer Programme (Part I): Appeal Projects

 

Summer humanitarian Appeal projects are a set of projects to help alleviate multi-dimensional poverty experienced by CYPFs during the Summertime.  We normally launch one integrated appeal that brings under one roof these projects.  This year, because of the enduring Covid-19 and its associated impacts, we are going to launch selected appeals for most of them with special emphasis on health. 

One of the selected appeals will be about helping CYPFs to be free from distress caused by the enduring coronavirus pandemic and any health poverty associated with coronavirus.  The appeal – Distress-free Life from Enduring Coronavirus for CYPFs in Africa (DfLECA) – is also about helping poor CYPFs to boost their capability to be healthy from the coronavirus and other diseases as well as from economic threats created by the same coronavirus. 

Another appeal project that will have a particular attention and that is needed during this period of continuing health and sanitation issues is the Iconic Young Carer and Builder for a Coronavirus-free Environment (iYCBCfE). 

The two projects fall under the scope of health (for DFLECA) and care (for iYCBCfE).

 

∞ Children, Young People and Families (CYPFs) Summer Programme (Part II): Happiness and Healthiness Projects

 

Happiness and Healthiness projects are another set of Summer projects making the second part of our Summer Programme.  The same healthiness theme will be extended to apply to the second part of our Summer 2021 programme.  We shall release more details about Happiness and Healthiness projects in due course.

 

∞ Summer 2021 Run, Play and Vote to Reduce Poverty

 

Because we are still under the rules and restrictions of lockdowns to protect ourselves and others, this year our Triple Value Initiatives (Run, Play and Vote) will be organised according to the state of progress in the fight against Covid-19 and of COVID-19 containment measures.

Depending on the circumstances (related to Covid-19 and level of reopening economies), some of these activities will continue to be virtually held.

Half-year actions and results about these activities will be sought from those who are using them.   

We shall ask those who undertook exercises relating Triple-value Initiatives such as e-workshops and recreational activities during the full and partial lockdowns to report on their actions and results as well.

 

∞ Integration of Le Dernier Carré into Build Forward Better Programme

 

Our four step model of poverty relief (that is the Last Square of Poverty Relief or Le Dernier Carré) will be included in some of the elements of the Build Forward Better Programme.

 

∞ Summer Track, Trip and Trending

 

Track and Trip activities will be run depending on the progress on the protection against Covid-19 and the restrictions which will be in place at the time.

Regarding Trending activity, we are going to follow the direction of poverty reduction via natural capital investments.  In other words, we are going to find out how a good management of natural capital assets and natural-based investment solutions to poverty are helping in lifting people out of poverty.  

The above is just an indicative plan of work for our Summer of Happiness and Healthiness.  Depending on the progress about the fight against Covid-19 and results achieved in terms of the economic reopening, we may review our Summer work plan.

We hope you find a happy, helpful and hopeful relief from the above programmes and projects on offer at CENFACS over this Summer!

For details or clarification about the above programmes and projects, including ways of accessing them, please contact CENFACS.

 

Note: Although the above is scheduled for Summer 2021, 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. humanitarian and emergency situations), in which case we shall let you know as early as we can.

________

Reference

(1) hdr2020.pdf (undp.org)

________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

23 June 2021

 

Post No. 201

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Research and Development to Build Forward Better Together

• Creative Economic Development Month – In Focus for Week Beginning 21/06/2021: Green and Clean Creations and Innovations.

• Distress-free Life from Enduring Coronavirus for Children, Young People and Families in Africa

 

… And much more!

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Research and Development to Build Forward Better Together

 

To build forward better from the coronavirus pandemic, it requires research and development.  And research and development are at the heart of everything we do at CENFACS.

We are researching for new ideas to better help reduce poverty amongst our users in the community and Africa-based Organisations making part of our area of operation in Africa.  We are as well researching for new ways of applying ideas to better help reduce poverty and hardships amongst the same beneficiaries. 

To be practical, we are currently researching on the Economics of Not-for-profit Solutions to Poverty, in particular but not specifically to COVID-19-induced poverty.  Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided further details about this first key message and current research focus.

 

 

 

• Creative Economic Development Month – In Focus for Week Beginning 21/06/2021: Green and Clean Creations and Innovations.

 

Our delivery of the Creative Economic Development Month continues with the featuring of Green and Clean Creations and Innovations.  To feature them, we are going to try to understand their meanings and give some highlights about what our Africa-based Sister Organisations are doing in terms them. 

 

• • Understanding of green and clean creations and innovations

 

The following summarises our apprehension of green and clean creations and innovations.

 

• • • Green creations and innovations

 

Green creations are processes or actions of bringing something into existence and do not or cause less harm to the environment. 

Green innovations are about making changes in established things without or with less harm to the environment.

So, green creations and innovations are those which ensure that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environment services on which human and other beings rely upon.

   

• • • Clean creations and innovations

 

Clean creations are about generating new and unique ideas on things that are free from harmful substances or effects to health, life and the nature.

Clean innovations are about executing the creative ideas into practice that does not cause harmful fallout or contamination to human life and the nature.  

Thus, clean creations and innovations are those that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and negative environmental impacts through efficient use of natural and few non-renewable resources.

Briefly speaking, the interest in this week of the Creative Economic Development Month is on creations and innovations that are environment-friendly (that is, they have a small or zero environmental impact) and reduce waste in the nature.   We are as well interested in creations and innovations that lower emissions of greenhouse gas, reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions, spearhead green energy solutions and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix in the process of creating and innovating for life, work and future.

 

• • Africa-based Sister Organisations’ Green and Clean Creations and Innovations

 

There are many green and clean creative and innovative initiatives carried out by our Africa-based Sister Organisations.  Amongst them, we can mention the ecological site run by one of our African partners in Togo.  The initiative included: education and training, growing of young seedlings in greenhouses (e.g. planting peppers in greenhouses and eggplant in new greenhouse), experiment, etc.   

This ecological site is an experience of environment-friendly initiative that is aligned with greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and targets.  It is a good example of how to grow plants without depleting natural resources.

For more information about this initiative and other similar works carried out by our Africa-based Sister organisations, please contact CENFACS. 

 

 

 

• Distress-free Life from Enduring Coronavirus for Children, Young People and Families in Africa

 

Distress-free Life from Enduring Coronavirus for Children, Young People and Families in Africa is one of the Summer Appeal projects making the first part of our Summer Programme, which will be published soon.  This appeal has been already launched.

The appeal is about supporting children, young people and families (CYPFs) in places in Africa where healthcare systems are vulnerable and weak, and cannot cope with the mounting pressure and damaging effects of the Covid-19.

Supporting this appeal means helping CYPFs to minimise and mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on them. Your support will help to reduce the risks stemming from the economic and health threats that have been caused by Covid-19.  One can think of a child or young person without any dreams and expectations, what will be his/her future.

Can you help this child?  Yes or No!

If you say yes; then…

√ You can help that child to dream and expect for a better life and future. 

√ You can help stop Covid-19 to become a structural constraint and handicap for that child.

√ You can help stop Covid-19 to create lifelong impacts on children and young people.

√ You can help stop children’s and young people’s lives being reduced back below the poverty line.

√ You can stop the lost generation of Covid-19 or “the pandemial generation” to happen in Africa.

To make the above happen, support Distress-free Life from Enduring Coronavirus for Children, Young People and Families in Africa.

Details of this appeal and ways of supporting can be found at: cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

 

 

Thank you for helping CENFACS IN ENHANCING AND SUSTAINING FREEDOMS AND CAPABILITIES BY WORKING IN ALLIANCE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVES.

 

Extra Messages

 

• Thanksgiving Days: Supporters’ Days (28 to 30 June 2021)

 

From 28 to 30 June 2021, we will be thanking all our supporters (current and past ones). 

We would like to take the opportunity of the end of June to thank them (and you if you are one of them) for helping CENFACS IN ENHANCING AND SUSTAINING FREEDOMS AND CAPABILITIES BY WORKING IN ALLIANCE WITH LOCAL PEOPLE TO DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVES.

  

• •  What do mean by Thanking Days or Supporters’ Days?

 

These are Special Days of Thank You we would like to dedicate to all those who contributed to our work for any types of support they have given us over this financial year.  This dedication is normally held in the last week of and by the end of June.  For this year, Thank-you Days will be held from 28 to 30 June 2021. 

As we are in CENFACS’ Creative Economic Development Month and Leafy Year, we shall find all sorts of creative, innovative and communicative ways of thanking our invaluable supporters and backers.  These thanking ways may include the following:

√ Conversing with our supporters over phones

√ Signing and sending thank-you prints or e-cards to them

√ Telling them the stories or outcomes about the people and communities they helped through their support

√ E-mailing, texting and tweeting them with messages of gratitude

√ Telling and sharing thank-you stories

√ Playing and listening with them music and songs of thank you

√ Making and playing thank-you videos and films

√ Giving back to them by volunteering our time to the cause they deeply care about

Undertaking a free translation service (French to English and vice versa)

√ Reading African poems and poetry

√ Sending to them digital and technologically animated thank-you messages

√ Doing creative and design works symbolising thank you

√ Sending designed and hand crafted made objects and crafts of acknowledgement

√ Making video calls since the coronavirus pandemic and its associated impacts continue to restrict some forms of physical contact, etc.

