Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

21 November 2018

Post No. 66

The Week’s Contents

• TRIACONTADI Project (Project 32)

• Skills Development Month: Update of CENFACS’ Skills Data Bank

• A la une, Local Year and Africa-based Organisations’ Environmental Campaigns

… and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ TRIACONTADI Project (Project 32)

This week at CENFACS, the lead story of poverty relief and sustainable development is about the basic infrastructures for poverty relief and sustainable development.  To reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development with/for those in pressing needs, it requires basic infrastructures.  Some places manage to maintain their basic infrastructures whereas others have not been able to do so in Africa.  

Whenever there is a severe weather or destructive armed conflicts, there is always damage to the infrastructures that people, especially the poor ones, depend on for their living and survival.  Water pipes get damaged, rivers and lakes get polluted, roads become impracticable, health and schools get destroyed etc.  Sometimes, these infrastructures are the targets in wars. 

A part from the armed conflicts and environmental events, there is as well poor governance in some places in Africa where these vital infrastructures are neglected or not modernised.  In some situations, these infrastructures have never existed because of poverty and means to investment.

Yet, in order to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development just as for poor people to function as human beings, these people need basic life-sustainable infrastructures.  Some of these people try to address the matter by themselves, but their effort is not enough.  They need some backing.  This is why CENFACS together with local organisations and people in Africa have developed TRIACONTADI project to provide some backing or additional hands.

We have provided further information about TRIACONTADI project under the Main Developments section of this post.      

~ Skills Development month: Update of CENFACS’ Skills Data Bank

The month of Economics of Education and Skill Formation continues with CENFACS Data Bank of Skills, a repository of information containing skills of the CENFACS Community.

As part of the New General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), we are updating our Database or Data Bank of Skills for the CENFACS’ Community in line the new GDPR.  Those who would like to register their skills to CENFACS’ Skills Data Bank; they are free to do so. 

Registering your skills to the CENFACS Community’s Skills Data Bank provides mutual benefits for CENFACS’ registrar and the registered person. 

The registration enables us to know who possesses what as skills, abilities and competences.  For the registered person, it gives them the possibility to tap into opportunities when they arise.

You can upload or email your skills to CENFACS to make the Skills Database or Data Bank at facs@cenfacs.org.uk

~ A la une campaign, Local Year campaign and other environmental campaigns

Although the six themed areas of work for this year’s A la une campaign have been covered as planned in the last six weeks of action on environment at CENFACS, we are still in the Season of Environmental Action until the official end of Autumn around mid-December 2018. 

We still have next week the Climate Protection and Stake for African Children (Phase 2) to campaign for prior to our intense follow-up of the climate change talks, which will take place from 3 to 14 December 2018 in Katowice in Poland.   

To continue A la une campaign, we are looking at similar campaigns on nature and the environment held by different organisations in the UK, Africa and elsewhere.  This is because to achieve a good upkeep of the nature, it needs a collective endeavour   Amongst these organisations, we have our Africa-based Sister Organisations. 

Furthermore, because we are still in CENFACS’ Year of Local People or the Local Year campaign, we are this week trying to look at different environmental actions taken by local people to make the upkeep of the nature a local affair rather than only a global matter.

So, this week is an inclusive one.  It is the week of the integration of the themed areas of work of the Autumn environmental action (i.e. A la une), of the Local Year campaign and of some Africa-based organisations’ environmental works. 

Extra messages

~ Thank you

We would like to thank everyone who supported this last Monday’s Women and Children FIRST Development Day.  The Development Day provides us a further opportunity and thoughtful moment to re-engage with and re-communicate our message against poverty and hardships.  This time, this message was communicated through the circular economy and how it can be used to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.

We shall continue to advocate for progress on the development of resilience and policies to protect poor and vulnerable people especially women/mothers and children living in the conditions of poverty and hardships.  Many thanks!

~ Festive Income Booster: Festive Work

Promoting the right of celebration for Poor Children, Young People and Families by boosting their income over the festive season continues to occupy our November poverty relief and sustainable development agendas.  Likewise, Festive Work as Season’s theme from this year’s edition of Festive Income Booster is also preoccupying our mindset.  To access this Individual Capacity Development Programme resource, contact CENFACS.

~ Charity e-Store: Festive SHOPPING and DONATIONS!

Every occasion and or every season is an opportunity to do something against poverty and hardships.  This coming festive season is one of them and is a great time to share precious moments with your love ones.  It is also a time to spread a little extra happiness to those who do not have. 

You can give your unwanted and unneeded goods to CENFACS’ Charity e-Store, the shop builds to help relieve poverty.  You can buy second hand goods and bargain priced new items and much more. 

CENFACS’ Charity e-Store needs your support for Festive SHOPPING and DONATIONS.

You can do something different this Festive Season by SHOPPING or DONATIONS GOODS at CENFACS Charity e-Store. 

You can DONATE or SHOP or do both:

√ DONATE unwanted GOODS and PRODUCTS to CENFACS Charity e-Store during the festive period 2018

√ SHOP at CENFACS Charity e-Store to support good and deserving causes of poverty relief during the festive period

Your SHOPPING and or GOODS DONATIONS will help to the Upkeep of the Nature and to reduce poverty.

Main Development from the Week’s Contents

TRIACONTADI project (Project 32)

TRIACONTADI (Together for Renewal of infrastructures in Africa to Create Opportunities and Needed Transformation for Alternative Development Inter-generations) is an infrastructure project that aims at reducing poverty and hardships in Africa by working together with local people to build or rebuild basic infrastructures; infrastructures sometimes destroyed by armed conflicts and environmental disasters or just infrastructures that did not exist or even become obsolete after many years or decades of economic regression or neglect.

TRIACONTADI is part of CENFACS’ Autumn Appeal, a model of working together, a project of basic infrastructures and of meeting basic life-sustaining infrastructures.

∴ TRIACONTADI as one of CENFACS projects containing in the Autumn Appeal

This infrastructure project is a response to a logical consequence following our humanitarian appeal after there have been environmental disasters or destructive wars in places like Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo, the regions of the Lake Chad etc.

∴ TRIACONTADI as a model of working together with local people

TRIACONTADI as a model of working together with local people to develop sustainable infrastructures to reduce poverty and hardships, uses 32 variables or concepts which are: people, relief, sustainable, infrastructure, renewal, Africa, creation, opportunities, transformation, inter-generation, need, alternative, development, destruction, war, disaster, environment, obsolete, neglect, governance, local, togetherness, hardships, legacies, community, economic regression, inexistence, peace, building, facilities and amenities. 

∴ TRIACONTADI as a project of basic infrastructures

To help reduce poverty in Africa and elsewhere, it requires basic infrastructures.  Basic infrastructures in the context of TRIACONTADI include schools, health and medical centres, water pipes and points, commuting facilities, shelter, internet hubs, essential means of communication etc.  They help to enable and sustain the work of poverty relief and sustainable development.

∴ TRIACONTADI as a way of meeting basic life-sustaining infrastructures

Where there is a destructive war and or environmental disaster, the most sufferers are often the poor who often lose their belongings and basic infrastructures, let alone their homes, lands and personal lives.  TRIACONTADI helps to build or rebuild their basic life-sustaining infrastructures. 

The above presentation of TRIACONTADI is not only to raise awareness of basic life-sustaining infrastructures.  It is also an invitation to those who may be interested in supporting these kinds of infrastructures to create enabling structures to help reduce poverty to try to do something about it. 

It is about backing the already taken local people’s actions with small and medium-sized infrastructures to help the poor to stand on their feet while leaving the bulk of major infrastructures and investments in big equipment in the domain of their States and local authorities. 

To support and or for further details about the Project 32, contact CENFACS.

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

14 November 2018

Post No. 65

The Week’s Contents

• Skills Development Month continues with Disruptive Skills

• A la une campaign with Forests and Lands

• Women and Children FIRST Development Day with the Circular Economy

… and much, much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ Disruptive Skills for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development

Our Skills Development month or the month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation continues this week by looking at any further or better skills we need as a CENFACS Community to continue to help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development. 

We are focusing on Disruptive Skills to do that.  Disruptive Poverty Relief Skills are those can significantly alter the way the entire poverty relief industry operates.  These are the abilities and talents that may enable someone to add to or move away from traditional established ways of dealing with poverty.  In doing so, they will help to access new markets and value networks or chains as well as to develop new products and tools to deal with poverty and unsustainable development.

For more on Disruptive Skills for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development, contact CENFACS.

~ A la une campaign with a focus on Forests and Lands

Our A la une campaign continues as well with the last themed area of work, which is Forests and Lands.  This week we will try again to push forward for the understanding of the forest lands issue, and action to deal with this issue.  The outcome from this week’s sub-campaign is to help trigger change of mindset and action for the upkeep of forests (i.e. trees and wood plants) and lands. 

The campaign activities include the three following links:

√ Links between forests, lands and species of flora and fauna

√ Links between forests, lands and poverty relief

√ Links between forests, lands and sustainable development

Further details about this themed area of work are given under the Main Developments section of this post.

 ~ Women and Children FIRST Development Day (WCFDD) with the Circular Economy

High on the next week’s agenda will be our 9th Development Day.  This year’s focus is on the Circular Economy, on how it can be used to empower families, in particular but not exclusively women/mothers and children.  In our thoughts, we will be using decoupling theories of the circular economy, theories that push forward for the decoupling economic development from consumption and exploitation of natural resources.

For more on WCFDD, read under the Main Developments section of this post.