If you are one of the CENFACS’ supporters, please we would like to let you know the Thanking Days at CENFACS are your Days.  Do not hesitate to get in touch, if you do not mistakenly hear from us.  We will welcome you; reconnect with you and thank you on the occasion for the helpful difference you made to our work and project beneficiaries.

Your invaluable support has meant a lot for our programme and project beneficiaries over this ending financial year.

We would like to express all our sincere gratitude to you for helping us to help reduce poverty.

For further details, contact CENFACS’ Thanksgiving-End-of-June-2021 Team.

 

 

 

•  Arts and Design Project –

In Focus: Unknown and Unnamed Artists and Designers of Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development with the example of Young Creators and Innovators

 

Artists and designers play an active role in helping to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.  So, this week we are working on some of the works carried out by artists and designers especially those from small scale and charitable backgrounds, the local arts and design products and services undertaken by local people and communities sometimes to make ends meet. 

These kinds of work can include those carried out by poor families, children, young people and those who are left out of the economic growth or upturn.  Additionally, there are works carried out by unknown and unnamed artists and designers who may be amateurs or not professionals or not just celebrities.  Every year, we try to find out unknown and unnamed artists and designers, as part of Arts and Design Project. 

All these small pieces of art and design works can help relieve poverty and enhance the process of sustainable development.  They can help build forward better during this pandemic time.

 

•  •  Example of Unknown and Unnamed Artists and Designers: Young Creators and Innovators

 

Some Young Creators and Innovators can be classified as unknown and unnamed artists and designers.  They are of all sorts of talents and abilities who can create and innovate to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.  They can as well help to build forward better from the coronavirus pandemic.  Their works can help reduce Covid-19 induced poverty and hardships while keeping the progress of the realisation of sustainable development goals.  They could be the finders of the today’s solutions for tomorrow’s problems.   

So, this week we are continuing our Arts and Design project by looking at the contribution that unknown and unnamed artists and designers, and amongst them are Young Creators and Innovators, are making in reducing poverty and hardships as well as in enhancing sustainable development.

If you are a young creator and/or innovator and has some feeling that you would probably fall under the category of unknown and unnamed artists and designers, CENFACS would like to hear from you as well as your creative/innovative work.

 

 

• Africa’s Healthcare Capabilities in face of COVID-19 Rebound

 

One year ago, we argued about the need to boost Africa’s healthcare capabilities in order to shadow the evolution of the epidemiological curves of the coronavirus pandemic.  This argument was part of our COVID-19 Campaign and Advocacy on Rebuilding Africa. 

This week, we are examining if African countries succeeded in allocating 1% or more of their gross domestic product to health.  We are indeed looking at if they boosted their health capacities since there has been a rebound of COVID-19 infection in many places in Africa.

Those who will be interested in this issue of Africa’s healthcare capabilities, they can feel free to let us know.  Likewise, those who have data or more information about investments in health care capabilities in Africa, they can – if they want – share them with the community and CENFACS.

To discuss or share data on Africa’s healthcare capabilities, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Research and Development to Build Forward Better Together

 

To build forward better together, we are going to consider the following items making our research and development work.

 

• •  Research and Development within CENFACS

 

The function of research and development (R&D) is important within CENFACS.  This is because we can only help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development if we are able to undertake research and develop solutions together with local people to poverty reduction and to the enhancement of sustainable development.  In this respect, the kinds of research and development work we do are related to the core activities of poverty reduction and sustainable development. 

In the context of this year’s Creative Economic Development Month, we are carrying on research and development related to coronavirus-induced poverty and hardships on the one hand, and the delay or prevention caused by Covid-19 in the progress of the realisation of sustainable development goals on the other.  This is the general scope of our research and development work. 

Within this scope, we are currently working on the Economics of Not-for-profit Solutions to poverty, in particular but not specifically to COVID-19-induced poverty.  We are researching these solutions in the context of African Continental Free Trade Area.  However, before going any further in the presentation of research and development, let us define the economics of not-for-profit solutions to poverty.

 

• • What is the economics of not-for-profit solutions to poverty?

 

To understand the economics of not-for-profit solutions to poverty, one needs to first understand economics.  To comprehend economics, we are going to refer to the basic dictionary of economics by Christopher Pass, Bryan Lowes and Leslie Davies (1).  C. Pass et al define economics as

“The study of the problem of using available factors of production as efficiently as possible so as to attain the maximum fulfilment of society’s unlimited demands for goods and services.  The ultimate purpose of economic endeavour is to satisfy human wants for goods and services… whereas wants are virtually without limit, the resources – natural resources, labour and capital – available at any one time to produce goods and services, are limited in supply; i.e., resources are scarce relative to the demands they are called upon to satisfy” (pp. 153 & 154)

From the above definition, one can deduct that the economics of not-for-profit solutions to poverty is the study of the allocation of resources and of choices made by not-for-profit organisations providing solutions that do not seek to make profit in order to resolve the problem of lack of money and material possessions.  Because resources (especially natural ones) are scarce and non-renewable, one can make not-for-profit choices in order to satisfy the demand of those in need, especially in most pressing and urgent needs like the ones led by the coronavirus pandemic.   

 

• • Research on the Economics of Not-for-profit Solutions to Poverty

 

As part of research and development of the month of Creative Economic Development, we are going to share with readers of this post the current work we are conducting in terms of Investing in the Not-for-profit Organisations (N4POs).  The coming Issue of FACS (Issue no. 72) will give more information about the investments in the not-for-profit organisations in Africa.

In meantime, let us argue that the current work is about how investing in the N4POs can contribute to further poverty reduction and long term economic development in the African Continental Free Trade Area.  The positive long term expected effects or outcomes from this kind investment will include the following:

jobs creation, boosting and development of products and services, support to the green and blue developments, building forward better lives from the coronavirus pandemic, natural resources management and conservation, etc.

As part this study, we are looking at data in investments in the not-for-profit economies in Africa as well as working on two assumptions or tests.

 

 

• •  Testing hypotheses

 

The first Test is that investing in the not-for-profit organisations in Africa can lead to poverty reduction in bulk or mass poverty reduction.  However, for this to happen, the following conditions need to be met:

∞ Better money governance; that is money invested has to be allocated to lifting people out of poverty not to paying high salaries to those who run those N4POs

∞ There should be no or less disruptive events (such as civil wars, conflicts, natural and health disasters, etc.)

∞ There should also be creative productive capacities to reduce over-dependency over not-for-profit investors in the long term

∞ Investments made should be in line with greenhouse gas emissions reduction programmes, goals and targets

∞ The transformation of consumption spending into production spending needs to be part of a long term plan.

Everything remaining equal if these conditions are respected, the model of reducing poverty in bulk could continue over time. 

 

 

The second or alternative hypothesis is that investing in the not-for-profit in Africa will not lead to mass poverty reduction in Africa.  There are many factors militating en favour of this position which include the following: the level of development of economies forming the African Continental Free Trade Area, the deep scars left by the coronavirus, the infancy or embryonic state of the African Continental Free Trade Area itself, etc.

In both tests, causality and attribution approach, quantitative and qualitative techniques and methods will be used.  For example, quantitative techniques and methods can be used to test if there is a correlation between mass poverty reduction in the post-pandemic era and investment in N4POs.  The same or similar techniques and methods can also be used to determine the relationships between investment in N4POs and their long-term economic development in the African Continental Free Trade Area. 

By economic development, we mean what C. Pass et al. (op. cit.) define as

“A process of economic transition involving the structural transformation of an economy through industrialisation and raising of gross domestic product and income per head” (p. 149)

For further details and or enquiries about this Research and Development activity, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

_________

Reference

(1) Pass, B. Lowes and L. Davies (1988), Dictionary of Economics, HarperCollins Publishers, Collins Reference, London & 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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

16 June 2021

 

Post No. 200

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Game of the Not-for-profit Developers

• Creative Economic Development Month – In Focus for Week Beginning 14/06/2021: Creations and Innovations to Counteract Future Shocks and Disasters

• Coming this Summer 2021: FACS Issue no. 72 to be entitled as Investing in the Not-for-profit Organisations within the African Continental Free Trade Area

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Game of the Not-for-profit Developers (GN4PDs)

 

Game of the Not-for-profit Developers (or the Game of the African Not-for-profit Organisations in the African Continental Free Trade Area) is an investigative project that continues our search or investigation with Africa-based Sister Organisations about the gains that the African Not-for-profit Organisations (AN4POs) can realise by being actively and fully engaged in the process and the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

It is an investigative project because through this project, we shall carry out a thorough and detailed examination of the benefits of being deeply involved in the game of trade integration of the AfCFTA.  In doing so, the project will try to expose both the advantages and disadvantages from the AfCFTA, from the perspective of the not-for-profit development.  In this respect, the Game of the Not-for-Profit Developers is a form of gamification of the elements of game playing (such as the rules of game in the marketplace) to the area of poverty reduction.

Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided a summary of project proposals relating to this project.

 

 

• Creative Economic Development Month – In Focus for Week Beginning 14/06/2021: Creations and Innovations to Counteract Future Shocks and Disasters

 

Our month of Creative Economic Development continues as we have started looking at creations and innovations that could help us to nullify or reduce the adverse impacts of future socks and disasters.  Future shocks and disasters may not be known since we are in the territory of futurology and uncertainty.  However, this does not stop us to make preparation in counteracting these shocks and disasters if they happen.  To prepare ourselves, we are going to work on creations and innovations to counteract imminent risks as well as those may happen in Africa.

 

• • Creations and Innovations to counteract imminent risks

 

Regarding the kinds of future shocks and disasters that may surprise us or one may encounter, there are those ones listed as risks in the 16^th edition of the World Economic Forum’s annual analysis – the Global Risks Report 2021 (1).  In its report, the Forum categorises risks into the following types: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological ones.  On the page 12 of this report, there are 10 top risks that are likely to happen and 10 top risks that may impact over the course of the next ten years. 

Additionally, it is indicated in this report that further to the survey respondents’ results, the 10 top global risks by likelihood (from unlikely to very likely to occur over the course of the next ten years) are:

(1) extreme weather  (2) climate action failure  (3) human environmental damage  (4) infectious diseases  (5) biodiversity loss  (6) digital power concentration  (7) digital inequality  (8) interstate relations fracture  (9) cyber-security failure (10) livelihood crises

For the same survey respondents’ results, the 10 top global risks by impact (from minimal to catastrophic impact to occur over the course of the next ten years) are: 

(1) infectious diseases  (2) climate action failure  (3) weapons of mass destruction  (4) biodiversity loss  (5) natural resource crisis  (6) human environmental damage  (7) livelihood crises  (8) extreme weather  (9) debt crisis  (10) IT infrastructure breakdown

It is possible to create and innovate to counteract any of these risks if they happen. 

For instance, one can create and innovate to counteract the damaging effects of extreme weather which is the top global risk by likelihood according to the World Economic Forum’s report.  Likewise, one can create and innovate to counteract the life threatening and destroying effects of infectious diseases which are the first top global risk by impact.  And the coronavirus as an infectious disease has so far historically and adversely impacted the humanity.  Should we created and innovated more, we could have sensibly reduced or avoided the harmful impact of the coronavirus which is still not shown any sign of giving up.

 

• • Creations and innovations to counteract shocks and disasters in Africa

 

Every year, there are events (such as civil conflicts, civil insecurity, floods, torrential rains, etc.) that lead to population displacements, food insecurity and other socio-economic impacts to people, especially the poorest ones.  This is let alone the coronavirus that has led to containment measures.

For example, in their recent joint Global Report on Internal Displacement, the International Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norway Refugee Council (2) have noticed the following:

6,780,000 (almost 27.4%) people were displaced by conflicts and violence, and 4,299,000 were displaced by disasters in 2020 in Sub-Saharan Africa. (p. 8)

Drawn-out conflicts and violence (in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, etc.) and natural disasters (like intense cyclones, torrential rains and floods) have involuntarily and internally displaced many people.   The recent eruption of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo is yet another illustration of these natural disasters and their consequences on human lives.

It is possible for Africans to create and innovate to counteract the detrimental effects and impacts of these events.  It is also possible to create and innovate to stop women and children to bear the brunt of future shocks and disasters. 

However, creating and innovating to prepare against, prevent and counteract future shocks and disasters require investments.  One can hope that with the funding programmes going on to eradicate the coronavirus, there would be also financial schemes to help counteract future shocks and disasters, at least for that are likely to happen in the near future.

To support the Creative Economic Development Month, please contact CENFACS.  To share your creations and innovations to counteract future shocks and disasters, please also contact CENFACS.

 

 

• Coming this Summer 2021: FACS Issue no. 72 to be entitled as

Investing in the Not-for-profit African Organisations in Africa –

How to reduce more poverty in the African Continental Free Trade Area

 

As the momentum about the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) keeps growing, many would call on investors to pour in their capital.  However, given the size of poverty in Africa, would not be better for investors motivated by other motives than profit to move to those areas of AfCFTA or African market that are not-for-profit making, but that take poverty reduction as their core mission? 

The need for the distribution of investments and penetration of investors to deprived areas is even greater now as the coronavirus has wiped out hard-won outcomes (for many decades) about poverty reduction in Africa.  For example, when navigating the impact of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa, the International Monetary Fund (3) argues that

“In Sub-Saharan Africa, estimated employment fell by about 8½ per cent in 2020, more than 32 million people were thrown into poverty…” (p. 11)

This estimated number of poor people has to be added to the pre-pandemic poor.  If there are so many people living in poverty, it makes sense to appeal to not-for-profit investors to chip in. 

The 72^nd Issue of FACS will examine how not-for-profit driven investors can support not-for-profit organisations and development in the AfCFTA.  Especially, this Issue will look at the climate and conditions in which this could bring more and better poverty reduction outcomes in Africa. 

Through this Issue, we are going to discuss a new direction or re-orientation of investments in Africa with a mission to lift more people from poverty and hardships.  This will help to add value to poverty reduction compared to the classic route or channel of investments in Africa.

The 72^nd Issue is a journey with those in need in a new area of trade integration in Africa with new types of investors to meet their needs and build forward better from the COVID-19 induced poverty and hardships.  Amongst those investors are social ones.

As Muhammad Yunus with Karl Weber (4) put it in the introduction to their book:    

“In a social business, an investor aims to help others without making any financial gain himself” (p. xvii)

They also argue in the same introduction the following:

“No doubt humans are selfish beings, but they are selfless beings, too.  Both these qualities coexist in all human beings” (p. xv)

It is this selfless motivation or dimension driven by investors that will be about in the 72^nd Issue of FACS in order to lift more people out of poverty.

Further details about this Issue will be released in due course.  However, for those who would like to reserve a copy they are welcome to contact CENFACS.

 

Extra Messages

 

• Spring Project of Building Back Better from the Coronavirus: Only 1 Week to Go!

 

The Project of Building Back Better from the Coronavirus aims at reducing poverty, particularly sanitation poverty, in the process of building back better from the damaging effects of the coronavirus pandemic while fighting it where it is still claiming its victims during this season in Africa.

This project has two key objectives which are:

(a) Rebuild resilient critical infrastructures, facilities and livelihoods required for the functioning of COVID-19 stricken people and communities

(b) Restore basic life-sustaining health, economic and environmental assets, systems and activities of COVID-19 affected people and communities as well as align them to greenhouse gas emissions goals and targets  

You can support it to make helpful difference for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic in Africa.

To support, contact CENFACS at:  Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)

 

 

 

• Arts and Design Project

e-Workshop 2: Making and Sending a p-Card or e-Card to Support World Desertification and Drought Day 2021 on 17 June

 

The 17th of June 2021 is the United Nations World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which is an event to promote awareness of the desertification of Earth dry lands and supports efforts to combat this.  The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (5) says that message of Desertification and Drought Day 2021 is

“Investing in activities that protect and restore natural ecosystems will boost the recovery from COVID-19 for communities, countries and economies worldwide”

One can seize this occasion to construct and post a p-card (paper card) and/or e-card (electronic card) as expressions or ways of sustainably managing land to resonate the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on 17/06/2021.    One can follow the card design criteria we published last week for Arts and Design e-workshop 1, and design their p-card or e-card.

So, those who wish and want can design and post an e-card or e-object to feature the theme and focus of Desertification and Drought Day 2021.

To support and or enquire about Art and Design for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development, please contact CENFACS.

To find out more about Desertification and Drought Day 2021, please go to:  Media advisory: Press Kit for Desertification and Drought Day 2021 | UNCCD

 

 

 

• Ways through which CENFACS is creating and innovating to build forward better together

 

As part of building CENFACS forward better, we would like to share with the community and stakeholders the following means of creation and innovation:

 

Stories

 

We use stories (through our All in Development Stories Telling and Sharing Programme) to track users’ and the community’s experiences.

 

E-advice Services

 

To counteract the handicaps brought by the coronavirus and accidental damages caused by the containment measures (e.g. social distancing, lockdowns and border control), we have now innovative e-advisory services on a range of matters.

 

E-workshops

 

In order to get more people involved in our activities, services, projects and programmes; we are running e-workshops.

 

Skill Data Bank

 

To stay connected with the community and match skills and needs, we have maintained a searchable database where people can register their skills at any time.

 

CENFACS Website and Twitter account

 

We use our website and twitter account to map out or simply check the community engagement.

 

Nature-based and circular economic solutions

 

We often refer to green and sustainable ways of solving problems in our work.

These creative and innovative initiatives will help us to build forward better together with the community and Africa-based Sister Organisations.

For those who would like to find out more about CENFACS‘ creative and innovative initiatives, they are welcome to contact us. 

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Game of the Not-for-profit Developers (GN4PDs)

 

• • What is GN4PDs?

 

The Game of the Not-for-profit Developers (or the Game of the African Not-for-profit Organisations in the African Continental Free Trade Area) is an investigative project that aims to help African Not-for-profit Organisations to get the best of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) so that they can expand their outcomes in terms of poverty reduction, and in doing so help lift more people out of poverty in Africa or in this area.