Extra messages

~ Festive Income Booster: Festive Work

Promoting the right of celebration for Poor Children, Young People and Families by boosting their income over the festive season continues to occupy our November poverty relief and sustainable development agendas.  Likewise, Festive Work as Season’s theme from this year’s edition of Festive Income Booster is also preoccupying our mindset.  To access this Individual Capacity Development Programme resource, contact CENFACS.

~ Charity e-Store: Festive SHOPPING and DONATIONS!

Every occasion and or every season is an opportunity to do something against poverty and hardships.  This coming festive season is one of them and is a great time to share precious moments with your love ones.  It is also a time to spread a little extra happiness to those who do not have. 

You can give your unwanted and unneeded goods to CENFACS’ Charity e-Store, the shop builds to help relieve poverty.  You can buy second hand goods and bargain priced new items and much more. 

CENFACS’ Charity e-Store needs your support for Festive SHOPPING and DONATIONS.

You can do something different this Festive Season by SHOPPING or DONATIONS GOODS at CENFACS Charity e-Store. 

You can DONATE or SHOP or do both:

√ DONATE unwanted GOODS and PRODUCTS to CENFACS Charity e-Store during the festive period 2018

√ SHOP at CENFACS Charity e-Store to support good and deserving causes of poverty relief during the festive period

Your SHOPPING and or GOODS DONATIONS will help to the Upkeep of the Nature and to reduce poverty.

Main Developments from the Week’s Contents

• A la une campaign with Forests and Lands

To undertake the upkeep of forests and lands in Africa and elsewhere, it makes sense to preserve the lives of species of flora and fauna, to continue to reduce poverty and to enhance sustainable development.  

In the context of this campaign, it goes without saying with the following causal links which help to elucidate action for the upkeep of the nature: links between forests, lands and poverty reduction; links between forests, lands and species; links between forests, lands and sustainable development. 

Let’s see these causal links first, and then explain what we are campaigning for.  

•• Causal links that make this themed area of the A la une campaign

Links between forests, lands and poverty reduction

There are documented studies about the benefits of forests for the poor.  Many people live in or around forests and enjoy the benefits of forests.  According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (1),

 ‘Of an estimated 250 million people in or around tropical forests and savannahs living below the extreme poverty line, 63 percent are in Africa’ (p.11). 

The same organisation argues that ‘Reliance on wood fuel is highest in Africa (63 percent) (p.17) 

In terms of this campaign, let’s simply say the following.

Poor people rely on forests as they share the same space.  Forests provide the following benefits.  Forests are a source of subsistence for food, fuel, medicine, shelter for forest dwellers, housing materials etc.  They can provide savings and insurance for the poor and forest-based economies.

From the above benefits, it is right to advocate that the way humans can deal with forests and forest lands can impact poverty and its reduction.  There tends to be economic linkages between rural poverty and land degradation.  There seems to be association between poverty alleviation, natural tropical and lands in Africa especially in rural areas.

Links between forests, lands and species of flora and fauna

There are scientific researches which show that forest destruction, habitat fragmentation by human encroachment in forest areas can increase exposure to zoonotic infections via interaction with wildlife reservoir species and enhance exposure to other diseases.

Likewise, it is a matter of fact that dry land forests, which are critical to the survival of humans and animals are under considerable pressure of degradation, are a problem for some species like vulnerable African elephant species and black rhinos.  These species depend on eco-systems for management and shelter.

Again, the above suggests that there could be links between the state of forests, lands and the well-being of species of flora and fauna.  Campaigning for the reverse of the degradation of dry land forests is a deserving cause for the upkeep of the species of flora and fauna.

Links between forests, lands and sustainable development

Simply speaking sustainable development covers three basic areas: environmental, economic and societal sustainability.  If we pick up environmental sustainability, particularly climate change, it is pointless to say that there is a possible link between deforestation and climate change.   Deforestation and forest degradation can cause carbon emissions.  Reducing the over-exploitation and demand of timber can help for forest resources in Africa and elsewhere.  

•• What we are campaigning for this week

Forests and Lands sub-campaign is an action for sustainable forest and land development.  It is a crusade to save or rescue species of plants and animals found in the rainforests, especially but not exclusively in the tropical forests of Africa. 

It is a drive that addresses the following issues: the destruction of trees of the rainforests by logging, the clearance of vast areas of forests for various reasons, the cutting down of trees and the burning of the scrub etc.

It is a fight against deforestation-related externalities and illegal conversion of forests for export-driven industrial agriculture.

It is finally a stand for the improvement of climate finance for forest conservation, anti-deforestation dividends, the restoration of degraded lands, the protection of vulnerable forests, and the care about forest and land development targets.

To support Forests and Lands sub-campaign and A la une campaign generally, contact CENFACS.

(1) Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (2018): The State of the World’s Forests 2018 – Forest Pathways to Sustainable Development, Rome, Licence: CC BY-NC-SA  3.0  IGO

•• Coming Next Week: The 9^th Women and Children FIRST Development Day (WCFDD)

The coming WCFDD will about thinking ways of working together to come out of the linear model that consists of make, use and dispose goods and resources; to embrace the circular economy.  Circular economy or circular economic development has been around for many centuries, but it has never been the economic model that one can think of in the first place when it comes to produce and consume resources. 

Every day we hear about re-use, repair and recycle.  But, in the way people generally act and behave, only few of them care about these three expressions (re-use, repair and recycle).  It is often the paradigm of linear economic model that prevails in humans’ mindset and the way they behave.    

This Development Day (DD) is for us to explore paths of making the circular economy as our everyday’s economy from family to work and passing through different aspects of our living outside the family and work circles. 

The DD will seek to find strategies to adapt the principles of the circular economy to our daily family life, and to rethink or rebuild family relationships in integrating the circular economy.  The DD will have two areas of thoughts (i.e. adaptation and transition to the circular economy).  But before getting further about these two areas of our development day of thoughts, let’s define the circular economy.

There are many circular economy schools of thought and definitions of circular economy.  For the purpose of our development day, we are going to borrow the definition of circular economy from Ellen McArthur Foundation (2) which defines it in these following terms.

‘Looking beyond the current take-make-dispose extractive industrial model, a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources, and designing waste out of the system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural, and social capital. It is based on three principles: a) Design out waste and pollution b) Keep products and materials in use c) Regenerate natural systems.’

This definition can be extended to family life and framework where those making this family are involved.  Because our development day is about women/mothers and children, let’s say where women or mothers and children are concerned;  their involvement is in their handling or customizing the above three principles.  In other words, in terms of family settings, we/they will be trying to think how they can design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and help regenerate natural systems in their ways of dealing with natural resources. 

From the perspective of our development day and of the decoupling theories of circular economy, two areas of thought will be dealt with which are as follows:

1^st Area of Thought: Adaptation of the circular economy principles to family models of working and the lives of women/mothers and children.

In this first area of thought, we will be rethinking the key functions of a family and family setting in which its members (here women/mothers and children) are part of.  We will then try find out how to adapt to the circular economy or the regenerative economic development or way around how this economy can be adapted to the family life..

2^nd Area of Thought: Women’s and children’s transition to a circular economy

The second area of thought will be about the transition process from a linear economic model of managing natural resources to a circular economic model of operating for women/mothers and children.  It will be about developing a strategy to work with resilient families (including women/mothers and children) for transitioning to a circular economy, for making both mental and behavioural shifts in embracing the circular economy.

Both adaptation and transition processes will prepare the mindsets of those who are willing to embrace the circular economy to decouple poverty relief and economic development from consumption and exploitation of natural resources.  For example, to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development, those in need do not always have to resort to cut down trees or destroy natural resources.  Another example, humans can re-use household items by extracting the maximum value from them before thinking of replacing them with new ones.  It is in this way they can help build economic, natural, and social capital they need.

This DD will be conducted under CENFACS’ Women and Children Sustainable Development projects.

To support the DD and CENFACS, contact CENFACS.

(2)https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept (accessed on 09/11/2018)

WCFDD Timeline: 2010 to 2017

Since its inception in 2010, the WCFDD provides an opportunity and scope to communicate CENFACS’ anti-poverty work/message and the need to develop new ideas and proposals, and improve practices to enable us to enhance the quality of life of multi-dimensionally-deprived women/mothers and children. 

In 2010, the WCFDD was devoted to AWARENESS on SUSTAINABLE ACCESS TO & PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGIES

In 2011, CENFACS’ WCFDD tackled the challenging issue of BARRIERS TO POVERTY REDUCTION, with a special emphasis on one particular way of overcoming them, which is participation.  Women & Children’s Participation was looked at within the context of Race in the Road to Poverty Reduction.

In 2012, our Development Day in Putting Women and Children FIRST went further with the sub-theme of participation as it was organised around the theme of IMPROVING WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION IN THE RACE TO REDUCE POVERTY. 

In 2013, WCFDD at CENFACS extended and deepened the idea of more and better participation by focussing on Infrastructures for Women’s and Children’s contribution to poverty relief.  The theme for 2013 was “INFRASTRUCTURES FOR A POSITIVE ECONOMY TO REDUCE POVERTY”.

In 2014, we guesstimated and compared the cost for acting to the cost for inaction to reduce poverty.  The theme of COSTING DOING NOTHING FOR POVERTY RELIEF improves our understanding on an early prevention that helps reduce costs and avoid escalating or detrimental effects for poor Women and Children.

In 2015, WCFDD was dedicated to MAKING THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WORK FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN (W&C).  This was the local community response from the W&C of CENFACS to the 2030 Global Agenda and Goals for Sustainable Development.

In 2016, The theme for our Development Day was ENSURING HEALTHY LIVES AND PROMOTING WELL-BEING FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN.  This was the continuation of 2015 development day.  Ensure-Healthy-Lives-and-Promote-Well-being is itself Goal no.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  One day of development thoughts does not make the 2030 Agenda works as we need more times and days. But it helped to look at Goal 3 (G3) as both global and local concept, G3 as a practical response and G3 as Protection for W&C in the CENFACS’ Year of Protections. 

In 2017, ENDING POVERTY IN ALL ITS FORMS EVERYWHERE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN was our working theme for the WCFDD

Note: For your information,

3W (What Women Want) is a CENFACS support network scheme to enhance the lives of multi-dimensionally deprived women/mothers and families.

PPS (Peace, Protection & Sustainability) is a CENFACS child and environmental protection programme to support multi-dimensionally vulnerable children, young people and families

W&CSDP (Women & Children Sustainable Development projects) – a CENFACS amalgamation of 3W and PPS projects

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

07 November 2018

Post No. 64

The Week’s Contents

• Skills Development Month: What’s on in November 2018 

• A la une campaign with Preventing Species Extinctions

• Festive Income Booster with Festive Work

…and much, much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

November Month: Skills Development

November at CENFACS is the month of education and training; which revolve around the development of skills for life, for work, for poverty relief and sustainable development.  It is the month during which we look into ourselves and try to assess, explore and learn the skills we need in order to help further reduce poverty in a sustainable way amongst ourselves and re-engage with the business of sustainable development. 

It is also the training implementation month during which educationally related projects or projects that involve training, skills development and acquisition of new knowledge to help users and our Africa-based Sister Organisations to empower themselves with the educational tools and training resources they need to further help reduce poverty.

We all know that poverty is not only material or the lack of monetary income; it is even more the lack of knowledge, skills, know how and technologies than anything else.   Therefore, knowing and learning a skill can help to further reduce poverty and set one on the right course of the development process. 

We strive to support those who want to learn a skill while we at CENFACS as an organisation plan our own training, learning and development programme from time to time when we can access both funding and training.  

The November 2018 focus on us will be on enhancing digital and media skills as well as capacity to continue to reform CENFACS and adapt it to the Media and Digital Developments.  In doing so, we hope this can help us to meet new and emerging needs of our beneficiaries as well as the challenges of the business of poverty relief and sustainable development.

To find out and or support the skills development month, contact CENFACS.

What’s on during the month of November 2018 at CENFACS

The projects and activities making the contents in November 2018 at CENFACS will be:

~ Skills Development as the main November feature of our development calendar, with FIDILI Skills Development project as a starter

~ Women & Children FIRST Development Day (Thoughts): Women, Children and the Circular Economy

~ CPSAC (Climate Protection and Stake for African Children) – Phase 2 with Katowice Implements Paris like a climate advocacy theme (Climate and Child Protection project)

~ Triacontadi (Project 32): Together for Renewal of Infrastructures in Africa to Create Opportunities and Needed Transformations for Alternative Development Intergenerational (Basic Infrastructures project) 

A la une campaign with the Prevention of the Extinction of Endangered and Threatened Species

The last three weeks of our A la une campaign have been dominated by the marine sustainability or water sustainability.  In particular, we successively campaigned for marine biodiversity, marine technology and the reduction of marine pollution. 

This week, our A la une campaign has entered its fifth phase in which we are dealing with the burning issue of the Prevention of the Extinction of Endangered and Threatened Species. 

Further information about this themed area of work on Preventing Species Extinctions has been given under the Main Developments section of this post.

Festive Income Booster: Festive Work

The next issue of our Autumn ICDP (Individual Capacity Development Programme) resource, known as Festive Income Boost and which is designed to support Multi-dimensionally Income Poor Children, Young People and Families (MIPCYPFs), will focus on various ways of generating income.  This year our focus will be on some of the casual jobs that poor people and families may undertake to make ends meet around the festive period.  

More information about this year’s edition of Festive Income Booster has been provided under the Main Developments section of this post.

Extra Messages

Besides the above selected initiatives for your readership and engagement, we have added for this week the following. 

~ CENFACS Charity e-Shop: GOODS DONATIONS & SHOPPING

Like any organisation running a shop over the Season’s special occasions, CENFACS needs GOODS DONATIONS and SHOPPING at its e-store over the festive time. 

We would very much appreciate if supporters could help either by providing GOODS as DONATIONS or SHOPPING at CENFACS e-Store or both.  This way of supporting can further help reduce poverty over the Festive season and beyond.  

We will be providing further information about Festive GOODS DONATIONS and SHOPPING on our Charity e-Store page of this website. 

To find out details about items to donate and / or to donate GOODS, go http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

To buy donated goods, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/

Thank you to those who wish to support our e-store!

~ Another extra message: we would like to inform you that our other on-going programmes, campaigns and projects scheduled for this Autumn are still running.

Main Development from the Week’s Contents

• Preventing Species Extinctions

This week’s agenda and themed area of work for A la une campaign has a double objective:

speaking and acting with our Africa’s Sister Organisations to help in our own way protect both the endangered and threatened species in Africa; and working in line and alliance with other endangered species projects.

One of the international species protection projects is CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).  We are looking at for example the outcomes of its last October Conference in London and how these outcomes can contribute to what we are campaigning for; in particular, the Declaration from London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade.  

As said above, this week we are campaigning for the prevention of extinction of endangered and threatened species.  We are against the extinction of endangered and threatened animals (such as elephants, penguins, lions, leopards, cheetah, black rhinoceros, pygmy hippopotamus, mountain gorilla etc.); of endangered trees, plants and flowers; of endangered fishes and so on. 

We are against crimes from illegal trade in wildlife that threaten species’ survival.

We are in favour for the closing down of markets for illegally traded wildlife.  Likewise, we would like to see the impacts of illegal trade in wildlife been sensibly reduced for the rights of flora and fauna species.

Furthermore, this week is about the review and re-launching of other campaigns on this matter, like Save the BIG CATS, the Elephant and Gorilla campaigns.  Save the BIG CATS, the Elephant and the Gorilla campaigns are part the Prevention of the Extinction of Endangered and Threatened Animal Species.

Finally, our motto for this week and this fifth phase of A la une campaign is: Save the Living Species (SLS).

To support and or engage with this themed area of A la une campaign, contact CENFACS.

• Next Issue of Autumn ICDP Resource (Festive Income Booster): Festive Work

The next issue of Autumn Individual Capacity Development Programme (ICDP) resource (Festive Income Boost) will be on Festive Work as the Season’s theme.

Indeed, some income poor families can find more convenient to use traditional means of generating a little extra income.  Others may be forced by the events or may try to grab the opportunity of the festive season to seek for temporary or the festive season’s jobs to generate a little extra income to meet the end of year bills.

In fact, just before, during and just after the festive season, many businesses need help to cope with the pressure of the Season’s demand for goods and services.  This is the same for MIPCYPFs who need income to meet their basic life-sustaining needs over the festive period.  This is a particular time of the year when their respective needs can intersect, businesses’ needs of labour and poor families’ supply of labour can meet.  Businesses need extra people to hire while poor families need extra income to cover the financial pressure of the Season.  And if businesses can offer them casual jobs to make the little extra income, this could be good to reduce their financial pressure.

What this year’s Festive Income Booster is about

The Festive Income Booster is CENFACS’ Autumn ICDP and poverty-relieving resource that provides some income generation leads and tips.  As the focus for this year’s edition is on Festive Work, the resource will include the following: temporary festive jobs, end of year earning opportunities, seasonal self-employment, petit jobs as some may call it etc.

Who it is for

Festive Income Boost is for Multi-dimensionally Income Poor Children, Young People and Families (MIPCYPFs) and it is designed to support to them throughout the entire the festive season.

What the Festive Income Booster covers

The resource covers some ways of dealing with casual job interview questions, seasonal job search techniques (for both online and print searches), job search engines and leads, guidance on job applications and CV, reference building techniques, job ads, credit history or score, diary of job fairs and events, job matching to person specification and profile etc.  It goes further in exploring steps that poor families can take to upskill themselves.

The resource also covers security and protection matters when trying to generate a little extra income to make ends meet.  In this respect, it tells again the new general data protection regulations, child protection and safeguarding issues for jobs where these requirements apply.

What’s more?

The resource also reminds us the areas of law or legal requirements in terms of whatever we do to try to raise additional household income to reduce poverty.

How to access this resource

The resource will be available as a booklet from CENFACS e-Store.  It is normally free of charge but we will appreciate a donation of £5 to help us help reduce poverty and the cost of renewing and producing this resource.

To order and or find out more about the Autumn ICDP resource, please contact CENFACS with your contact details. 

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

31 October 2018

Post No. 63

The Week’s Contents

• History to Skills Development

• FIDILI Skills Development project

• A la une campaign with the Reduction of Marine Pollution

… and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ History to Skills Development

Our History month is ending today together with this year’s Making Memorable Difference project.  We had the opportunity to re-read African Oral History.  Both the Value and Legacies (Gifts) Days helped to push the boundaries of what we already know about African Oral History and to acquire further knowledge on what we were not aware of.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who help in their own way to the History month and to the Making Memorable History project.

After re-reading Africa’s Oral History, we are now going to use what we learnt about it to inspire ourselves to try to develop the skills we need for ourselves, for our community and our organisation to further help to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.

This transition from history re-reading and making memorable difference to skills development will be done this week.  So, the month of November will be of Skills Development.  We are going to kick off the Skills Development month with the project proposals of FIDILI Skills Development.