The project, which is not a sum of recreational activities, is a model of decision-making process that analyses the threats and risks deriving from the trading space provided by the AfCFTA while identifying the opportunities that can be reaped of the same space.  The investigative project takes into account the local needs as well as the conflicting interests of the other game players and their choices.

 

• • Project components/activities

  

The following are the project activities:

 

√ Negotiation and bidding in international capital markets to secure funds for poverty reduction

√ Development of cross-border services and their delivery to users of various countries

√ Promotion of indigenous and local technologies and inward-looking services

√ Attraction of not-for-profit foreign direct investments

√ Capacity building and development support to provide cross-border services or not-for-profit services to other countries in the context of AfCFTA

√ Building forward better infrastructures, capacities and structures

√ Exploration, search and creation of market niches and opportunities within the AfCFTA

√ Formation and development of poverty-reduction alliances

√ Development of value chains and of pan-African service creating effects for poverty reduction

√ Techniques to engage with poverty reduction work in the game of free trade or economic integration

√ Creation of scale economies of poverty reduction

√ Inward-looking poverty reduction services

√ Outward-looking services to meet demand and needs beyond borders

√ Help to win market niches, opportunities and contracts

Etc.

 

• • Project outcomes

 

One can anticipate the following changes and effects may happen:

 

√ Project beneficiaries will become empowered and better negotiators on the international trade and capital markets

√ Increase and improvement of cross-border services provision and delivery of poverty reduction

√ Amelioration of capacity to provide cross-border services in the context of the AfCFTA

√ Adapted infrastructures, capacities and structures to cope with the demand and requirement of an integrated and continental free trade area

√ More discoveries of market niches and opportunities for poverty reduction

√ Increase in the number and quality of allied organisations working on similar poverty reduction issues and poverty reduction services/products

√ Enhancement of value chains of poverty reduction within and across the not-for-profit organisations

√ More and better beneficial effects on poverty reduction across Africa

√ Better coverage of poverty reduction services across Africa

√ Reduction of cost of producing poverty reduction services per unit

√ Upping of access to finances relating to poverty reduction work

√ Increase in networking and self-reliance

√ Security of not-for-profit investments and better opportunity for organisations to develop and thrive

Etc.

 

• • Project indicators

 

The following indicators will help to measure the performance of the project:

 

√ Number of people lifted out of poverty

√ Number of jobs created in poor areas of the AfCFTA

√ Saving achieved in terms of production/service costs

√ Number of branches or outlets opened in deprived areas of the AfCFTA

√ Amount of not-for-profit investments and investors secured

√ The percentage of increase in the size of users’ base

√ Number of supporters gained as a result of continental free trade integration

√ Number of people who become members or join the organisation because of its activities in the AfCFTA

√ Number of negotiated contracts won or acquired as a result of active involvement in the AfCFTA

√ Inventory of skills and abilities gained as part of trade integration

√ Number of networkers and partners got following full participation in the life of the AfCFTA

Etc.

The above indicators should not be measured in isolation.  One should undertake a comparative approach by checking their performance against similar indicators related to other players or gamers operating in the AfCFTA and market.

 

• • Project beneficiaries

 

Generally, the beneficiaries of this project will be the African organisations that would like take active part in the AfCFTA.

Although we speak about organisations, in reality the GN4PDs will benefit individuals who are and will be the users or project beneficiaries of these organisations.  This is because the main aim in being in the AfCFTA is to help reduce poverty in large scale within the AfCFTA, in different countries making the game of AfCFTA.

 

• • Project funding status

 

So far, this project is unfunded.  This means we are open to any credible funding proposals or proposition from potential funders or donors.  It is known that the coronavirus pandemic has put a toll on everybody.  However, those who would like to support this project will be more than welcome.

To fully or partly fund this project, please contact CENFACS.

 

• • Impact monitoring and evaluation

 

As part of impact monitoring, there will be routine and systematic gathering of information on all aspects of the project.  In other words, we will systematically collect and analyse information to keep regular checks and balances on the project.

Likewise, we shall assess what the project will achieve in relation to the overall aim it was set up.  This is to say that evaluation will be conducted regarding the efforts spent on this project to find out whether or not these efforts are value for poverty reduction in the context of continental free trade integration and area.

In proceeding in this manner, we will be able to measure the impact or at least the outcomes from this project.

As said above, it is known that this time of the coronavirus pandemic and continuing lockdowns is a challenging one.  The health and economic crisis instigated by the coronavirus pandemic has perhaps negatively impacted people’s pockets and bank accounts.

However, for those who would like to build forward better Africa without poverty or with less poverty, this project is an opportunity to direct efforts to a new journey, a creative and innovative way expressed by the not-for-profit development.  Those who would like to join us in this journey or may be interested in this project, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

For details including full project proposals and budget for the Game of the Not-for-profit Developers, please contact CENFACS.

_________

 

References

(1) World Economic Forum (2021), The Global Risks Report 2021, 16th Edition, Insight report

https://www.weforum.org/global-risks

(2) International Displacement Monitoring Centre & Norway Refugee Council (2021), Global Report on Internal Displacement, May 2021

(3) International Monetary Fund (2021), Regional economic outlook. Sub-Saharan Africa: navigating a long pandemic, World Economic and Financial Surveys, April 2021, Washington, D.C.

(4) Muhammad Yunus with Karl Weber (2011), Building social business: the new kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs, Public Affairs, New York

(5) Media advisory: Press Kit for Desertification and Drought Day 2021 | UNCCD (accessed June 2021)

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

09 June 2021

 

Post No. 199

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Creative Economic Development Month – In Focus for Week Beginning 07/06/2021: Creations and Innovations to Build Forward Better Together Greener and Cleaner

• Skills to Build Forward Better Together Greener and Greener

• Building Code and Poverty Reduction

 

… And much more!

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Creative Economic Development Month – In Focus for Week Beginning 07/06/2021: Creations and Innovations to Build Forward Better Together Greener and Cleaner

 

As planned, the first item of the Creative Economic Development Month is about the kinds of creations and innovations we need in order to build forward better together greener and cleaner during the easing of pandemic related restrictions and the resumption of mobility.   Given the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19 and associated containment measures, one needs to create and innovate in order to tackle these impacts and pave the way for a new and better life. 

The coronavirus pandemic and accidental damaging effects of containment measures have pushed many people in need to another territory of poverty.  In some circumstances, they have changed the very nature of poverty and hardships.  In respect, to build forward better from this changing nature of poverty and hardships, creations and innovations are needed, even requested.  They are needed and demanded because one cannot just build like in the past; they need to build forward better together greener and cleaner.

Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided more information about this first key message.

 

 

 

• Skills to Build Forward Better Together Greener and Greener

 

To build forward better, it requires skills (that is naturally acquired or developed dexterity) to do it.  It demands more than the generic skills since we are in a completely different situation in which we are trying to move forward from a different type of crisis, from historical point of view.

To the conventional skills (like communication, networking, social intelligence, home economics, risk management skills, etc.), one needs to add other ones such as resilience, recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction, creativity, togetherness, adaptability, investment, sustainable skills, etc.  This addition should be done without forgetting the skills to build greener and cleaner environment.

Briefly, one may need a set or suite of new and revolutionary skills in order to build forward better together greener and cleaner.  This set or suite will be made with both hard and soft skills to manage competing priorities in time of building forward together greener and cleaner.

 

 

 

• Building Code and Poverty Reduction

 

The 3^rd key message is about the discussion we are having regarding the relationship between the building code and poverty reduction.  It is about whether or not it is possible to make building code poverty reduction friendly and green aligned in the process of building forward better lives in the post-pandemic area. 

This discussion is similar to the one we had about the mining code.  Many thought it was not possible to insert poverty reduction commitment in this code.  Experience has proved that it is possible to do it.  Now, many defenders of poor are calling on the review of some mining conventions in some countries in Africa.

 

What is a building code? 

 

There are many definitions about it.  In the context of disaster risk management, we have selected the following terminology given by the United Nations/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (1), which argued in 2009 that building code is

“A set of ordinances or regulations and associated standards intended to control aspects of the design, construction, materials, alteration and occupancy of structures that are necessary to ensure human safety and welfare, including resistance to collapse and damages”.

So, using this terminology, we are going to discuss the relationship between building code and poverty reduction in terms of the possibility of inserting poverty reduction criteria into building code as we are building forward better together from the legacies of the coronavirus pandemic.  Inserting poverty reduction in the building code will mean that no one will be left behind the process of building forward better together greener and cleaner.

Those who would be interested in this discussion, they are welcome to usher in with their proposals or arguments.

To discuss the link between building code and poverty reduction, just contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Tigray Food Appeal

 

• • What this appeal is about

 

This is an appeal regarding the food crisis and hunger situation in Tigray.  We are continuing to appeal because the critical situation in Tigray does not show any signs of abating. 

The following are what the Food Security Information Network (2) says about Tigray:

“The extremely concerning humanitarian situation in the northern region of Tigray continues to deteriorate due to fighting and conflict” (p. 26)

“Fighting broke out in many parts of Tigray in early November [2020] and rapidly deteriorate into a dire humanitarian crisis with access to essential services” (p. 51)

The data from the same source of information speak for the peoples of Tigray.  We know that at this challenging time, it is not easy to support many causes even deserving ones.  However, we are appealing to you to help reduce the drivers of food crisis in Tigray, which are conflict and insecurity.