~ FIDILI Skills Development project

Continuing to build on the theme of the 61^st Issue of FACS, we have completed the planning process of FIDILI Skills Development project.  The 61^st Issue has been about Making the Impacts of Mobile Money and Digital Financial Inclusion on Poverty Reduction in Africa Clearer.

In the context of this theme, we proposed a project as a sustainable response to the problem of financial and digital illiteracy for mobile money account holders (and non-holders) as well as for the excluded from digital financial inclusion. 

This week, we are going deeper about this project or model of integrating financial literacy skills and digital literacy skills to tackle poverty induced by the lack of these skills and banking eligibility criteria. 

For the full project proposals and to support this project, please contact CENFACS.

~ A la une campaign with Reduction of Marine Pollution   

Water pollution is becoming a serious challenge for the health, economy and environment of the planet Earth.  Pollution of seas and oceans as well as of rivers and lakes or any other water is a problem for humans, animals and other living species. 

Generally speaking, polluted water is water containing the amounts or kinds of substance in it that likely to cause harm to people, animals, plants or the environment.   The Reduction of Marine Pollution under the umbrella of A la une campaign deals this problem.   The Reduction of Marine Pollution is a three-fold campaign that is made of the following.

The Reduction of Marine Pollution is a joined-up global sub-campaign through which we try to work together with similar projects against water pollution, like the last call to action to Beat Plastic Pollution, the theme for World Environment Day 2018.

The Reduction of Marine Pollution is an environmental development sub-campaign linked to Africa’s voices against the pollution of lakes, rivers and water surrounding Africa.

The Reduction of Marine Pollution is a poverty-relieving sub-campaign in which we try to address poverty related to water pollution.

Briefly, the Reduction of Marine Pollution sub-campaigns make our themed area of work against environmental unfriendly process that harm water bodies.

Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have given further details about the Reduction of Marine Pollution. 

Main Developments from the Week’s Contents

A la une campaign with the Reduction of Marine Pollution

As argued above, there are three sub-campaigns or facets within the themed area of Reduction of Marine Pollution:

The Reduction of Marine Pollution as a joined-up global sub-campaign against water pollution

The Reduction of Marine Pollution as an environmental development sub-campaign linked to Africa’s voices against the pollution of lakes, rivers and other waters

The Reduction of Marine Pollution as poverty-relieving sub-campaign to address poverty related to water pollution

1) The Reduction of Marine Pollution as a joined-up global sub-campaign

This week’s sub-campaign against water pollution is in line with worldwide campaigns against water pollution including Beat Plastic Pollution, the theme for World Environment Day 2018 that centre staged the issue of water pollution in recent memories.

What we share in common with other global projects against water pollution and what we are against are the following:

Farm pesticides, fertilizers and chemical waste washed into rivers, plastic bottles dumped into the seas; liquid waste from factories and farms pouring into rivers and streams; the introduction of harmful substances into the water; unfit water for human consumption; the introduction of salts and minerals in the soil to water bodies; eutrophication; industrial and household dumping of wastes into water bodies without treatment; disposal of human waste to water sources etc.

The list goes on.

All these kinds of rubbish dumped in the seas and oceans pose a serious threat and danger to wildlife, fish and humans.

2) The Reduction of Marine Pollution as a poverty-relieving sub-campaign

Water pollution can lead to or exacerbate poverty.  It can make poverty worse in the following ways:

When water becomes unfit for drinking because of more soil into water bodies;

When water becomes unsafe for humans health and consumption;

When there is a loss of lives because water-related illnesses;

When poor people drink contaminated water because of lack of choice and means.

To reduce poverty in this context, there is a need to get safe and clean drinking water.  In this respect, our sub-campaign is about cleanliness of water.

3) The Reduction Marine Pollution as an environmental development sub-campaign linked to Africa’s voices for clean water

This sub-campaign is against factors that contribute to the exacerbation of water pollution and jeopardize the sustainable development prospects in Africa.

These factors include:  soil erosion, use of harmful fertilizers in agriculture, poorly managed process of mining minerals that contribute to water pollution, poor sanitation, deforestation (or the cutting down of forests without planting new), urbanisation or modernisation processes etc.

For example in 2017 in Africa, it was found that untreated solid and liquid wastes (from households and factories from the side of Burundi) were sent to the Lake Tanganyika.  This could have posed some risks to freshwater and the over 350 species that this lake contains.  Likewise, pollution was found in the Lake Victoria with raw sewage, fertilizers, chemicals, domestic and industrial waste.  

From the above, our sub-campaign is to support Africa’s voices and actions to tackle the root causes of water pollution there.

For more about A la une campaign with the Reduction of Marine Pollution, please contact CENFACS.

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

24 October 2018

Post No. 62

The Week’s Contents

• FACS, Issue no. 61, Autumn 2018 – Key Highlights

• A la une Campaign with  Marine Technology

• Making Memorable Difference with African Oral History

… and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ FACS, Issue no. 61, Autumn 2018 – Key Highlights

Making the Impacts of Mobile Money and Financial Digital Inclusion on Poverty Reduction in Africa Clearer

In the abstract of this Issue which we released last month, we argued that the purpose of this Issue was not to demonstrate the link between mobile money and digital financial inclusion on the one hand, and poverty reduction on the other.  We acknowledged that there is a body of works and evidences that suggests that mobile money and digital financial inclusion have an impact on poverty reduction. 

The purpose of this Issue is to make this impact clearer than what it has been argued so far; clearer in quantity and quality in terms of the number of people who have been lifted out poverty through mobile money and digital financial inclusion.

So, the 61^st issue of FACS is a step forward in highlighting and including two important points regarding the contribution of mobile money and digital financial inclusion to poverty reduction.

The first point is about capturing the effects and impacts of mobile money and digital financial inclusion on poverty reduction. 

The second point developed in the 61^st issue concerns the successfulness of mobile money and digital financial inclusion as models for poverty relief. 

Under the Main Development of this post, we have given the Key Highlights of this Issue

~ Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence (A la une): Marine Technology and Poverty Reduction

The third themed area of our work under A la une campaign is Marine Technology.  In this third piece of work, we are dealing with the benefits of sharing marine technology to meet the common challenge of poverty.  This area of work falls under CENFACS’ UK and Africa Skills Sharing and Development Programme  (UKASSD).  For more on UK-Africa Skills Sharing and Development Programme, contact CENFACS.

Marine Technology is also part of sharing economy that can be applied to international development sector.  The sharing economy in this context means that it is possible to share knowledge and skills related to marine science and industry to meet the challenge of marine economy. 

So, sharing economy and marine technology need to respond to the needs of Africa in marine engineering and naval infrastructure.  It is the need of forming engineers, technologists, policy makers and educators in marine science and technology in Africa.  This type of sharing knowledge and skills can contribute not only to the upkeep of the natural life in the seas and oceans, but also to the reduction of poverty in Africa.

In the context of UKASSD, the exchange of skills and the facilitation of acquisition of marine technologies for Africa-based Organisations working on marine issues can help to make further steps in reducing coastal and marine poverty.

~ Making Memorable Difference Project: African Oral History

This week is as well of our two days of historical study, analysis and skills recognition and celebration of the legacies left by Africans in the Oral History in Africa.  We are searching on Africa’s Oral History. 

27 October 2018 will be our Value Day while 28 October 2018 will be our Legacies and Gifts Day about African Oral History.  Both the Value Day and the Legacies and Gifts Day are an opportunity to undertake the re-reading of Africa’s Oral History. 

To engage with this year’s Making Memorable Difference theme and or support this project, please contact CENFACS on this site.

Extra News: Art and Design for Poverty Relief and Sustainable Development

As part of Art and Design Project for poverty relief and sustainable development, we are asking supporters to illustrate their ideas of Africa’s Oral History into artwork.  You can post your artwork related to Africa’s Oral History to CENFACS to share and make memorable difference in your own way.

Main Development from the Week’s Contents  

Below are the Key Contents making the 61st Issue of FACS.

Mobile money accounts versus traditional bank accounts in relation to poverty reduction (Page 2 of FACS)

The main message is that because of the traditional model of bank accounts (which is profit-driven oriented model), it offers limited or less scope for poverty relief.  Poor people are often excluded from many types of bank accounts and banks’ financial products; especially low income unbanked or underbanked people.  This is despite the fact that banks have a huge reach access to funding and data, as well as a pool of financial and economic knowledge and expertise in the sector.  Sometimes, their terms and conditions systematically or virtually exclude the poor.  This is even strong in the world where they tend to be multinational and less and less local. 

There are social business banks (or banks dedicated to serve the poor) such as Grameen Bank or village bank in Bangladesh created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (1).  However, the general pattern of the classical banking model still follows the old capitalist route and philosophy.   

The model of mobile money may not be the perfect for the poor, but it does exactly the opposite of what the banks do by accessing the poor and going where poverty is.  This is one of the reasons that mobile money account is growing faster in places like Sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world than traditional banking.  However the impact of mobile money is still to be clearly quantified and qualified in terms of reducing poverty, of meeting basic life-sustaining needs of health, education, food, shelter, environment and skills development.

Mobile money and engendered digital financial inclusion (Page 3 of FACS)

The question which one needs to ask within this article is how best to promote mobile money in order to reduce both gender poverty and digital financial exclusion?