 

• • What you can do to help

 

You can help the peoples of Tigray by

 

√ Talking to someone who has influence on what is happening on the ground to change life

√ Networking, campaigning, responding to a petition, and so on to make your contribution

√ Making a phone call or sending a mobile phone text message or even a tweet or taking part in a video conference to save hungry lives in Tigray

√ Raising your voice about the food crisis in Tigray at international humanitarian talks or rallies

√ Spreading the news in your social media networks and contacts about the issue and the potential threat this may bring to the Horn of Africa  

√ Having some thoughts about what is happening in Tigray and on practical ways of helping the peoples of Tigray to build forward better from their food crisis

Although physical gatherings are still restricted or banned in some places because of the COVID-19 continuing lockdowns, most of the above actions can be done online and remotely.

CENFACS hopes you will act upon this food appeal to create and innovate so that the food sufferers in Ethiopia’s Tigray can get access to food and navigate their way to sustainable and inclusive peace. 

 

 

• Arts and Design Project and e-Workshop: Making and Sending a p-Card or e-Card

 

For those who are trying to design and send a paper card (p-card) or an electronic card (e-card) as a way of participating in the Creative Economic Development month, please make sure that the poverty relief message you are conveying is without confusion.  You can follow the criteria below.

 

• • Criteria for a good card design

 

When designing a card, it is better that your art or design work

√ contributes to inclusive and sustainable development goals

√ is a driver and enabler of sustainable development processes

√ is data or evidence-based as an expression of realities

√ is aligned with greenhouse gas emissions goals and targets

√ is capable of leading to new pathways for the creative economy

√ reflects on creative economic development

√ connects with the different sectors of the creative economy

√ adds value to nature-based solutions to design problems

√ is conducive to new opportunities for sustainable development

√ is supportive of learning and innovation for poverty relief and sustainable development

√ opens up a possibility of a model of working together

√ touches climate change issues (such as plastic pollution)

√ deals with sustainability issues (like conservation of the nature)

√ develops culture of poverty relief and sustainable development

Although these criteria seem to be quite a lot, it would be enough to meet as many as one can in the design of their p-card or e-card.

To create and send your card or support CENFACS’ Creative Economic Development month, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

 

• World Anti-poverty System: Uneven access to COVID-19 vaccine can justify the need of an International System for Poverty Reduction

 

Every time there is a global crisis, it is also a reminder of the best possible global mechanism of dealing with the crisis.  The coronavirus pandemic is yet another opportunity to ask ourselves about the best system or set-up to deal with the crisis of magnitude of COVID-19. 

One can ask themselves this question: 

if we had an International System for Poverty Reduction (that is a World Anti-poverty System comparable to the institutions of Bretton Woods System), would this system help to better deal with the coronavirus crisis or not? 

The same question could be raise about the access to COVID-19 vaccine and licences to produce it in Africa for example.   

There could be pros and cons about such a system.  However, given what is happening with the COVID-19 vaccine in some parts of the world like in Africa, an International System for Poverty Reduction would be in a better position to get the best deal for universal access to COVID-19 vaccine for all the poor. 

If you think that uneven access to COVID-19 vaccine can help in the creation of an International System for Poverty Reduction, please let us know your arguments.  If you do not think so, still let us know what you think. 

You can join CENFACS’ Campaign for an International System for Poverty Reduction.  To join, just contact CENFACS.

 

 

Main Development

 

• Creative Economic Development Month – In Focus for Week Beginning 07/06/2021: Creations and Innovations to Build Forward Better Together Greener and Cleaner

 

The main story of this post consists of the following items:  our understanding of creations and innovations to build forward better together, aim and objectives of creations and innovations, types of these creations and innovations, their outcomes, their monitoring and evaluation, and reporting and sharing the results of our creations and innovations with others.

 

• • What are creations and innovations to build forward better?

 

Creations to build forward better are the generation of new ideas and solutions in a unique, original and different way to build and enhance human capital in order to reduce and/or end COVID-19 induced poverty and hardships.  The context of these creations is of rebuilding and sustaining lives, infrastructures and institutions to move forward from COVID-19 crisis and containment measures. 

To highlight this new context of rebuilding, the proposal prepared in June 2020 by the United Nations (3) country team in Iran stated that

“The overall intent in building forward better is not to go back to the pre-COVID-19 normal, but to pave the way for the new and better normal following the outbreak”  

Similarly, innovations to build forward better are the application of new ideas to build forward better.  They could also be about making changes in established creations by introducing new methods or ideas or products in order to enhance the process of building forward better.    

 

• • Aim and objectives of creations and innovations to build forward better

 

To create and innovate to build forward better, there must be an aim; just as there should be objectives.  The aim is the change we plan to achieve or the difference we want to make in creating and innovating to build forward better. 

We know that the aim of our creations and innovations would be to reduce and possibly end poverty induced by the coronavirus and accidental containment measures.  That is why we are helping in the process of building forward better. 

We are also building forward better so that future generations do not experience the same poverty or any other new forms of poverty and hardships.  We are furthermore building forward so that the generations to come do not feel their ability to satisfy their own needs compromised by our current behaviour or overuse/exploitation of natural resources.

To back up or deliver our core aim, we need objectives (that is, a set of things to aim at) when we create and innovate to build forward better.   Amongst these objectives are: optimisation of the users’ utility in terms of satisfaction of needs to reduce poverty, improvement of users’ earning capacities, increase users’ share of renewables in the energy mix, support users in the process of finding occupational activities, etc. 

These objectives will determine the strategic and operational policies of creations and innovations to adopt in order to meet the central aim of poverty reduction in the process of building forward better.

 

• • Types of creations and innovations to build forward better

 

• • • Types of creations to build forward better

 

Concerning the types of creations to build forward better, one can include those related to

∞ Inspiration

∞ Planning

∞ Matching plans with the community’s/Africa-based Sister Organisations’ needs

∞ Research analysis

∞ Data collection and treatment

∞ Establishing the need of building forward better

∞ Identifying constraints, risks and opportunity through feasibility study

∞ Selection of projects, models, activities, designers to build forward better

∞ Production of information needed to construct the process of building forward better

Etc.

One should as well align creation with innovation if they want their creativity becomes a reality.

 

• • • Types of innovations to build forward better

 

Regarding the types of innovations to build forward better, one can have the following:

∞ Innovations that introduce new technologies (for example an App to cover COVID-19 highly infected area)

∞ Innovations related to new product or service (for instance drones to find postcodes not covered by the COVID-19 vaccine)

∞ Innovations regarding a new method of producing poverty reduction or an improvement in the existing methods of poverty reduction (such as solar panels to capture solar power and provides heating energy for the energy poor at cheaper costs).

 

• • Green and clean creations and innovations to build forward better

 

We will be interested in creations and innovations that are environment-friendly (that is, they have a small or zero environmental impact) and reduce waste in the nature.  In this respect, the process of building forward better needs to lead to a better natural resources management.  

We are as well interested in creations and innovations that lower emissions of greenhouse gas, reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions, spearhead green energy solutions and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix in the process of creating and innovating for life, work and future.

We shall argue in depth about green and clean creations and innovations in two weeks’ time. 

 

 

• • Creation and innovation outcomes

 

As result of creations and innovations work, there will be changes and effects as our Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) and the community will be built forward better.

The outcomes for ASOs could be that they become

√ Digitally transformed

√ More resilient to future shocks and crises

√ Healthy and thriving organisations

√ Less risky in terms of their poverty reduction tools

√ Climate-smart

√ Remote working able

√ Better manager of natural resources

√ Better user of nature-based solutions to reduce poverty

Etc.

 

 

 

• • Monitoring and evaluation

 

There should be routine and systematic gathering of information on all aspects of creations and innovations to build forward better.  In other words, one should systematically collect and analyse information to keep regular checks and balances on creations and innovations.

Likewise, we could assess what creations and innovations have achieved in relation to the overall objectives they were set up and the terms of reference of build forward better programme.  This is to say that evaluation should be conducted regarding the efforts spent on the activities of generating new ideas and putting these creative ideas into practice.  This should be done to find out whether or not these efforts are value for the process of building forward better.

 

• • Reporting and sharing the results of creations and innovations

 

Making a statement or an account about the results of creations and innovations, and sharing it with others can be a good way of getting people involved in what one is doing.  It will also help to make the process of building forward better as a shareable and inclusive; particularly, when one wants this process to be of leaving no-one behind.

There are many ways one can share their creations and innovations to build forward better greener and cleaner from the coronavirus pandemic and accidental damages caused by the containment measures.  These ways could include the following ones: 

∞ Written texts or format

∞ Phone calls

∞ Audio tapes

∞ Short films

∞ Video calling and conferencing

∞ Podcasts

∞ Exhibitions (physical and/or online)

∞ Social media platforms

Etc. 

The report should highlight the activities and accomplishments in terms of creations and innovations made in the context of building forward better.