The answer to this question can be found in many areas.  In the context of this communication, it is about closing the gender gap in mobile money and ending digital financial exclusion in gender.  Mobile money accounts are reaching both men and women in Africa and elsewhere.  However, most of studies and experiences suggest that these gains have been uneven where men are more mobile money account owners/holders than women in Africa.  To reduce gender poverty and engendered digital financial exclusion, gender gap in mobile money accounts as well as exclusion in digital financial matters need to be addressed where they appear. 

Engaging Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) with the link between digital mobile money and poverty reduction (Page 3 of FACS)

Our work with ASOs goes to the core argument about the impact and effect of mobile money on poverty.  We are asking ASOs, especially those who run digital mobile money programmes and projects to make sure in extracting or measuring the outcomes and getting the impacts of digital mobile money on poverty reduction.

To do that it implies differentiating data about the opening of mobile money accounts, the running and capturing of its effect of this account on poverty.  This leads to monitoring and evaluation of the programmes and projects with the outcomes or better impacts about poverty reduction as central focus or goal. 

In practical terms, it is dawn to our ASOs to check whether or not digital mobile money initiatives are meeting the life-sustaining needs of education, environmental protection, health, sanitation, food, shelter etc.  Using the concept of multi-dimensional of poverty, it is also necessary even compulsory to check that mobile money is tackling multiple dimensions of poverty such as green poverty, income poverty consumption poverty, energy poverty, gender poverty, digital poverty etc.       

It is in this way of engaging ASOs that digital mobile money programmes and projects will be rewarded and remembered as truly models for poverty reduction and sustainable development, not an economy that flourishes in the volume of business transactions and deals concluded.

Link between digital financial inclusion and poverty relief (Page 4 of FACS)

The main aim of this piece of work is to try to look at how digital financial inclusion can be a spur to poverty reduction. 

Before looking at it, let’s see what digital financial inclusion is about.  According to the World Bank (2),

‘Digital financial inclusion involves the deployment of the cost-saving digital means to reach currently financially excluded and underserved populations with a range of formal financial services suited to their needs that are responsibly delivered at a cost affordable to customers and sustainable for providers’.

Developing digital financial instruments or tools, services and institutions not only accessible by the poor but dealing with poverty, can lead to the reduction of poverty and the enhancement of the process of sustainable development for all.  In this respect, there could be a causal link or correlation between digital financial inclusion and poverty reduction. 

To assert such relationship between two variables, perhaps some quantitative studies (like econometric tests) need to be conducted.  However, in the limited context of this newsletter and in the interest of our readers/users, we can only simply say to them there could be a link between digital financial inclusion of poor and reduction of the state of having no money and no material possessions in the digital era.     

(1) Muhammad Yunus with Karl Weber (2010), Building Social Business: The New kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs, Public Affairs, New York

(2) www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion/publication/digital-financial-inclusion

Projets d’inclusion financière numérique et de paiement mobile pour la réduction de la pauvreté en Afrique  (Page 5 & 6 of FACS)

La réduction de la pauvreté passe par plusieurs moyens et stratégies.  Parmi ces moyens et stratégies, il y a le paiement mobile et l’inclusion financière numérique.  Dans le cadre de cet article, on va concevoir le paiement mobile comme moyen ou tactique de réduction de la pauvreté d’une part, et de l’autre l’inclusion financière numérique comme stratégie de réduction de la pauvreté.

Le paiement mobile en tant que tactique ou moyen de réduction de la pauvreté

Depuis que la technologie de paiement or argent mobile a fait surface, elle a fait ses preuves en permettant et en facilitant le transfert des fonds et le paiement des services et produits à distance sans recourir à l’argent en espèces, aux chèques bancaires et à la carte de crédit.  Est-ce que cela suffit pour d’aucuns argumentent que l’argent ou le paiement mobile est un moyen de réduction de la pauvreté?

La réduction de la pauvreté est une oeuvre très complexe qui demande du temps.  On peut avoir des signaux indiquant qu’avec l’usage de l’argent mobile, les pauvres sont en train de remplir certains de leurs besoins de première nécessité tels que ceux de manger, dormir, se vêtir, se soigner, lire et apprendre etc.  Avec l’utilisation de l’argent mobile, ils peuvent intégrer les systèmes financiers et économiques même s’ils restent à la périphérie de ces systèmes.  De ce point de vue, l’argent ou le paiement mobile est un art ou une tactique pour combattre la pauvreté, car il permet d’atteindre de bons résultats et parfois des buts finaux.  Mais, combattre la pauvreté, ce n’est pas seulement un art ou moyen.  C’est aussi un problème de stratégie.

L’inclusion financière numérique en tant que stratégie de réduction de la pauvreté

Des dispositifs et travaux de vulgarisation et d’insertion de toutes les couches de populations à bénéficier des atouts et nouveautés des instruments ou produits financiers et numériques (c’est à dire du développement financier et numérique) dans le sens d’une conduite générale peuvent avoir des effets sur la réduction de la pauvreté.  De ce point de vue, l’inclusion financière et numérique peut aider les pauvres à éliminer la pauvreté et la précarité dans lesquelles ils vivent.  Cela permet aussi bien leur intégration financière et numérique au sein du système financier et numérique nouvellement développé que leur épanouissement. 

A travers cette inclusion ou stratégie, ils seront capables d’apprendre et de devenir des lettrés financiers et du numérique.  Ils seront ainsi à même de lire la littérature financière et d’acquérir des compétences numériques.  Cela fera en sorte qu’ils seront mieux armés pour développer des capacités et compétences indispensables à l’affrontement et à la maîtrise des crises actuelles et futures de pauvreté au sein de leurs sociétés et de protéger leurs enfants afin qu’ils ne retombent pas dans une pauvreté générationnelle.  Et comme l’a dit Jacques Attali (3) dans son ouvrage paru récemment dont le titre est ‘Comment nous protéger des prochaines crises?’:

‘Pour agir dans l’intérêt des vivants, il faut d’abord se préoccuper de ceux qui vivront demain.  Tel est le secret de la maitrise de toutes les crises à venir’.

L’inclusion financière numérique en tant que stratégie de réduction de la pauvreté peut permettre non seulement de donner des moyens pour combattre la pauvreté aujourd’hui, mais aussi elle peut fournir la conduite générale à mener pour éviter des crises futures de pauvreté ou encore les résoudre quand elles apparaissent pour les générations d’avenir.

(3) Jacques Attali (2018), Comment nous protéger des prochaines crises?  Edition Fayard, Paris

Mobile-enabled insurance and savings services to help reduce poverty (Page 7 of FACS)

The matter discussed here is mobile-enabled micro insurance with bundled products like policies related to life insurance and personal cover.  These policies should be designed to meet as well as serve the most pressing needs of poor mobile money account owners. 

The cover models, products and collections need to be adapted to the conditions and circumstances of all types of customers not only to the business model.  It is pointless to state that marketing (whether digital or non digital) is about what customers want.  Whether it is about a freemium or premium or loyalty-based insurance; there is still a problem of insurance adaptable to poverty.         

The same issue can be raised in a different way with savings services to help reduce poverty.  Do poor people who have access to mobile money services have the opportunity to raise their savings ability?  Savings through mobile money accounts can be used to reduce poverty in the future instead of using credit.  However, are poor people in Africa for example able to save enough on the mobile money accounts?  It is not only the question of ability.  Perhaps, they may need to be educated about the raison d’être of savings or financial protection generally.

Digital mobile money markets and sustainable development for the poor in remote areas (Page 8 of FACS)

What is at stake here is the comparison of the mobile money market size and growth rate in Africa to the enhancement of sustainable development for the poor in remote areas of Africa. 

To make such comparison, it is useful to define mobile money.  The World Remit (4) defines it as

‘an electronic wallet service, available in many countries, allowing users to store, send, and receive money using mobile phone’. 

When there are demand of and supply to this electronic wallet service, it then becomes a market with a price to pay. 

We also need to understand what sustainable development is.  According to the World Commission on Environment and Development (5), sustainable development is

‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland, 1987)

From these definitions, what we are interested in is the extent to which the size and growth of mobile money market in Africa reflect the rate of improvement in sustainable development.  We can make an assumption that the more the demand and supply of digital mobile money markets grow, the more our children or future generations would be able to meet their own needs.  

Meeting the financial needs of the poor through cash digitalisation (Page 9 of FACS)

Digitalisation of cash or digital payments (such as contactless card payments) is growing in many places including Africa.  It is not an accident of travel to see them growing.  This growth could mean they are meeting tangible financial needs from their users.  Despite that, there are still pending issues regarding the digital payment world, issues that need to be addressed for the poor. 

They are:

• Information to protect against financial scams and hacks
• Educate and build confidence of the poor about the notion of insurance (or financial protection) in their mindset
• Plan for uncertainty and unexpected situations
• Lack of basic technologies such as a phone
• How to qualify for borrowing? Etc.

Supporting poor people through specific projects to meet the above financial needs not only help to access digital payments but also it empowers them.

(4) https://www.worldremit.com/en/faq/mobile-money

(5) Brundtland et al. (1987), Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Report), Oxford University Press, London

Mobile money services and eligibility criteria for the poor and the most vulnerable groups (Page 9 of FACS)

Poverty is more than just about living below the international poverty line, the lack of income, of food, of adequate consumption, of energy, of suitable housing etc.  Being constantly refused to access any type of services because you do not meet the eligibility criteria while you are entitled to those services, it is a sign of poverty in itself. 

Amongst these poor and vulnerable people and groups who may face exclusion, we can mention the following: homeless, internally and externally displaced people, unemployed, women, people who lost all the belongings because of wars and environment disaster, ethnic minority groups, unbanked and underbanked people etc.