To end this Main Development section of the current post, let us remind to everybody that the month of Creative Economic Development is not about CENFACS alone.  It is the month to recollect together our makings and the application of these makings we have been doing throughout the year.  

Likewise, this week of creations and innovations to build forward better is not about CENFACS solely.  It is about the community, users and stakeholders to create and innovate to build forward better, and mostly to make their makings reduce poverty and hardships induced by the coronavirus and accidental damages caused by the containment measures.  In this respect, we are all creators and innovators in the process of building forward better greener and cleaner.

To support the Creative Economic Development Month, please contact CENFACS.  To share your creations and innovations to build forward better greener and cleaner, please also contact CENFACS.

 

_________

     

References

 

(1) https://www.unisdr.org/files/7817_UNISDRTerminologyEnglish.pdf (accessed June 2021)

(2) FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises. 2021. Global Report on Food Crises 2021. Rome

http://https://www.fsinplatform.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/GRFC2021.pdf (accessed June 2021)

(3) https://unsdg.un.org/sites/defsult/files/2020-09/IRN_Socioeconomic-Response-PLan_2020_update.pdf (accessed June 2021)

 

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

02 June 2021

 

Post No. 198

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• Creative Economic Development Month and Jmesci (June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Initiatives) 2021 Project

• Leafy Year and Creative Economic Development Month

• Build Forward Better Together Programme: Phase B of Implementation of Building Africa

 

… And much more!

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

• Creative Economic Development Month and Jmesci (June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Initiatives) 2021 Project

 

Following CENFACS’ development calendar, we are in the Month of Creative Economic Development; and the project (June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Initiatives project) featuring this month has just kicked off.

During this month of creation and innovation, our work will be about the kinds of creation and innovation we need in order to continue to address the challenge of COVID-19-induced poverty while finding ways together with users and supporters to continue the work of building forward better together greener and cleaner from the coronavirus.

Under the Main Development section of this post, we have provided the key elements making this first key message.

 

 

 

• Leafy Year and Creative Economic Development Month

 

Our campaign of 2021 as a Year of Leaves continues during the Month of Creative Economic Development.  During this month, we shall try to bring together the elements of this campaign and those of creative economic development in order to better help in reducing poverty and enhancing sustainable development. 

Indeed, Leafy Year is an organised series of actions in support of leaves as means to reduce and possible end poverty in certain circumstances.  Leafy Year can have some links with economic development, particularly in the terms of Bernstein (1) who argues that economic development is about

“Raising the productive capacities of societies, in terms of their technologies (more efficient tools and machines), technical cultures (knowledge of nature, research and capacity to develop improved technologies), and the physical, technical and organisational capacities and skills of those engaged in production.” (p. 59)

It is the creative aspects in these productive capacities in terms of technical cultures and the technical and organisational capacities and skills that we are trying to explore for their potential relationships with the nature through leaves.  It is the ability to bring into existence processes and techniques that use leaves to raise productive capacities to reduce poverty while enhancing sustainable development.

During this month, we shall introduce in our Leafy Year campaign how leaves can help in raising creative capacities in the process of poverty reduction and sustainable development.

For those who would like to join or add their input to our Year of Leaves and Creative Economic Development Month, they are welcome to contact CENFACS and let us know their proposals for action.

 

 

 

 

• Build Forward Better Together Programme: Phase B of Implementation of Building Africa

 

In theory, we started this process of implementing Building Forward Better Together Programme in March 2021 when we launched this programme.  In the phase A of the process of building from the coronavirus has been Build Back Better Together greener and cleaner.    Last month, it was all about Build Back Better which we conducted through Stories (that is, All in Development Stories).

Having dealt with Phase A of the building process, we are now going back to the Phase B, which is Building Forward Better Together Programme.  We are going back because the process of building is a backward and forward one, and vice versa.  We argued that Building Forward Better Programme takes stock of CENFACS’ version of Build Back Better Programme.   

In this Phase B, we are trying to Build Forward Better with Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) and within CENFACS itself.  In the process of working together with them, we shall support them in the following areas of building forward better:

√ Focusing on end-users as beneficiaries of building forward better from the coronavirus

√ Helping them to reap off the benefits provided by digital transformation such as remote work

√ Contributing to their work on ring-fencing their structures and infrastructures to become more resilient to future shocks and crises

√ Advising them in matter of de-risking their poverty reduction instruments

√ Advocating with them for investing in internet-based economic and nature-based solutions

√ Supporting them in strengthening their resilience and of their users

√ Promoting to them the benefit of bringing together green and blue economies within their structures and systems of production

√ Encouraging them to use climate-smart approaches to tackle build-forward-better problems and barriers

Etc.

It is hoped that all the above will help ASOs build forward better together greener and cleaner.

For further details about Build Forward Better Programme (including the different projects and activities making this programme, outcomes, indicators, benefits, budget, monitoring and evaluation), please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• Spring Project of Building Back Better from the Coronavirus: Only 3 Weeks to Go!

 

The Project of Building Back Better from the Coronavirus aims at reducing poverty, particularly sanitation poverty, in the process of building back better from the damaging effects of the coronavirus pandemic while fighting it where it is still claiming its victims during this season in Africa.

This project has two key objectives which are:

(a) Rebuild resilient critical infrastructures, facilities and livelihoods required for the functioning of COVID-19 stricken people and communities

(b) Restore basic life-sustaining health, economic and environmental assets, systems and activities of COVID-19 affected people and communities as well as align them to greenhouse gas emissions goals and targets   

You can support it to make helpful difference for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic in Africa.

To support, contact CENFACS at:  Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)

 

 

 

• All in Development Stories Telling Series/Programme Closed!

 

All in Development Stories Telling Series/Programme with its 2021 theme of Building Back Better is now closed.  May Stories told are being processed. 

The notification of May Stories received and accepted will be done by 17/06/2021.  Only those who submitted their May Stories that have been accepted will be notified.

Thank you for your story donation.

 

 

 

• Dematerialisation Event: 05/06/2021

 

On 05 June 2021, CENFACS will work on dematerialisation as way of echoing the World Environment Day 2021’s theme of Ecosystem Restoration.  This work is also part of CENFACS‘ Poverty-Environment Programme. 

 

• • What is dematerialisation?

 

According to the World Bank (2), dematerialisation refers to

“An absolute or relative reduction in the quantity of materials required to serve economic functions in society”

This definition will be used to work together with the community and explore non-conflicting ways of activating the process of dematerialisation in the economic functions of their households.

 

• • Working with the community on dematerialisation

 

With reference to the above definition, CENFACS shall work with its community to help explore way of reducing the quantity of resources or materials from the ecosystem in order to meet their basic life-sustaining economic needs.  This will be an opportunity to promote and spread the news about dematerialisation in the way the community produces, consumes and distributes products and services.

The work on dematerialisation is CENFACS’ way of supporting the ecosystem restoration.

Those who may be interested in the dematerialisation event, they can contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• Creative Economic Development Month and Jmesci (June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Initiatives) 2021 Project

 

To compose the key message of this post, the following points have been considered:

the definition of the creative economic development, what 2021 June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Creative Initiatives (Jmesci) project will be about, the kinds of creative economic development projects we will be dealing with, the way in which we are organised to deliver the Creative Economic Development Month and the featuring of other environmental activities or events outside but closer to CENFACS’ work. 

Let us look at these points one by one.

 

• • Understanding the creative economic development

 

To grasp the creative economic development is better to start with the understanding of the creative economy.

There are many definitions of creative economy.  In this communication, we have selected the definition given by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).  UNCTAD (3) argues that a creative economy

“Essentially… is the knowledge-based economic activities upon which the ‘creative industries’ are based”.

The UNCTAD goes on by claiming that

“The creative industries – which include advertising, architecture, arts and crafts, design, fashion, film, video, photography, music, performing arts, publishing, research and development, software, computer games, electronic publishing, and TV/radio – are the lifeblood of the creative economy”.

However, CENFACS looks at the creative economy from the perspective of development or sustainable development.  From this perspective, one needs to include the definition of sustainable development as given by World Commission on Environment and Development (4), definition which is:

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

So, the knowledge-based economic activities – upon which the creative industries are supported – need to be sustainable; that is capable of being continued over the long term without adverse effects.

 

 

 

• • What June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Initiatives 2021 is about?

 

Individual and collective creations, in the ways of improving lives through the conception of fresh ideas and the implementation of practical ideas to escape from poverty and hardships as well as foster a better environment and sustainability, are CENFACS’ area of interest.   We create all over the year and life; however June is the month for us to acknowledge our environmental and sustainable makings. 

June is the month of Creative Economic Development at CENFACS with creation and innovation on the main menu: creation for researching and developing fresh ideas to reduce poverty, particularly extreme poverty; innovation for making these ideas come true, transformable into practical environmental and sustainable initiatives and actions. 

Put it simply, Jmesci (June Month of Environmental and Sustainable Creative Initiatives) is just about finding out ways of engineering creations relating to the environment and sustainability in order to further reduce poverty and improve the quality of life.  It is the project that features or carries the Creative Economic Development Month.

This year’s Jmesci will be about creations and innovations that help cure crises as well as those that help prevent future shocks and disasters to be harmful or destructive for people and communities.   

We have already started these creation and innovation processes since we kicked off the Covid-19 Campaign.  As this month is about creation and innovation, we are going to deepen these processes.  To know how we are going do it, please continue to read the next communications in the following weeks starting from this Main Development section of this post.

 

• • Kinds of creative economic development projects dealt with

 

The types of creative economic development projects that will be considered will be those helping people in need to reduce or end poverty while enhancing sustainable development.  In other words, for any creations and innovations to meet the objectives of the creation and innovation month, they need to address poverty while contributing to the principles of sustainable development. 

From the idea or conception to the implementation of these projects, their contents need to have the values of poverty reduction and sustainability.  As we continue to unveil these projects throughout this month, these values will become apparent and self-explanatory.  This will as well determine the manner in which the Creative Economic Development Month will be approached and delivered. 

 

 

• • The way in which the Creative Economic Development Month will be delivered

 

To deliver on what we have argued so far, the Creative Economic Development Month is organised as follows.

 

• • • Week beginning 07/06/2021: Creations and Innovations during the Process of Building Forward Better

 

Forming from nothing ideas or introducing changes to move forward together will be the main activity during the month of June 2021.  These creative ideas and innovative ways of working will enable to find the means to meet the level of ambition we have for the kind of poverty reduction, sustainable development and future we want.

 

• • • Week beginning 14/06/2021: Creations and Innovations that Counteract Future Shocks and Disasters 

 

Using our skills, knowledge and talents to find techniques, technologies and new methods to deal with the currently pressing and immediate crisis may not be enough unless we create and innovate to prevent or at least to mitigate future crises.  It means there could be another need to bring into existence ideas and introduce changes and new methods to address future crises if they happen when they happen. 

 

• • • Week beginning 21/06/2021: Green and Clean Creations and Innovations

 

We will be interested in creations and innovations that are environment-friendly (that is, they have a small or zero environmental impact) and reduce waste in the nature.   We are as well interested in creations and innovations that lower emissions of greenhouse gas, reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions, spearhead green energy solutions and increase the share of renewables in the energy mix in the process of creating and innovating for life, work and future.

For any query about the above organisation, please contact CENFACS. 

 

• • Creative Economic Development Projects

 

There are areas of creative economic industries upon which we (together with those in need) draw inspiration to develop projects to help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.  These areas include: advertising, arts and crafts, design, video, research and development. 

For example, we normally run Art and Design for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development as a creative economic development project.   CENFACS’ creative economic development projects (like Art and Design for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development) can help users to make their transition from the COVID-19 lockdown to a partial reopened economy to a fully functioning economy.

One of the activities related to this project for this year will be to construct and post e-cards or e-objects in support of Ecosystem Restoration to echo the World Environmental Day’s celebratory theme on 05/06/2021. 

One can as well construct and post the same cards as expressions or ways of sustainably managing land to resonate the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on 17/06/2021.  The motto for this international day is ‘healthy land, healthy people’.  

So, those who wish and want can design and post an e-card or e-object to feature the theme of “Ecosystem Restoration” relating to World Environment Day, and/or the theme of ‘Food. Feed. Fibre’ linked to the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

To support and or enquire about Art and Design for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development, please contact CENFACS.

 

• • Inclusion of other environmental activities into Jmesci 2021

 

Our month of creation (of thinking up new things) and innovation (of converting our thoughts into tangible outcomes) revolves around global, national, and local environmental and sustainable issues and events of the month as well. 

However, due to the Covid-19 and lockdowns it has led, many of the contact or physical environmental events have been postponed or cancelled since last year.  There are other online or virtual events that may take effect.

Examples of June world environmental events and days of the month include the following events which we have already mentioned:

– The United Nations World Environment Day to be held on 05/06/2021 under the theme of ‘Ecosystem Restoration’

– The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2021, which will be held on 17/06/2021 and will take place online.  The theme for 2021 Desertification and Drought Day is ‘Food .Feed .Fibre’.

To support and or engage with CENFACS’ Creative Economic Development month and or Jmesci, please contact CENFACS.

 

_________

References

(1) Bernstein, H. (1983), ‘Development’, in Thomas, A. & Bernstein, H. (eds) The ‘Third World’ and ‘Development’, Block 1 of the Open University course U204 Third World Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes 

(2) https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/dematerialisation-degrowth-and-climate-change-agenda (accessed May 2021)

(3) https://unctad.org/en/Pages/DITC/CreativeEconomy/Creative-Economy-Programme.aspx (accessed May 2021)

(4) Brundtland et al. (1987), Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Report), Oxford University Press, London

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.

 

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

26 May 2021

 

Post No. 197

 

 

The Week’s Contents

 

• All in Development Stories Telling Serial 4 – In Focus from Wednesday 26/05/2021: Stories of Reconstruction

• Reconstruction Stories of Internally Displaced People and Returnees in Africa

• Stories of Volunteers’ Action across All Fronts of Build Back Better (i.e. Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction)

… And much more!

 

 

 

Key Messages

 

• All in Development Stories Telling Serial 4 – In Focus from Wednesday 26/05/2021: Stories of Reconstruction

 

The last episode of our series of AiDS (All in Development Stories) Telling and Sharing Programme is on Stories of Reconstruction.  The latter are the serialised experiences or anecdotes of restoration to an original condition before the coronavirus crisis and containment measures.

The stories to be told, shared and learnt will be of rebuilding both people and communities in need after the coronavirus stroke and accidental damages caused by some of the measures meant to control the COVID-19 disaster.  These serialised stories are part of the process of building back better greener and cleaner. 

To join and / or steward the programme by telling and sharing your story, please contact CENFACS.

Under the Main Development section of this post, you will find notes highlighting this Serial 4.

 

 

 

• Reconstruction Stories from Internally Displaced People and Returnees in Africa

 

People continue to be involuntarily and internally displaced in many parts of the world including in Africa.  They are displaced because of natural disaster-driven, conflict-fuelled and other factors.

For example, in their recent joint Global Report on Internal Displacement, the International Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norway Refugee Council (1) have noticed the following:

6,780,000 (almost 27.4%) people were displaced by conflicts and violence, and 4,299,000 were displaced by disasters in 2020 in Sub-Saharan Africa. (p. 8)

Drawn-out conflicts and violence (in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, etc.) and natural disasters (like intense cyclones, torrential rains and floods) have involuntarily and internally displaced many people. 

In the context of our AiDS Telling and Sharing Programme, one can tell and share stories of displaced persons returning to rebuild and reconstruct their damaged or destroyed homes and lives. 

To tell and share your stories of the displaced and returnees who reconstructed their lives, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Stories of Volunteers’ Action across All Fronts of Build Back Better (i.e. Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction)

 

These stories could be related to actions generally taken in volunteering capacity to help people and communities in need to recover, rehabilitate and reconstruct from the coronavirus disaster and its side effects.  They could also be actions in which a volunteer got specifically involved and at the fronts of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction processes.  

To tell, share and provide opportunity for learning development through your story of volunteers’ actions across all the fronts of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction; please contact CENFACS.

 

 

Extra Messages

 

• E-workshop for Voters of International Poverty Reduction and Development Manager (IPRDM): Vote your IPRDM

How to choose your IPRDM

 

As part of CENFACS’ All Year Round Vote Project (that is, CENFACS International Poverty Reduction and Development Manager Project), we can work together to support you (as a voter) to choose or select the person you think that he/she would best help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in 2021.

There are reasons why we need to work together in choosing your IPRDM.  The following can explain the need of working together:

<> Many people carry out work in the context and field of poverty reduction without sometimes realising that they are helping others to come out poverty and hardships

<> It could be sometimes difficult to identify, choose and nominate the one who really achieves tangible results in terms of helping others without gaining any personal benefit in exchange

<> It is even challenging to know who stands out the crowd.

Because of these reasons, it make sense to support each other in deciding who should be named the best International Poverty Reduction and Development Manager of 2021.  He/she could be a COVID-19 Manager or a Disaster Risk Reduction Manager or a Post-disaster Reconstruction Programme Manager or anybody else.  

To enable Voters of IPRDM to make data-based decision, we have put in place a decision-making process/model of working together to facilitate the selection or choice of Voters’ ideal IPRDM.

After following the e-workshop, one can master the skills that will enable them to find out an ideal International Poverty Reduction and Development Manager who is helping or who helped people and communities to both meet sustainable development goals and reduce poverty the era of Covid-19.

 

• • How to find out your IPRDM

 

To research your International Poverty Reduction and Development Manager (IPRDM), you need to take some steps before casting your vote.  They include the following:

√ Write down your IPRDM job description

√ Write down your IPRDM person specification

√ Organise a timescale for each activity and set up a completion date

√ Watch or observe as many candidates as you can (watch work they are doing)

√ Check their CV, credentials and references

√ Assess their progress and achievements

√ Search your ideal three International Poverty Reduction and Development Managers within potential candidates you have been watching and match the best three candidates (after shortlisting) with job description, person specification, their achievements in terms of poverty reduction and sustainable development goals

√ Select one amongst the three who comes on top

√ Vote your IDPRM

 

• • Who is your IPRDM? 