Where the mobile money economy has succeeded is to soften the eligibility criteria so that poor people and vulnerable groups can have the opportunity to open up a mobile money account.  On the contrary, with their criteria traditional bank accounts generally exclude the most vulnerable people of the society.  One can think of a case whereby a person has to provide a passport to proof their identity when these people cannot afford the cost of making a passport and have another document to prove their identity but which is not acceptable to the banks.

In short, it is possible to reduce or end poverty through eligibility criteria set up for people to access a particular service whether it is financial or social or environmental or other one.

Project of Integration between Financial Literacy and Digital Literacy Skills – Financial and Digital Literacy Skills Development Project (Page 10 of FACS)

The aim of this sustainable development initiative is to reduce poverty amongst people who are financially and digitally illiterate in Africa by giving them an opportunity to build and develop financial literacy skills and digital skills so that they can empower their life beyond the simple use of mobile money accounts and data, and make informed decision on financial matters, resources and wealth.

The project will provide to users or beneficiaries the ability to use basic digital knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively via their mobile money accounts and other accounts. 

Beneficiaries can learn and develop basic life and financial skills of creating a budget, tracking spending, paying off debt, planning for retirement, management wealth etc.  Beneficiaries will as well be able to find, evaluate, utilise, share and create their own content using online technologies and the internet.

The anticipated outcome from this project is to increase the number of financial and digital literate people amongst poor people and communities in Africa.    

For details and full project proposals, please contact CENFACS.

To request a paper copy of the 61st Issue and/or previous Issues of FACS, contact CENFACS.

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

17 October 2018

Post No. 61

The Week’s Contents

• A la une Campaign: Marine Biodiversity and Poverty Relief

• Micro-Volunteering with Smart Tasks

• All-year round Projects: Play, Run and Vote this Autumn

… and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ Marine Biodiversity and Poverty Relief

The main message of this week’s communication is the continuation of the A la une (Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence) campaign with Marine Biodiversity (or Life in the seas and oceans) as a themed area of focus.

Marine Biodiversity has to be placed within the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 of Life Below Water; goal which is stated as conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.  The Marine Biodiversity advocacy at CENFACS is in line with above goal and its targets.

Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have provided further details about this themed area.

~ Micro Volunteering with Smart Tasks

Last week, we provided you with some of the new ways we would like to add to our traditional ways of getting support.  This addition to our usual way of getting support we have called it as no direct cash donations support. 

Taking the same path in embracing the changes that are happening in the way charities get support, especially as we are increasingly in a mobile society, we will be using mobile technology and campaign to reach out to our supporters.  As a result, some volunteering opportunities will arise within CENFACS through its All in Development Volunteering Scheme.

We would like to re-engage with our supporters via a mobile smart phone.  We will be giving to our newly recruited volunteers some micro smart tasks and activities towards the end of the year.    

Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have given some basic details about Micro Volunteering with Smart tasks

~ All-year round Projects: Play, Run and Vote Projects

The three components of our all-year round projects (that is Run, Play and Vote) are back this Autumn.  As we are heading towards the end of the year 2018, one can hope progress has been made for these projects; records have been taken since these projects started in January 2018.

Under the Main Developments of this post, we have summarised what needs to be done for those engaged with these projects.

Extra News

~ Making Zero Hunger Africa Project

This week, we are joining our forces to advocate for a Zero Hunger World and a Zero Hunger Africa.  As explained in our last week’s communications, hunger and the lack of food are still major issues in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world.  To effectively deal with these issues of hunger and lack of food, climate change and wars need to be addressed as well.  CENFACS’ Making Zero Hunger Africa project is this week focusing on these issues.

~ An Employment Opportunity: A NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE WANTED!

The Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire are looking to recruit a new Chief Executive at the salary of £50K plus benefits.  The National Arboretum, Westonbirt is the UK’s finest tree collection that works closely with the Forestry Commission.

Anyone who is interested in applying to this new role, they need to contact the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum (FOWA) at https://www.fowa.org.uk/

Main Developments from the Week’s Contents

• A la une Campaign: Marine Biodiversity and Poverty Relief

The advocacy about Marine Biodiversity and Poverty Relief this week would be for sustainable use of marine resources and sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture on one hand.  On the other hand, it would be against unregulated harvesting and overfishing, and against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.  Our work would also be against threatening fish stocks and waste dumping (like chemicals, plastic, domestic waste etc.) in the seas and oceans.

For example, it is well known that dumping any chemicals in the seas and oceans (including lakes and rivers) can adversely affect human health, marine environments and economic potentials of the seas and oceans.  This can as well affect marine resources and species (such as fish, plants and minerals).  The adverse effect can further lead to the reduction of the potentials to reduce poverty for poor countries making the borders with and relying on resources from the seas and oceans.  This can happen with lakes and rivers as well.  We have seen in the case of Lake Chad in Africa how the shrinkage of this Lake has meant fewer possibilities for the people living around it to meet basic life-sustaining needs of food and clean water.  

• Micro Volunteering with Smart Tasks

There will be some smart tasks to be conducted by volunteers to be recruited by CENFACS.  These tasks will briefly include the following: prospecting potential supporters, running questionnaires with us, recruiting new supporters, engaging with supporters, sending and receiving messages from supporters etc.

To apply to this new volunteering role, one needs to have access to a smart phone, pass the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks, have suitable references and meet CENFACS’ All in Development Volunteering terms and conditions.

Full role description and person specification for this incoming volunteering capacity will be released in due course.

• All-year round Projects: Best Country, Best Runner and Best Manager of 2018!

The three components of our All-year Round Projects – which are Play, Run and Vote – continue to be active during this Autumn.  One can hope that progress has been and every step has been taken to undertake actions and get the results or outcomes at the end of the year 2018.

To refresh memories, we would like to repeat the following.

If you are Playing the CENFACS Poverty Relief League (the World’s League without relegation) and its sub-project Le Dernier Carrẻ, there are 16 team countries in this African Nations Poverty Relief and Development League playing each 32 matches/games each against the other.  Around this time of the year, there should be only eight countries remaining or qualifying in the games.

If you are Running for Poverty Relief and Development, you can do it alone or as a group.  Whether you are doing it alone or as a group, make sure you have in place a reliable system to record and monitor what you are doing. 

If you are casting your Vote for an International Development and Poverty Relief Manager of 2018, there are two and half months remaining until the end of the year.  Again, do have in place a reliable system to record and monitor what you are doing.   

Whether you are Gaming or Running or even Voting for Poverty Relief and Development, please keep a track record (including the facts, data, videos, reviews and images) of your Autumn activities to make and share your story with us and others.    

To keep your track record, you do not need sophisticated technologies or a specialist third party.  With your mobile phone only – if you have one – you can text, record voices, make a video, take pictures, make a short film, phone etc. to capture and communicate the impacts in your own words of any event or activity you are doing or taking part in this Autumn. 

Also remember, the final results or outcomes of any activities and actions from the All-year round projects, which are a summary of what would have happened during the entire year (meaning from January to the end of the year).   

At the end of this process and of the year, one should be ready to announce the 2018 Action-Results for either of the project: Run or Play or Vote.

The final Action-Results consist of finding out the following:

√ The Best African Countries of 2018 which best reduced poverty

√ The Best African Global Games Runners of 2018

√ The Best African Development and Poverty Relief Managers of 2018

If you have not yet thought about it, start thinking now and have your say about it!

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

10 October 2018

Post No. 60

The Week’s Contents

• History Month: Relationships between Imaging History and Oral   History

• Making Zero Hunger Africa

• A la une (Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence) Themed Activities

… and much more: 8 No Direct Cash Donations!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ Relationships between Imaging History and Oral History

We are working this week on the relationships between images and spoken words, before holding our two days (27 and 28 October 2018) of Making Memorable Difference project.  We are particularly interested in the ratio between images (or infographics or data visualisation) and spoken words in the process of telling a story or making oral history.

We are looking at the fact that whether or not too many images can or cannot elude or reduce people’s (especially children) ability to develop their own pictorial representation of the story or history.  In other words, we are searching on the extent to which too many images can enhance or reduce human visual system’s ability to spot trends and patterns in the process of interpreting the past. 

If reduction occurs, can it diminish or derail searches for solutions to the problems of poverty and hardships in the modern world?  Our interest is therefore on the cognitive effect of images – effect that can be destructive, stimulating or neutral – to people’s own imaging representation of the history told.

To engage or contribute to the above work, contact CENFACS.

~ Making Zero Hunger Africa

Making Zero Hunger Africa (MZHA) is one the CENFACS XI Starting Projects for this Autumn.  MZHA has to be placed in the context of the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, Zero Hunger being Goal number two among them.  MZHA is also in line with similar global projects working to eliminate hunger across the world and Africa. 

Next week, we shall join forces with these other initiatives to strongly advocate for a Zero Hunger World and Africa.  Why we are and will be doing it?  Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have given some reasons for this advocacy. 

~ A la une Themed Activities

Our environmental campaign A la une has already started.  The selected themed areas of work that would work together to shape the central topic or theme of A la une this Autumn have been given under the Main Developments section of this post. 

The first themed area of work is Lifestyles in Harmony with the Nature; themed area which kicks off from today the 10^th of October 2018.  Lifestyle is important for the nature and environment.  It is pointless to say that the way we live as human beings is important in terms of our behaviour, habits, tastes, attitudes, environmental standards, works, leisure etc. towards the health and wealth of the nature and the planet Earth.