 

He/she is a person who would have met the defined person specification and job description in terms of helping those in most need and most vulnerable to achieve defined areas of sustainable development goals and reduce poverty in the era of Covid-19.

He/she is a person that can help poor people to meet their utility or welfare under the difficult context and constraint of Covid-19.

Please remember, whatever your ideal/virtual Manager is doing or will do, he/she needs to help people meet sustainable development and poverty reduction goals in the Age of COVID-19.

Good luck in search of your IPRDM!

For any enquiries or queries about this e-workshop, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Convergence between Reduction of Energy Poverty and Zero Carbon Dioxide Emissions by 2050

 

In the light of the International Energy Agency’s (2) call for a ban on new coal, gas and oil projects to reach zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, CENFACS is revisiting its Goal 3 of tackling and reducing energy poverty. 

The Goal of Reduction of Energy Poverty (or Goal 3) is the one CENFACS set in its 2020s Poverty Reduction Programme and Development Agenda.  Energy poverty can be defined in many ways.  According to Habitat for Humanity (3), energy poverty is

“A lack of adequate, affordable, reliable, quality, safe and environmentally sound energy services to support development”.

Energy poverty forms part of CENFACS’ 2020s Poverty Reduction Programme and Development Agenda.  As part of these programme and agenda, it makes sense to reduce it since many people and communities in Africa are still struggling from energy access distribution.  Without putting statistical data on this lack of access, there are still hugely considerable numbers of people in Africa without access to electricity.

For example, the COVID-19 crisis and vaccines have openly exposed the lack of capacity in terms of electricity and fridges to store vaccines in many parts of Africa.

In Africa, many people are still lacking access to clean cooking facilities while relying on polluting energy sources or fuels such as solid biomass, coal and kerosene to meet their basic life-sustaining energy needs.  Yet, the achievement of universal energy access by 2030 is the United Nations Agenda (4) for Sustainable Development Goal 7 of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.  

Energy transition is the 2020s challenges for Africa if people, especially the poor ones, are requested to find sustainable way of consuming energy while still keeping pace with poverty reduction and sustainable development. 

One can hope in the process of building back better greener cleaner from the coronavirus, Africa will find its tune or way of making convergence between the goal of reduction of energy poverty and the goal of zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

To discuss this convergence, please contact CENFACS.

 

 

 

• Stories of Those at Risk of Being Left behind Build Back Better from the Coronavirus Disaster and Containment Measures (i.e. social distancing, lockdowns and border closures)

 

The process of building back better may not do justice to everybody for various reasons which are sometimes difficult to identify. 

There are people and / or members of our community who have been accidentally left behind in the process of building back better from the coronavirus disaster and containment measures. 

We would like to hear the narratives of these people and community members so that advocacy can be activated and stepped up to do something about their situation.

Anyone has who has the stories of the left behind, they can join and steward the AiDS programme by telling and sharing them with us.

 

 

 

Main Development

 

• All in Development Stories Telling Serial 4 – In Focus from Wednesday 26/05/2021: Stories of Reconstruction

 

To develop the notes for this Serial 4, we have assembled the following pieces:

Understanding of reconstruction, reconstruction in the context of AiDS Telling Programme, reconstruction as part of the process of building back better, story scene settings, types of stories wanted, and social media as reconstruction story tracking tools.

 

• • Understanding of reconstruction

 

There are many ways in which reconstruction can be understood and defined.  The definitions we have selected within the literature are as follows.

Jha et al (5) define reconstruction as:

“The restoration and improvement, where possible, of facilities, livelihoods and living conditions of disaster-affected communities, including efforts to reduce disaster risk factors.  It is focused primarily on the construction or replacement of damaged physical structures and the restoration of local services and infrastructure”.

However, Thurairajah et al (6) contend that

“Reconstruction is a rebuilding measure which involves not only constructing physical structures but also building the confidence, self-respect, self-esteem, self-dependency, mutual support and mutual trust and, the rebuilding of communities.  This long-term process focuses on human and material resource development, coordinated effort towards independence, sustainability, and empowerment” (p. 1106 & 1107)

In order to tell and share stories in this Serial 4, our understanding of reconstruction will revolve around both physical and non-physical structures.  It will be in the context of building back better greener and cleaner.

 

• • Reconstruction as part of the process of building back better greener and cleaner

 

Reconstruction will be approached from the build back better perspective.  From this perspective, the definition which is appropriate is the one given by the United Nations Assembly (7) arguing in 2016 that

“Reconstruction is the medium- and long-term rebuilding and sustainable restoration of resilient critical infrastructures, services, housing, facilities and livelihoods required for the full functioning of a community or a society affected by a disaster, aligning with the principles of sustainable development and build back better, to avoid or reduce future disaster risk”

From this definition, let us focus on alignment with the principles of sustainable development.  One of these principles is to do with green and clean development. 

From this principle, it would better for those submitting stories of reconstruction to make sure that their stories are of building back greener and cleaner.  They are of environment-friendly (that is, they have a small or zero environmental impact) and reduce waste in the nature.

These could be the stories of lowering emissions of greenhouse gas, of reducing climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions, of spearheading green energy solutions and increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix in the process of reconstructing lives.

 

• • Reconstruction in the context of AiDS Telling Programme

 

The definitions of reconstruction we are using are the ones we have given above.  For those who would like to tell and share their stories, they can refer to the above definitions.  For those who may have a different approach to reconstruction than the ones we have highlighted from the above definitions, they can still submit their stories while specifying the kinds of reconstruction they are using or have in mind.  

 

• • Story scene settings

 

When we are talking about reconstruction, one may think about the American reconstruction after the civil war in the 18^th Century or the European reconstruction after the World War II in the 19^th Century or the Congolese reconstruction after the two waves of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s and early 2000s (i.e. 1996-1997, then 1998-2003) or any other reconstruction experience.  However, the reconstruction we are referring to is the one after the COVID-19 outbreak.  It is the reconstruction forming part of the building back better process from the coronavirus that broke out in 2019.  So, stories to tell and share are those relating to the post-COVID-19 disaster reconstruction.

 

• • Types of stories wanted

 

The choice or selection of definition of reconstruction that one can make will have some implications in terms of the stories one would like to give or donate.  Depending on this choice or selection, it is possible to have the following stories of:

√ Restoration and improvement of facilities, livelihoods, and living conditions of disaster-(or COVID-19) affected communities (for example, the recent disaster case of communities and people affected by the eruption of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo)

√ Efforts to reduce disaster-risk factors

√ Construction or replacement of damaged structures because of COVID-19 and unwanted consequences of containment measures

√ Restoration of local services and infrastructure on which poor people and communities depend for their lives

√ Building confidence, self-respect, self-esteem, self-dependency, mutual support and mutual trust

√ Rebuilding both communities and individuals in need of reconstruction

√ Reducing vulnerability and improving living conditions of those in need of reconstruction

√ Reducing the volume of material and energy used to reconstruct lives

√ Post-pandemic economic reconstruction greener and less material-intensive

Etc.

The above are just an illustration of ways of developing, telling and sharing stories of building again lives.  There are many other ways of building again lives.  If anyone of you has them, they can share with CENFACS to steward All in Development Stories Telling and Sharing Programme.

 

• • Social media as reconstruction story tracking tools.

 

To track the reconstruction stories you are or will be telling and sharing with us, we have developed a certain number of tracking tools for monitoring and evaluation purposes.  One of these tools is our AiDST (All in Development Stories Telling) terms and conditions which we highlighted at the beginning of this programme.  We strongly recommend to those who would like to submit their reconstruction stories to consider this tracking tool.

It is increasingly fashionable for people to tell and share their stories via social media platforms (e.g. twitter, Tik Tok, etc.).  If you are going to use these platforms, please let us know so that we can follow your story.

If you have a story of green and sustainable reconstruction from the COVID-19 disaster and associated adverse impacts, please do not hesitate to tell it to CENFACS. 

We look forward to your story of reconstruction in the context of building back better greener and cleaner.

 

_________

 

References

(1) International Displacement Monitoring Centre & Norway Refugee Council (2021), Global Report on Internal Displacement, May 2021

https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/grid2021_idmc.pdf (accessed May 2021)

(2) International Energy Agency (2021), Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, Flagship report – May 2021

(3) https://www.habitat.org/emea/about/what-we-do/residential-energy-efficient-household/energy-poverty (accessed May 2021)

(4) http://undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2015/09/24/undp-welcomes-adoption-of-sustainable-development-goals-by-world-leaders.html (print)

(5) Jha et al (2010), Safer homes, Stronger communities: a handbook for reconstructing after natural disasters. The World Bank, Washington, D. C.

(6) Thurairajah, N, Amratunga, RDG and Haigh, RP, (2008), Post-disaster reconstruction as an opportunity for development: Women’s perspective, Conference or Workshop Item

http://usir.salford.ac.uk/9809/ (accessed May 2021)

(7) https://www.unisdr.org/files/53213_bbb.pdf (accessed May 2021)

_________

 

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 consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.

Donate to support CENFACS!

FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ PROJECTS, JUST GO TO http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

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 2021 and beyond.

With many thanks.