One of the key recommendations from this week’s Key Climate Report by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change is to make an effort, better take decisive action, at individual level in our lifestyle to significantly reduce the risks of raising global temperature.  We must do it if the goal of 1.5 degrees C has to be reached; as the world is now completely off track in heading towards 3C.

~ Extra News: You can support CENFACS without directly giving cash

Ways of supporting charities are changing.  We too at CENFACS are implementing these new ways of giving and generating incomes.   There are many ways that one can use to support CENFACS without directly given cash.  Under the Main Developments section of this post, we have listed eight ways of giving no direct cash donations.    However, if you choose to donate cash, CENFACS will still accept your cash donations.  

Main Development from the Week’s Contents

• Making Zero Hunger Africa: An Increasing Need to Step up Action

The following data explain the growing need to take bold action in order to achieve or Make Zero Hunger Africa.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (1) Africa remains the continent with the highest Prevalence of Undernourishment, affecting almost 21 percent of the population (more than 256 million people) (p.3)…  In Africa, the situation is more pressing in the region of sub-Saharan Africa where an estimated 23.2 percent of the population – or between one out of four and one out of five people in the region – may have suffered from chronic food deprivation in 2017 (p.3).

Likewise, studying the link between conflict and hunger, the World Food Programme (2) argues that there is growing evidence that the increase in hunger of recent years is primarily due to the impact of armed conflicts in countries in Africa, Asia and Middle East.  The same World Food Programme states that a recent 11 percent global increase in the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity … can largely be attributed to conflict and insecurity in countries such Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria (north-east), South Sudan and Yemen.

The above few data show that we are far from reaching the Zero Hunger goal in Africa by 2030 as planned in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations.  Therefore, there is a pressing need to step up action.

(1) Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, The State of Food, Security and Nutrition in the World, Building Climate Resilience for Food Security and Nutrition, Rome, FAO, Licence: CC BY-NC-SA, 3.0 IGO

(2) World Food Programme, Fact Sheet, Hunger and Conflict, Oct. 2018

• A la une Themed Activities

During the following periods within this Autumn and A la une season, CENFACS’ advocacy on environment will focus on the following areas from the beginning of every Wednesdays (starting from 10 October 2018) to the rest of Autumn:

Periods                                  Titles of themed areas of work

10/10 to 16/10/2018            Lifestyles in harmony with the nature

17/10 to 23/10/2018             Marine bio-diversity and poverty relief

24/10 to 30/10/2018       Transfer of marine technology for poverty reduction

31/11 to 06/11/2018             Reduction of marine pollution

07/11 to 13/11/2018             Prevention of extinction of threatened species

14/11 to 20/11/2018             Forests and lands

In total, there are six themed areas of work starting from the 10^th of October 2018 and thereafter every Wednesdays until the end of Autumn 2018.  These activities will help us to re-communicate our environmental message to upkeep the nature in existence as well as triggering changes with our leaves of action.

To engage with A la une, contact CENFACS. 

• Other Ways of Supporting CENFACS this Autumn and Beyond

Ways of donating to charities are changing.  We too at CENFACS are embracing this change or evolution in our way and pace of getting support.

Those who would like to support CENFACS by using other means than directly giving cash, they can consider the following.

Eight ways of donating to consider this Autumn and in the lead up to the end of the year

1/ Giving unwanted goods and items to CENFACS e-charity store at  http://cenfacs.org.uk/shop/

2/ Sign up for a Gift Aid declaration from which CENFACS can earn an extra 25p for every £1 you give

3/ Nominate CENFACS for a donation at charity fundraising and donation events

4/ Select CENFACS as your preferred charity for donation from advertising revenue

5/ Raise free funds for CENFACS with your online shopping or choose CENFACS as a donation recipient of some of the profits raised from online shopping

6/ Donate your unwanted and unused points and cashback to CENFACS as your chosen charity from your loyalty shopping rewards or good causes gift cards

7/ Name CENFACS as your favourite deserving cause if it happens that you have the opportunity to click the online option “donate cashback to charities”

8/ Donate any unwanted excess points of your loyalty card from apps that may give support to good causes

The above is just the few examples of ways of helping that one can think of or come across with to support CENFACS without having to directly give cash.

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

03 October 2018

Post No. 59

The Week’s Contents

• History Month 

• A la une

• Autumn Humanitarian Appeal 

… and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents  

~ History Month with Making Memorable Difference

The lead story line of poverty relief and sustainable development at CENFACS this week is about Making Memorable Difference in October.  October is the History month in CENFACS development calendar.  We normally remember the African history through Making Memorable Difference (MMD) project.  This year’s MMD is about acknowledging African Oral History Legacies.

For further information on this acknowledgement, read below under the Main Developments section.  

Besides the main history theme of October, we are also running our environmental campaign A la une as planned. 

~ A la une (Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence)  

International trade versus upkeep of the nature

This month and week is the start of A la une.  We are going to reintroduce A la une by looking at ways of not only improving our understanding about the reason behind the upkeep the nature in existence this Autumn, but also the way of doing something concrete to make this upkeep a reality.  This will be done through the case over the agreement or disagreement between peoples and nations, which is going on at the moment between the need to internationally trade and the necessity to keep up the nature in existence.

This case will enlighten us to build on keeping up the nature in existence while respecting basic rights of humans, animals and other living beings; as well as the need for people and nations to freely trade.

As part of making the nature’s upkeep a reality, CENFACS is pleased with the strengthening of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) legislation in Central, West and Southern Africa at the symposium held in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) from 10 to 12 September 2018 regarding the international trade in wild animals and plants.

For more information about this year’s A la une, please contact CENFACS and or continue to read our posts over this Autumn season.

Likewise, our usual Autumn Humanitarian Appeal has already been re-launched. 

Just to let you know, the environmental campaign A la une and humanitarian appeal are part of Autumn programme.  

~ Autumn Humanitarian Relief Appeal

Our humanitarian appeal for Autumn 2018 has been launched since the 2^nd of October 2018 and is live on the Support Us page of this website:  cenfacs.org.uk/support-us/

This appeal is about supporting needy people, flora, fauna and organisations in Africa.  It includes the following five selected projects: 

1/ TRIACONTADI

2/ Cross-border in-work Poor People and Markets

3/ Righters of financial deprivations

4/ Hardship After Summer Holidays

5/ Save Flora and Fauna projects. 

A brief summary of these projects is given on the page Support Us of this website. 

Donors and funders can directly and respectively donate or fund these projects. 

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

You can donate any amount starting from £1 or more as you wish, gift aid your giving and support these projects in a way that is the most suitable and related to your situation, capacity and willingness.

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

Main Developments from the Week’s Contents 

• Making Memorable Difference (MMD)

What is MMD? 

MMD is

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

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

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

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

This year’s dedicated two days (27 and 28 October 2018) are the days of historical study, analysis and skill recognition and celebration of the legacies left by Africans in the Oral History in Africa.  We will search on the African Oral History. 

So, our sharing and engaging content this October is how the spoken word, compared to the written word, had help in reducing poverty and enhancing sustainable development in Africa since the pre-colonial era. 

As we are in CENFACS’ Local Year Campaign or the Local People’s Year, we will look at how Oral History had helped to preserve local values, creations, dialects, cultures and customs.  In doing so, alleviating local poverty and enhancing local sustainable development.

27 October 2018 (African Oral History Value Day): We shall identify the power of oral history (e.g. oral tradition) in Africa’s history to relieve and possibly to end poverty as well as its implications for the new generations in understanding Africa’s history today.  It will be about finding out how poor people and those who are marginalised (like working classes, ethnic minorities, women and others) find their way through oral history to express their needs and voices.

28 October 2018 (African Oral History Legacies & Gifts Day): We shall find out how history collectors and preservers contributed to the process of poverty reduction in Africa before written word or history and audio recording eras.  Likewise, we will celebrate the empowering capacity of oral history and communications in lifting people out of poverty as well as the legacies and gifts of the African history collectors and preservers; those who bring together oral history and those who save oral history from loss, damage, decay or deterioration. 

To engage with this year’s MMD theme and or support this project, please contact CENFACS on this site. 

• Making Memorable Difference Timeline

2009: CENFACS recognised environmental sustainability.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2017: We acknowledged the Communicators of the African History 

For further details about these past MMD events, please contact CENFACS. 

Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going 

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.

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

26 September 2018

Post No. 58

 The Week’s Contents

• Autumn Fresh Start Help with Fresh Autumn Start, 2018 Edition

• Save Fauna and Flora Advocacy

• Digital Literacy and E-learning for Poverty Relief (LePR Project)

… and much more! 

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents

~ Autumn Fresh Start Help and Resources

Autumn Fresh Start Help strikes or kicks off our Autumn programme.  It is our Autumn project striker.  Autumn Fresh Start Help and Resources are made of fresh start skills, tips, hints, tweaks, hacks etc to overcome poverty and hardships. 

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

Autumn Fresh Start Help comes with Fresh Autumn Start (FAS) resource.  The highlights of the 2018 Edition of FAS is given below under the Main Developments section of this post.

To ask for Fresh Start Help and or access Fresh Start Resources, just contact CENFACS

~ Save Flora and Fauna (SFF) Advocacy

Our Save Animals Advocacy has changed into Save Flora and Fauna.  In other words, we have added to fauna (or animals) flora (trees, plants and flowers). 

We are advocating for the protection of animals in Africa and elsewhere in developing world whereby animals get killed, traded and extinct to such extent that some species are at the brink of disappearing.  Animals such as jaguars, tigers, elephants, snakes, alligators, rhinoceroses etc are under threat.  There are several reasons about it which include: hunting, illicit and illegal trade, over-harvesting, habitat loss, climate change, poaching etc.

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

We are as well extending our advocacy to other species in danger like trees, plans and flowers (flora).  It is a two scopes campaign of Saving Fauna and Flora.  

Save Fauna and Flora is only an iceberg of the wide natural creature protection campaign. 

In April 2016, we celebrated CENFACS Year of Protections and one of the celebratory themes was Protection of the Nature.  The September 2016 Save Animals advocacy fell within the scope of the celebration of CENFACS Year of Protections.  We looked at how we can improve protection on endangered species. 

Our efforts echoed and coincided with the work of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the 17^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES.  This meeting took place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 24 September to 5 October 2016.   It is in these international and global contexts of trade in endangered species that CENFACS advocates for wildlife in Africa and elsewhere to be protected and animal rights to be respected. 

It was good to learn that on 12 September 2017 the 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted a far reaching Resolution on tackling illicit wildlife trafficking at the final meeting of the 71^st session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Likewise, it is an encouraging news to hear that World Wildlife Day 2018 will tackle the threats to survival in the wild facing by the world’s big cats (such as lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cheetah, snow leopard, puma, clouded leopard etc), the world’s majestic animals and symbols of power and courage.

CENFACS’ Save Fauna and Flora is run this last week of September 2018 and will be soon after followed by our Autumn environmental umbrella campaign, A la une (Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence) project. 

A la une takes our Save Fauna and Flora advocacy to the next level of environmental communications.  It goes further about protection of endangered species to include rainforests, water and air pollution, climate change in order to help meet Global Goals such Sustainable Development Goals linked to the upkeep of the nature alive.

To advocate and raise your voice to save endangered species, contact CENFACS.

HELP   •    ADVOCATE    •    REPORT   this Autumn with CENFACS!

~ Support Digital Literacy and E-learning for Poverty Relief (LePR Project)   

High on this week’s agenda is also the LePR project, which was launched last week as planned.  You can support CENFACS to deliver for educationally and digitally needy children in Africa a digital and e-learning project of literacy to help reduce both digital and literacy poverty there. 

To support the LePR project or to get information about it, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/

~ Extra News: Happiness survey and questionnaire

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

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

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

To request and or complete the questionnaire, contact CENFACS.

Main Developments from the Week’s Contents

Making Autumn Start & Season Easier           

What is Fresh Autumn Start (FAS)

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

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

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

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

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

Brief summaries of the contents of FAS 2018 Edition

The contents of 2018 Edition of Fresh Autumn Start (FAS) include: Autumn situations and what to do, People needs and Autumn leads, What you can get from CENFACS, and Autumn online and digital resources.

Possible Autumn Situations & Possible What to Do

When returning from Summer Break and/or season, people can find themselves in a variety of situations depending on their own individual circumstances and life experiences.  This variety of situations may require or be expected to be matched with a diversity of responses in order to meet people’s Autumn needs.  These variable circumstances and diverse responses or a course of actions can take the different shapes.

Examples of Summer Break Expenses Track Record and Autumn Start Budget

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

Budgeting autumn items and needs is also good for a Fresh Start and for overall control over the start and rest of autumn season expenses.  To support this financial control, FAS contains an example of Autumn start budget (fresh start budget) or budgeted expenses.   

People’s Needs and Autumn Leads                

Variable circumstances can obviously result in multiple needs.  To meet those needs, we may have to gather resources, tools and institutions to guide us.  The 2018 Edition of FAS provides a table that gives an idea of the likely leads to satisfy people’s needs  

What You Can Get From CENFACS in Autumn Under Autumn Start Help

The set of help provided in the FAS 2018 is part of CENFACS’ UK arm of services.  Besides that it also takes into account specific needs of people that may require specialist organisations and or institutions to deal with them.  In which case CENFACS can signpost or refer the applicants to those third parties.

We hope that the basic tips and hints making the contents FAS 2018 Edition will help you in some aspects of your Autumn needs.

Have a Good Fresh Start and Autumn season!

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 2018.

With many thanks

Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!

19 September 2018

Post No. 57

The Week’s Contents

• Autumn of Freshness

• Autumn 2018 Programme: Starting XI Projects 

• Autumn Involvement with CENFACS

… and much more!

Key Messages from the Week’s Contents 

• Autumn of Freshness

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

Autumn of Freshness is the season of

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

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

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

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

So, the keywords for our sharing and engaging contents over the Autumn are Freshness and Fresh Start which will underpin all our works over this period.

• Autumn Programme with Starting XI Projects

Report, Refresh, Renew, Develop and Thrive  with Fresh Start Projects from the Autumn Programme

Autumn of Freshness is about working together with our users and stakeholders through helpful collection of Fresh Start projects blended together to give a new seasoned leaf of relief during Autumn 2018.  

The Autumn programme is made of 

1/ Fresh Start Skills, Tips, Hints, Tweaks and Hacks 

2/ Transformative experiences  

3/ The Season’s appeal to stand up again against poverty and hardships  

4/ A slice of Africa’s history 

5/ Fresh Start thoughts and inspirations for a better climate protection and sustainable development agenda. 

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

So, the line up for CENFACS’ Starting XI Projects for this Autumn is as follows:

(1) Women, Children and the circular economy

(2) Climate Protection and Stake for African Children (Phase 2) with Katowice Implements Paris as our working theme

(3) Adaptation for Building Capacity Development

(4) Project MISATU

(5) Save flora and fauna

(6) Making Memorable Difference

(7) A la Une 

(8) Triancontadi 

(9) Fresh Start Help 

(10) Making Zero Hunger Africa 

(11) Autumn Appeal

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

• Starting or Renewing your Involvement with CENFACS’ Work

The beginning of every season is an opportunity either to continue to do the things we always do as they work or to think of taking on new initiatives in the new season.  There are many ways in which we can freshly start this Autumn.

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

Below we have spelled out various ways in which you can enhance CENFACS’ cause and make a useful impact on poverty alleviation with us.

• Extra News: Supporting Literacy E-Learning for Poverty Relief (LePR project)  

Our appeal for the support of the LePR project will go live on the 22nd of September 2018.

You can support CENFACS to deliver for educationally and digitally needy children in Africa an e-learning project of literacy to help reduce poverty there from the beginning of this New School Year.

For further details and to support this project, contact CENFACS.

Main Developments from the Week’s Contents 

• Autumn Programme with Starting XI Projects

Please find below the projects making CENFACS’ Autumn of Freshness.

11 PROJECTS : 11 WAYS OF HELPING TO REDUCE AND END POVERTY THIS AUTUMN 2018

September 

~ Save Flora and Fauna projects (advocacy)

~ A la Une (Autumn Leaves of Action to Upkeep the Nature in Existence (Campaign)

~ Autumn Fresh Start Help (Resource)

October

~ Autumn Appeal to Support projects (Humanitarian appeal)

~ Making Memorable Difference (History project): Role of Oral History in Poverty Relief and Development

~ Making Zero Hunger Africa (Campaign) – A new campaign to support Africa feed Africa, to make the decision between buying food and paying energy bills easier, and to reduce food poverty – NEW 

November

~ Climate Protection and Stake for African Children (Phase 2): “Katowice Implements Paris” (Child Protection and Climate Advocacy project)

~ Women & Children FIRST Development Day (Thoughts): Women, Children and the Circular Economy

~ Triacontadi (Project 32): Together for Renewal of Infrastructures in Africa to Create Opportunities and Needed Transformations for Alternative Development Intergenerational – A project that helps to both create inexistent infrastructures and develop basic infrastructures destroyed by wars, armed conflicts and environmental disasters in order to relieve poverty (Basic Infrastructures project) 

November/December

~ Project MISATU (Project M): Making Impactful Support to Africa Together with Users – A project that helps to capture and communicate in effective way the impact of support to Africa by involving users (Impact Analysis project)

~ ABCD (Adaptation, Building Capacity Development), which is a rebrand of Post-REI (Regional Economic Integration) Transitional Capacity Building and Development (Empowerment project), aims at enhancing people’s ability and capacity to survive in the new environment of exiting/exited economy.

Note: Although the above is scheduled for Autumn 2018, 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.

• Getting the Most of your Involvement with CENFACS into Poverty Alleviation Work from Autumn 2018 and Beyond

Where to start: Sign up!

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

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

Stay in touch with our

√ Newsletter, and other paper and free-paper communication materials

√ Regular updated and upgraded resources and supporting information 

Involving us in raising awareness of the poverty relief issue

√ Advertise with us for helpful good causes

√ Pass our relief messages on to interested third parties  

Share your transformative experience

√ Tell us what you think and or your development story

√ Help us improve with your voices, comments, reports & feedbacks 

Boost your support

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

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

Get noticed to go further with your involvement

√ Register and keep up to date with information about your event, project, activity etc

√ Join up our network of poverty relief and development work 

Stay ahead of the game with us

√ Communicate with us before hands and when the needs arise

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

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

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

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

Be contactable and present via

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

√ Word-of-mouth recommendations, outreach and other means of contact

Get the word out on your communication channels

√ Spread the word about CENFACS’ work on your social media links

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

Keep your involvement with CENFACS digital and on papers

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

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

Continue the legacy of CENFACS’ work

√ It is now 16 years and two months that CENFACS has been working on poverty relief and sustainable development since it was registered in 2002.  You can continue this legacy with us.

√ You can be the face of CENFACS to those looking for a line of support from us.

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

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 2018.

With many thanks